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Chauncey Billups nearly forced overtime with a 32-foot 3-pointer that made it 100-all, but Orlando had 3.6 seconds left.
Lewis, who scored 16, took the inbound pass from Turkoglu, dribbled and threw up the shot with time expiring. A replay confirmed the bucket, and Orlando's emotional win.
Wallace nearly tied the game at 100 with 36 seconds left, but his 27-foot 3-pointer rimmed in and then out. Detroit was 18-0 when scoring at least 100 points this season.
JES12 wrote:Bass just barley turned 23 and is a starting PF on any team without a 8 time all-NBA PF in front of him!
Lewis, who scored 16, took the inbound pass from Turkoglu, dribbled and threw up the shot with time expiring. A replay confirmed the bucket, and Orlando's emotional win.
The Pistons tried to muscle Orlando
STUDS: Rasheed Wallace had one of his best games in quite a while, tallying 15 points and 15 rebounds. For the Magic, Rashard Lewis may have had the game-winner, but the star of the night was Hedo Turkoglu who had a game-high 26 points, eight assists and five rebounds.SOLID: Tayshaun Prince was in a nice flow most of the game, finishing with 20 points which included a pair of 3-pointers. Dwight Howard had 23 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the field.
DUDS: Rodney Stuckey continues to struggle with establishing himself. Probably the most telling stat of his was the fact that he had as many points scored (two) as turnovers committed.SUPER SUB: If not for foul trouble, Jason Maxiell would have had a monster game for Detroit. He still finished with 11 points and seven rebounds. Keyon Dooling's defense against Chauncey Billups was pretty good, but his 12 points was even more important.
UP NEXT: Thursday at Philadelphia. The Pistons haven't lost four in a row since the 2004-2005 season (Jan. 18-24, 2005), and I don't anticipate them losing to the Sixers. The effort Detroit played with tonight, would have won been good enough to beat most teams. I really think Thursday will be a breakout performance for Stuckey, who desperately needs to start playing with the kind of swagger he displayed just before he broke his left hand.
It was the Pistons' third straight loss and it snapped their nine-game winning streak over the Magic.
He had 26 points and had eight assists. The Magic kept running a high pick-and-roll play with Dwight Howard (23 points). While the Pistons' defense focused on Howard, Turkoglu continually got clear lanes to the basket. He had nine points in the fourth, all on that play, all at the basket. "I mentioned to the staff before the game that that was going to be a problem," said Tayshaun Prince, who scored 20. "I knew from watching the film that was a play they liked to go to in the fourth quarter. We were playing it like we were because of Howard, but after Turkoglu beat us a couple of times, it was time to do something else. I thought we changed too late."
Coach Flip Saunders did alter the defense and Turkoglu didn't score in the final 2:45. In fact, Lewis' winner was the only field goal the Magic got in the final four minutes. But the Pistons' offense managed only four points from Billups in the final three minutes before he drained the long 3-pointer. "We played as a team and we competed," Saunders said. "You can live with guys going out and competing.
The Pistons dropped their third straight -- making it six in the last nine -- losing, 102-100, to the Orlando Magic on Monday night when forward Rashard Lewis' 12-foot banked jumper fell at the buzzer.
But after pitiful efforts led to losses against Sacramento and Chicago, the Pistons left Amway Arena feeling they had competed hard. That's step one."I can sleep after a game like this," said Chauncey Billups, who scored 18 points, including a three with 3.6 seconds left that tied the game at 100. "After the Chicago game, it's tough. I'm up at five in the morning, mad, rewinding on what the heck's going on. Game like this, the dude hit a tough shot."
Shooting guard Richard Hamilton led with 21 points. Power forward Rasheed Wallace was much more energetic than in recent games and had 15 rebounds and 15 points."When you don't play well, it's going to take some time to get back to playing the way we were," Saunders said. "I thought tonight we played good overall."
Pistons center/forward Rasheed Wallace had gone four games without displaying much energy and without scoring in double digits before Monday night's game against the Magic. Pistons coach Flip Saunders said he thought a recent lack of big-men matchups -- the kind of thing that get Wallace juiced -- haven't helped matters."I think sometimes he goes through that," Saunders said. "But that shouldn't be a concern tonight."
It wasn't. Wallace woke up, scoring 15 points with 15 rebounds. Facing All-Star center Dwight Howard is one of the matchups he looks forward to. "I like going against the young fella," Wallace said. "He's one of the better centers in the league. He's going to be around for a while. It's always fun to match up against him." Fun and educational, too, at least for Howard. Wallace revealed last season that he enjoys dolling out mid-game tips to players like Howard -- young up-and-comers he respects. Howard appreciates those learning sessions.
"A lot of players do it. He does it more so than anybody else," Howard said. "He's just a great person. I love playing against him. He makes you play hard. He's going to talk trash, he's going to get in your head, but he's a great person."Wallace said he's not worried about Howard using those tips against him. There's a reason students rarely beat their teachers at their own games."Well, the tips I do give him, I know the counters to," Wallace said. "It's like a karate master. I'll teach the student one technique but I know how to give him that technique."
How do you know things are going badly for the Pistons? When even the Orlando Magic can
prophet_of_rage wrote:My only concern with this game is that the formula is glaringly simple. Put your 2 on Chauncey and attack Tayshaun with a big strong forward. The Pistons show consistent vulnerability to that attack.
Hairy Midget wrote:-= original quote snipped =-
That's almost why I think the Magic won, because Jameer was out.
We were able to play Dooling and Bogans on Chauncey and he wasn't able to do some stuff that he usually does against Jameer.
prophet_of_rage wrote:My only concern with this game is that the formula is glaringly simple. Put your 2 on Chauncey and attack Tayshaun with a big strong forward. The Pistons show consistent vulnerability to that attack.
