<div align="center"> <font color=""Blue"">Orlando Magic (12-15)</font> @ <font color=""red"">Detroit Pistons (24-4)</font> Tuesday, January 3, 2006 | 7:00 PM | The Palace of Auburn Hills TV: WRBW/NBALP | Radio: WDBO | Spanish Radio: AM 1030 WONQ</div> On Tuesday night, the Magic will face the team with the best record in the NBA, the Detroit Pistons (24-4). Orlando has won three consecutive games and are hoping to continue this streak as we head into a new year. The last Magic game was on Friday when they blew out the Minnesota Timberwolves. It was their third straight win wearing their famous pinstripe jerseys and I wouldn't be suprised if the team is sporting them once again tonight. The Pistons are hungry for a win after coming off one of their few losses to the Cavaliers in Cleveland. Over the offseason, the Pistons only significant change was the hiring of coach Flip Saunders. This has turned out to be a great acquisition because it has let the players be free on offense while still maintaining the defensive intensity that has gotten the Pistons to the Finals the last two seasons. While both of these teams are great defensively, this game might turn out to be an offensive showdown. The Magic have scored 100 points in three straight games and are running a new offensive strategy that hasn't failed them yet. The Pistons can also put some points up if given the oppurtunity. Four out of five of their starters are averaging 15+ points per game and they have scored 100+ points in 17 games this season. This should be a great game between two Eastern Conference rivals and while this game may seem one sided, anything is possible with the pinstripes. <div align="center"></div> [DIV=50%]<div align="center"><font color=""Blue"">Orlando Magic Projected Starters</font> (Steve Francis, DeShawn Stevenson, Grant Hill, Dwight Howard, Tony Battie)</div> Steve Francis: Francis is our scorer, our go-to guy and our best playmaker when it comes to the offensive end of the court. He has shown how valuable he is during our three game win streak and is showing people he is capable of leading a team. He is coming off of a 20 point game against the Timberwolves and his production will be a huge factor in tonight's game. DeShawn Stevenson: Stevenson is another player who has been proving people wrong lately. Many thought he would ride the bench this season since his game was very raw last season. However, DeShawn has worked really hard and has become a consistent scorer and one of our team's best defenders. Grant Hill: Recently, Grant has been talking about retiring after next season but he needs to get that out of his head and focus. He is a great player and we don't need a bunch of distractions messing him up. He will have a tough assignment matchup tonight against Tayshaun Prince, one of the league's premier shut-down defenders. Throughout this 3 game win streak, Grant has been scoring the majority of his points from baseline jumpers. He has worked on that shot and can consistently knock it down from the corner. Dwight Howard: Dwight Howard is coming off a solid performance against the Timberwolves, securing his 20th double double of the year. He will be important to us tonight since the Pistons have interior scorers that Dwight will have to cover. Rasheed Wallace and Ben Wallace are also two great rebounders so Dwight will have to work extremely hard if he wants that 21st double double. Tony Battie: Tony Battie is a good player some nights and a mediocre player others. He is one of the most inconsistent players on our team and you never know which Battie will show up. He had 13 points and 10 rebounds against the Knicks on Wednesday and then just 4 points and 5 rebounds on Friday against the TWolves. Hopefully the aggressive Battie, who can cut to the basket and grab rebounds over defenders, will show up tonight. [/div]<div align="center"><font color=""red"">Detroit Pistons Projected Starters</font> (Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Rasheed Wallace, Ben Wallace)</div> Chauncey Billups: Billups is the Pistons' court general, their leader, their captain and one of their main scorers which is the reason we need to shut him down if we want to stand chance tonight. He has emerged as one of the league's top point guards and will hurt us if we don't put him on lockdown. He burned the Heat for 30 points on Monday and has the talent to do that any given night. Richard Hamilton: Hamilton is another one of the Pistons main scorers and is the only one on their roster averaging 20+ points per game. Rip is known for moving without the ball and using picks and screens to get open jumpshots. Tonight, DeShawn Stevenson will have the hard job of covering Hamilton and will need to contain him the best he can. Rip scored a team high 21 points in a losing effort to Cleveland on Saturday. Tayshaun Prince: Prince's main threat is his ability to play great one on one defense. He will be covering Grant Hill, one of our top scorers, and will be looking to beat him on both sides of the court. Prince's offensive game has improved since entering the league and he has dropped 20+ points several time this season. While he isn't as big of a threat as Billups or Hamilton, the Magic can't let him get open shots or he will take advantage of it. Rasheed Wallace: Rasheed Wallace was a formerly known as a "bad boy" of the league. He got into some trouble in Portland and was always picking up technical fouls. Since joining the Pistons two seasons ago, Wallace has shaped up and become an important player on this team. He brings intensity on both sides of the court has scored 21 points in his last two games. Dwight Howard will have to shut him down inside the paint and out since Rasheed likes to pull up from behind the arc every now and then. Ben Wallace: Wallace is a perfect example of what this franchise is all about; intensity, defense, unselfishness and pure determination. He might not be the best scorer but he makes up with it on defense with his blocks and rebounds. Big Ben is averaging 2.07 blocks per game this season and is ranked #2 in the league when it comes to rebounds per game (12.4). <div align="center"> Key Matchup Steve Francis vs. Chauncey Billups</div> Steve Francis and Chauncey Billups both lead their respective teams in scoring and in assists. But these two are more then just statistical leaders. They are verbal leaders in the lockeroom, they are the ones who take the blame if they lose (not that the Pistons know anything about losing) and they are the ones who usually take over games when their team needs them. Both of these stars will be matched up against each other tonight and it should be interesting to see who wins the showdown. Chauncey Billups played for the Magic at one point (what team hasn't he played for?) and will try to do well against them tonight. Francis just wants to win and will do anything in his power to extend our win streak to four games. Both of these players are great at what they do and they should be going at it throughout all four quarters tonight. <font color=""Blue"">Keys To The Game For Orlando</font> * Stop The Piston's Backcourt: Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton are the Piston's top two scorers and they will have to be contained tonight. Steve Francis and DeShawn Stevenson better bring their A game because they will be matched up against two fierce competitors tonight. * Run The Fast Break: The fast break has been a big part of our offense throughout this three game winning streak and we need to continue that trend tonight. The Pistons are just too good of a defensive team to rely on our halfcourt offense to get the job done. We need start running and get some easy points in transition. * Bench Players Need To Perform: The Pistons have one of the deepest benches in the NBA and our reserves need to play well if we want to win this game. We have two guys (Jameer Nelson and Hedo Turkoglu) who are avering 10+ points per game off the bench and that needs to continue tonight. Game Notes - Last time the Magic squared off against Detroit, Jameer Nelson stole the show. He scored 30 points while racking up 8 assists. However, the Pistons did pull out the win by the score of 103-94. - Lindsey Hunter is out with arthroscopic surgury on his left ankle. Meanwhile for the Magic, Kelvin Cato is listed as questionable with a bruised left shoulder and Keyon Dooling is out with inflamed plantar fascia in his right foot. <div align="center"></div> The Magic have won three straight games with the pinstripes but that streak may come to an end tonight. If you look at records, Detroit is the best team in the NBA. They have a great defense and a great offense. Not only are the Pistons on pace to win 70 games, they are coming off a loss so they will be hungry for a win. It will be very tough for the Magic to pull out a win tonight (with or without pinstripes). I think the Pistons are going to win this game, 95-92 but it will be well fought and come down to the last few minutes. <div align="center"> <font size=""4"">Will the pinstripes come through tonight?</font></div>
We're not wearing pinstripes. We are playing them tough, but we need to just continue to take it to the rack rather than settling for jump shots. We seem to get to the basket at will right now. We're only down 2 at the break, but Detroit had to go on a 16-6 run to end the half.
Wow, great preview, Swish. I think we can expect a loss from Orlando tonight going up against the League's best team. They're also playing in The Palace, so it will be tough. If the Magic can play competitive basketball and keep it close, I think it will be a great moral victory for them, but I just don't see them ending up with a W tonight.
Magic lose 108-99, but hung in until midway through the 4th. Dwight owned the Pistons' big men. He went 8-11 and had 22 pts and 13(maybe 14) rebounds. We lost when Grant Hill tried to do too much, he forced a lot of shots down the stretch and struggled on defense. Putting up 99 pts on the amazing Pistons D in the Palace shows us a lot.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Putting up 99 pts on the amazing Pistons D in the Palace shows us a lot.</div> Not really, the Pistons only play D when they need to. Overall plenty of teams have scored well and shot well against the Pistons this year. It's quite annoying but hey they are still 25-4 so shouldn't complain.
This was a pretty good game by us. Like I said in the preview, whoever's backcourt performed best would win the game and they beat us with their guards. Billups had 37 points and Rip had a lot too. Dwight played well but we just couldn't pull it through. We were in it until about 5 minutes in the fourth quarter so I'm still proud of our team. But one thing I can't help thinking, why didn't we wear the throwbacks!?
