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From Orlando Sentinel

Motown beatdown: Magic fall hard to Pistons

Brian Schmitz | Sentinel Staff Writer
12:48 AM EDT, May 4, 2008

The rematch was more like a replay.

After spending more than a year trying to exorcise their Detroit demons, the Orlando Magic cringed as their nightmares revisited them on Saturday night.

The beginning of the Magic's playoff series against the Pistons ended in a lopsided 91-72 loss in Game 1 at The Palace of Auburn Hills, largely resembling last postseason's sweep by Detroit.

The Magic held out hope after adding free agent Rashard Lewis in the summer and gaining a split against the Pistons during the four-game regular-season series.

They surprisingly regressed as their biggest loss in the broom job by the Pistons last season was Game 3's 16-point defeat.

Fresh off a first-round victory against the Toronto Raptors to advance for the first time since 1996, the Magic found the Pistons to be as coldly efficient and defensively stingy as ever.

They weathered some early runs but were knocked out by a 21-5 surge in the third that gave the Pistons all the fourth-period cushion they needed.

Game 2 is Monday at 7 p.m. at The Palace -- a virtual must-win road game now for the Magic.

After averaging 104 points per game this season, the Pistons held the Magic to their fewest points by far -- 85 was the previous low. Orlando scored just 30 in the second half.

The Pistons' individual talent and experience won out again as they showed no hangover from their first-round struggle against the Philadelphia 76ers.

They took away the Magic's 3-point prowess, forcing them to grind it out. And nobody grinds it out better than the Pistons.

Orlando this season had shown a unique ability to come back in games with the 3-ball but made 2 in only 15 attempts (13.3 percent) from downtown against Motown.

Lewis, one of the league's top 3-point threats, finished with 18 points as did Hedo Turkoglu, but Lewis was 0-for-4 from behind the arc.

The Magic needed a big outing from all-star center Dwight Howard.

He dominated the Raptors, but these weren't the Raptors. The Pistons used four different big men at times, limiting him to just 12 points with eight rebounds.

The Magic's matchup problems still exist, especially at the guard positions. Pistons point guard Chauncey Billups didn't shoot well but scored 19 points to outclass Magic point guard Jameer Nelson (seven points). Detroit's Rip Hamilton easily won the shooting-guard battle, outscoring Mo Evans 17-4.

"We got outplayed badly," Magic Coach Stan Van Gundy said. "They wore us down. Their defense wears on you."

It's only Game 1, but it looked like more of the same.

The Magic pushed back when the former champs tried their familiar bullying tactics, but they didn't back up their aggression.

"You can't rattle us," Pistons forward Rasheed Wallace said. "We ain't no punks."

Howard finished the game with a taped left thumb, a double foul and a severe case of déjà Detroit.

Howard bruised his thumb late in the third period, accidentally smacking Lewis' elbow, and came back in the fourth quarter. He said he was fine after taking X-rays.

He dedicated most of his summer to avenging Detroit, and it was the Pistons who bothered him most.

"It's very frustrating," Howard said. "We didn't play the way that we know how to play basketball. We got a little frustrated the whole night, and we let that carry over into the game.

"We know they're going to be physical, pushing and holding, and we have to expect that. We just got so frustrated. We wanted to do so much we stopped running plays and executing."

Heading into the final quarter with a seven-point lead, the Pistons pushed it to 15 with a run similar to their third-quarter surge.

Power forward Jason Maxiell, averaging 5.8 points this season, scored eight consecutive in the stretch and finished with 12.

Despite the rout, Howard said he feels better about this team than last season's.

"I do," he said. "It's only one game. We just got to dictate the game to them and not let them do the dictating."

Brian Schmitz can be reached at bschmitz@orlandosentinel.com.

Copyright © 2008, Orlando Sentinel

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