Swamigp’s Weblog

Tayshaun Prince knew his Pistons had to step up big time with the absence of guard Chauncey Billups, and they sure did, bringing their team back from a 11-point halftime deficit to stun the Magic 90-89. Tayshaun Prince made a tough shot in the lane with 8 seconds left to shock the Magic. Richard Hamilton scored 32 points, leading Detroit on a 15-0 run in the 3rd quarter. The veteran leaders for the Pistons proved to be the difference, as they shut down Orlando’s big pieces, especially Dwight Howard, who didn’t make a field goal for 3 1/2 quarters. Prince scored 17 points and Rasheed Wallace also chipped in 17 after a slow start offensively.

Hedo Turkoglu, the NBA’s most improved player and a past 4th quarter hero, scored 11 points in the final period, but his layup rimmed out in the closing seconds that would have won the game. Turkoglu’s big fourth gave him 20 points in the game, but no one else seemed to show up in the period. Rashard Lewis, Maurice Evans and point guard Jameer Nelson all scored 15 points but the real story for the Magic was the ineffectiveness of Howard. Though he did grab 12 rebounds, he scored just 8 points on 3-12 shooting. His third field goal came with 7 minutes left in the first period, as the Magic did a poor job of getting him the ball on a regular basis. He wasn’t very aggressive on the offensive end, leading to many missed jump shots by the Magic’s shooters, especially in the second half.

Detroit, playing with a rookie guard in Stuckey starting at the point, went to Prince or Hamilton almost every time down the court. Hamilton torched the defenders of Orlando all night, making sure that this series would be in their control going home. Lindsey Hunter, Detroit’s backup to Stuckey, played very well in his short time in the game, hitting two threes in the crucial Pistons run midway through the third period. Antonio McDyess, another role player for Detroit played very effective minutes as well, grabbing 14 rebounds to go with his 8 points, after being inserted into the starting role.