There’s a history here. Detroit has OWNED the Orlando Magic over the past few years, and even though the franchises are clearly headed in different directions (the Pistons committed $80 million to Charlie Villanueva and Ben Gordon… Good luck with that), the trend continued last night. First, from the Orlando perspective, we got to SB Nation’s Third Quarter Collapse:
Pistons and Magic Party Like It’s 2004
To paraphrase one of my earlier Magic/Pistons recaps—I’m not sure which one it was, since all the Magic’s losses to Detroit blend together in my mind—but if they aren’t going to defeat Detroit when it’s missing its two best players in Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince, when are they going to defeat them? What’s it going to take for the Magic to get over the hump against the Pistons, in general? This futility against Detroit, over the course of several seasons, has moved past the “comic” stage and into the “tragic” one.
In any case, the Magic were a disjointed, out-of-sync lot this evening. Despite their tip-to-horn poor play, they led by 3 at the half and looked to be a few made baskets away from permanently wresting control of the game from the Pistons. But “flat” doesn’t adequately describe the Magic’s second-half offense, which scored 39 points on 11-of-36 shooting, with 10 turnovers.
The biggest issue for Orlando, at least offensively, was its utter refusal to drive the ball to the basket. The Magic’s reputation as a one-dimensional, three-point-shooting gimmick team is a bit exaggerated, thanks to the media, but tonight they played right into that stereotype. 35 of their 79 shots came from beyond the arc, while they only converted 10. Ryan Anderson was the most egregious offender, taking 11 of his 14 shots from long-range… and making just 1. Meanwhile, the Magic managed a mere 16 free-throw attempts (to the Pistons’ 38). Carter and Jameer Nelson, the Magic’s best perimeter scorers, took 13 threes and 0 foul shots. Just a lazy, complacent showing from the Magic, two days after they blitzed the Toronto Raptors for 17 makes in 29 attempts from downtown.
I really can’t say enough about how Detroit earned this win. I’ve received several complaints about the officiating on Twitter, and maybe it looks bad in the box score, as the Magic committed 30 fouls to the Pistons’ 17. However, none of the calls that went against the Magic were particularly puzzling, and I don’t believe a few more whistles going Orlando’s way would have swung the game in its favor. Tonight, the Pistons outclassed the Magic. There’s not much more to it than that. And if coach John Kuester’s game plan was to use his small lineup to attack the Magic’s defense, get their bigs in foul trouble, and subsequently earn foul shots, bravo to him and to his team. Detroit doesn’t have a credible offensive presence inside—this is a team that starts Ben Wallace at center, with noted garbageman Chris Wilcox off the bench—but counters that with aggressive guard play. It worked tonight, against the reigning Defensive Player of the Year and one of the best defensive backups in the league. Saddled with foul trouble, Howard and Gortat combined for 12 points, 12 boards, and 12 fouls this evening. The Magic might as well have just cloned Roy Hibbert twice and played those versions at center, given those stats.
Meanwhile, Motown String Music, recaps it from the Pistons perspective:
A year ago, Detroit was the only team in the Eastern Conference to sweep the season series against the would be NBA finalists, Orlando Magic. After an offseason full of changes, Detroit entered Tuesday night’s game looking completely different from the 2008-2009 brand, coming off two bad losses, and fans expecting the worst as the Pistons were staring the scary 3-0 (11-0 if you count the preseason) Magic in the face. Oh, and throw in an injured Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince for good measure?
No problem.
Detroit gritted their way to a five point victory in front of a sparse home crowd, but behind three gutsy guards, who each scored 20 or more points. Ben Gordon led all scorers with 23 points on 6-10 shooting. He was a perfect 11-11 at the free throw line. Will Bynum and Rodney Stuckey each added a tough 20 points. Bynum scored 10 in the final quarter, despite missing three minutes in the middle due to an inadvertent poke in the eye that looked serious and forced him to the locker room. Stuckey also grabbed nine rebounds to boot.
On defense, Detroit created all sorts of problems for the Magic. Ben Wallace collected 10 rebounds, blocked two shots, and had two steals. He was huge down the stretch, playing with the type of energy we all saw from the 2004 Ben Wallace.
Indeed, for one night at least, both teams played like it was 2004: he Magic disorganized and taking bad shots, with the Pistons ruthlessly efficient, and winning gritty. It was an abberration for both teams--the Magic are still very good bordering on great, and the Pistons are still headed to the NBA lottery--but for Orlando, it’s a reminder that when their shots aren’t falling, they are a very beatable team. For the most part, they’ve avoided this foil--it’s not “settling” for long jump shots if you’re making most of ‘em.
But from an identity standpoint, it’s still kind of risky to live and die on the perimeter. So far, it’s only killed the Magic on occasion--a sporadic “off” night here or there for their shooters--but it’s something to note for the future, specifically the playoffs. The 04 Pistons, for example, won on the strength of defense and a deliberate, balanced offense. They were less exciting, sure, but defense doesn’t, by law of averages, work a little more than 40% of the time. And their balanced offense always kept them competitive.
And last night provides no definitive answer, mind you. But as we continue to take stock of Orlando as a championship contender, it reminds us of the question: If the Magic shooters go cold for a few games, will they be able to adjust and drive to the hoop, or will they be content to go down shooting (25-footers)?
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