Tonight, the Magic will face off with their arch-nemesis, the Detroit Pistons. The Pistons have given the Magic fits over the years, eliminating them from the playoffs in 2003, 2007 and 2008 and sweeping the Magic last season.
But this is not the Same Pistons team. Gone are Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess and Rasheed Wallace. In are Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva. Ben Wallace is back in the fold for the Pistons after stints with the Chicago Bulls and the Cleveland Cavaliers, but Wallace’s rebounding numbers have decreased in each season since 2002-03 and dropped to 6.4 per game last year. Wallace has rebounded the ball better, grabbing 9, 12 and 10 in Detroit’s first three games.
You can catch the game on Fox Sports Florida at 7:30 pm EST. As always, if you can’t see the game, you can hear it locally on WDBO 580 AM and in Spanish on WONQ AM 1030. The game is set to tip off at 1:00 PM EST.
Per the Orlando Sentinel, Magic Small Forward Mickael Pietrus remains out with the flu but Guard Vince Carter is likely to play. If he can’t go, Guard J.J. Redick will again get the start.
Update: John Denton has a Vince Carter update here.
"“It’s better, but we’ll see. I don’t know yet either (whether he’s playing or not),’’ Carter said somewhat cryptically. “I value the trainer’s opinions, but I’ll go through all of the (stuff) that they are going to put me through before the game and see what happens.’’ Carter is able to run forward and backward without pain, but it is lateral movement that has bothered him somewhat. He said the Magic’s impressive depth has allowed him to not hurry back from an injury that might linger for a couple of weeks otherwise."
The Line: Magic -4.5
Starters
Orlando
Dwight Howard
Ryan Anderson
Matt Barnes
Vince Carter
Jameer Nelson
Detroit
Ben Wallace
Charlie Villanueva
Tayshaun Prince
Ben Gordon
Rodney Stuckey
Last Meeting: The Detroit Pistons defeated the Orlando Magic 98-94 on March 9, 2009 in the Palace of Auburn Hills. The Magic trailed by six with 10 minutes left but a Rashard Lewis 3-pointer gave Orlando a 2-point lead with six minutes to go, before Detroit took over. As usual.
Season Series: The Pistons, even with a 39-43 record, swept the Magic, winning 88-82 in Detroit on December 29th, 93-85 in Orlando on February 27th and 98-94 in Detroit on March 9th. Dwight Howard played better against Detroit last year, averaging 22 ppg and 15 rpg. Detroit eliminated Orlando from the playoffs in 2003 (4-3), 2007 (4-0) and 2008 (4-1). Orlando’s last regular-season win over Detroit came on February 19th, 2008. Orlando defeated the Magic 103-85 behind 20 points from Rashard Lewis.
About the Magic: The Magic are off to a 3-0 start and look to start the season 4-0 for the first time in the history of the franchise. The Magic defeated the Raptors without Rashard Lewis (suspension), Vince Carter (ankle injury) and Mickael Pietrus (flu). Orlando’s defense was awful in the game, allowing the Raptors to score 116 points on 54.1% shooting. The Raptors also shot 10-of-17 from behind the three-point arc and at one point were 9-of-11. The doesn’t bode well when you’re going up against a shooter like Ben Gordon.
About the Pistons: The Pistons have started the season 1-2. After opening the season with a blowout win over Memphis, Detroit was defeated at home by Oklahoma State 91-83 on Friday. They also lost the next day in Milwaukee, 96-85. Richard Hamilton scored 25 points to lead the Pistons in the win over Memphis, but hasn’t played since opening night and will not play tonight. Newly-acquired Ben Gordon is scoring 24.3 ppg on 48.9% shooting so it will be imperative that the Magic cool him down. Detroit’s other expensive acquisition, Forward Charlie Villanueva, hasn’t fared quite as well. He is scoring just 9.0 ppg on 37% shooting and is grabbing just 4.0 rpg. Ben Wallace has been a better pick-up so far, grabbing 10.3 rebounds a night. Rodney Stuckey continues to show that he was an excellent pick by the Pistons (selected with Orlando’s draft pick in the Darko trade), scoring 15.3, grabbing 4.3 rpg and dishing out 4.3 apg.
(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger and a contributor at NFL Mocks Subscribe to his RSS feed and add him on Twitter to follow him daily.)