Orlando Magic News & Notes: Magic Win Third Straight

The Orlando Magic defeated the Detroit Pistons to win their third straight game and their sixth in their last seven games. Click here to read more about the game.

As previously mentioned, Magic Head Coach Stan Van Gundy will be coaching the Eastern Conference All-Star team.

The Magic have had a lot of problems playing in the Palace of Auburn Hills but the Magic overcome those nightmares and got a “grind it out” win.

"“This place is just a house of horrors for us,” Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. “…Crazy stuff always happens in this building for us I’m just glad we’re done here for the year, and quite frankly I hope they don’t make the playoffs and get into a position where we have to play them. … I think if they put five 10-year-olds out there in Pistons jerseys we’d struggle.”"

Tania Ganguli has the story here.

Kelly Dwyer discussed Orlando’s victory – Dwyer did not enjoy watching this game.

"Perhaps my least-favorite game of the year. The refs didn’t call a thing, as cutters were bumped and post-up moves were denied due to more and more bumping, and the pace was ultra-slow. The game competitive, after the first quarter, but made terrible by the snail’s pace and the 1999-level style of refereeing.Ben Gordon(notes) had a missed shot (wide open, but didn’t set his feet) and a turnover in the final minute, and Detroit lost. This was BG’s MO in Chicago, despite the hype about him being some clutch standout, so beware, Pistons fans."

Go behind the box score here.

Anthony Johnson got the call because of Jameer Nelson’s injury and he was ready to go.

"“I thought J-Will was playing well, but I thought he looked really really tired halfway through the third quarter and then I just thought A.J. played well,” Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. “I left A.J. out there. A good job by him especially like you say that he hadn’t played in so long.”Johnson gave me a “you too!?” look when I opened by mentioning he hadn’t played in a while.“I stayed mentally ready, physically you know,” Johnson said. “Physically I was OK. you know they played slow and deliberate. That and the time outs allowed me to keep my wind. I’m just happy to help when my number’s called we got a much-needed road victory.”"

You can read that story here.

John Denton provided his postgame analysis.

"Howard had major woes at the free throw line, but was otherwise excellent with 16 points, 15 rebounds and five blocked shots. Howard, who had seen his percentage climb back over 60 percent following a recent hot stretch at the free throw line, made just eight of 18 free throws.“It is part of basketball, we knew that they were going to come back and instead of us giving up, we got the win and that is all that we can ask for,’’ Howard said. “When they had a small lead, we felt the whole game that we were still going to win this game. Teams are going to make runs, teams are going to score and teams are going take the lead, but you can never give up on a game whether you are up 20 or down 20.’’"

You can read J.D.’s analysis here.

Pistons Nation Blog talked about Detroit’s last shot.

"Down by 3 the Pistons had a chance to send the game into overtime but Ben Gordon, instead of hoisting his first good look from 3, ended up playing hot potato with Tayshaun Prince until Orlando got a step-in-front steal to put the game to bed:“I just made a bad decision,” Gordon said. “I was in the corner and tried to get it to Tayshaun, but Anthony Johnson made a great play. I have to make better decisions with the ball.”That play just confirmed the thought I had that one of the Pistons most glaring problems is that they’re not closers. They really, really struggle to pull out tight games."

You can read their recap here.

Orlando’s defense is starting to look like the defense that got the Magic to the finals last season.

"In its last 10 games, Orlando has allowed opponents 96 points per game, the 6th fewest points of any team in the league during that span, the fourth lowest field goal percentage and taken down the fourth most rebounds.“It’s clearly the opposite of the beginning of the season, because defense was our biggest problem,” Magic forward Ryan Anderson said. “I think that’s a good thing as long as our defense is solid. We’re going to have nights when we struggle offensively.”Part of that has resulted from new players — of which the Magic have two starters and three reserves — growing more accustomed to calls and their teammates.“On the defensive end you see a difference from the first part of the season to now,” Magic center Dwight Howard said. “We were talking more, everybody was rotating early. That’s a great sign for us.”"

You can read this story and other Magic notes here.

(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger and contributor at NFL Mocks Subscribe to his RSS feed and add him on Twitter to follow him daily.)