Magic at Pistons: What Didn't Work

There really wasn’t much to dislike about Orlando’s performance against Detroit Tuesday night. The Magic matched the Pistons intensity, and thoroughly outplayed the home team for 48 minutes.

Nevertheless, the team wasn’t perfect and we’re going to pick out some of the team’s imperfections.

1. Defensive rebounding- The Pistons grabbed 15 offensive boards against the Magic, and outrebounded Orlando 44-36 overall. The Magic big guys need to box out better.

2. Dwight had an off night- The slam dunk champion had a difficult night against a tough Pistons defense as he finished with just 8 points (2-9 shooting), 8 rebounds, and 5 turnovers. It’s hard to believe that the Magic could dominate a very good Pistons team without Howard having a great night.

3. Tough Cook-ie- Orlando’s reserve forward, Brian Cook struggled for much of the night, hitting on just 2 of 8 shots before fouling out with 5 points.

Orlando played their best game of the season, and possibly their best game in the last few years as they completely dominated the Detroit Pistons on the road, who had previously lost just four games on their home court. The Magic obviously caught Detroit when they weren’t ready to play, but Orlando played well and made enough shots to put the game away in the third quarter, before the Pistons could ever get into it. Orlando can’t celebrate the victory too much, as they must travel north of the border to take on the Toronto Raptors Wednesday evening.

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Charlie Bernstein is the Editor-in-Chief of MagicIllustrated.com, and a regular syndicated contributor to FoxSports.com, Sirius Radio, MySpace Sports and Sportsillustrated.com. Charlie is also a columnist for the New Smyrna Observer. Feel free to contact him -HERE- with questions or comments.


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