Yes, the Orlando Magic were playing without three of its best players, but the Pistons (and Glen Davis) took full advantage of that, winning 102-95 in front of the home crowd. It's the Pistons' eighth win in their last 10 at the rocking Palace and 12th in their last 15 there against the Magic.
The game felt pretty much like it was in Detroit's favor throughout despite them needing a 17-4 run at the start of the fourth quarter, behind seven from Jonas Jerebko, to really take control of the game.
Greg Monroe had his 26th double-double of the season* with 22 points (9-for-11) and 11 rebounds, 11 of those points coming in the third quarter. Ben Gordon added 18 points, seven assists and six rebounds. Did someone fart?
Oh yeah, Glen Big Baby Davis scored a career high 31 points starting in place of Dwight Howard.
Jump.
- * Greg Monroe apparently had a rebound taken away from him from the Charlotte game, so this was his 26th double-double, not his 27th as I originally thought.
- Ben Wallace, with his 6 rebounds, grabbed defensive rebound No. 7,000 for his career (that's a whole lot of rebound row t-shirts). Wallace had this to say about the feat:
- Jonas Jerebko had a good game in front of his dad: 13 points and 5 rebounds in 20 minutes.
- Pistons had 56 points in the paint to the Magic's 20. Think the Magic missed Dwight???
- Pistons shot 57-percent and had 25 assists. 5 Pistons had at least three assists.
- The Magic matched their season-high with four straight losses. They dropped from No. 3 in the East to No. 5 with the loss.
- The Pistons are the No. 8 worst team. Cleveland seems to be doing this tanking thing best. They started the season promising and now have lost eight straight and 17 of their last 21, although their schedule is a little bit more difficult right now.
- Bucks, Hornets, Nets, Nets, Celtics, Kings, Celtics, Bobcats, Lakers, Hawks, Raptors, Kings, Wizards, Cavaliers, Bobcats and Magic. Those are the Pistons' 16 wins in their last 30 games. You have to give them credit for beating the teams they should beat, but we need to be wary of how much we dole out. Seems the schedule, despite not allowing for much prep for a relatively young team, has been predominantly favorable for the Pistons this season.
- Pistons play next on Thursday vs. Wizards, so we should be able to continue talking more about how they're improving while also playing poor competition ... and killing all lotto odds.
- Box score
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"It just says I've played with guys who have missed a lot of shots."