Magic at Pistons
The Orlando Magic are hot at the right time and jumped into the No. 8 spot in the Eastern Conference by stretching their winning streak to six straight with a 104-99 victory over the Miami Heat on Tuesday. The Magic can take another step up the standings when they visit the Detroit Pistons on Thursday.
Orlando, which trails the Pistons by a half-game for the No. 7 spot, moved a half-game ahead of the Heat for the eighth and final postseason spot with Tuesday's victory and can reach .500 for the first time since they improved to 12-12 on Dec. 4 with a victory Thursday. "We're fighting for a playoff spot and to win six is really huge to give us a big advantage," Magic All-Star center Nikola Vucevic told reporters. "We've just got to keep it up. Obviously, we were in a little bit of a hole, so these six (wins) only put us (a half-game up on Miami), but there's still a lot of games to play. A lot can change after every win or loss, so we've got to stick with it." The Pistons finished out a five-game road trip with three straight losses to Western Conference contenders, capped by Tuesday’s 95-92 setback at Denver in which a comeback from a 27-point deficit fell short. "Not happy with the outcome," Detroit All-Star forward Blake Griffin told reporters. "Obviously, not happy with how we played the first quarter. But I liked our fight and if we play like that the rest of the season, we'll be alright."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Florida (Orlando), FS Detroit
ABOUT THE MAGIC (37-38): Orlando, which plays five of its final seven games on the road and still has visits to Indiana, Toronto and Boston on the schedule, is only one game behind sixth-place Brooklyn in a tightly-packed race. "We've fought for this all year and now we control our own destiny," Vucevic told reporters. "Now, it's on us to do what is necessary to stay there and keep us in that top eight and maybe even go for more. The teams in front of us aren't that far away, so maybe we can even do more." Vucevic led the way with 24 points and 16 rebounds in Tuesday's triumph and is averaging 23 points and 13.2 rebounds during the winning streak.
ABOUT THE PISTONS (37-37): Detroit was outscored 27-9 in the first quarter and went into the break down 66-39 before coming alive in the second half Tuesday. "Everybody did their part (in the comeback), but we can't start the game - I can't start the game - like I did," Griffin, who finished with 29 points and 15 rebounds but went 1-of-11 from the floor in the first quarter, told reporters. "Missing eight right at the rim, tip-in after tip-in. We've got to come out with a little more fire, especially on the road playing a team like this." The Pistons will play five of their remaining eight games at home, where they own a 23-13 record.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Magic PF Aaron Gordon collected 14 points and 10 rebounds on Tuesday for his first double-double in March.
2. Detroit C Andre Drummond recorded his sixth consecutive double-double with 13 points and 17 rebounds on Tuesday.
3. The Pistons took two of the first three meetings but each was decided by single digits, including Detroit’s 120-115 overtime triumph at home on Jan. 16.