Magic 119, Pistons 89
ORLANDO (WWJ/AP) - Down by 21 at the half and things only got worse for the Detroit Pistons losing to the Orlando Magic 119-89 on Monday night.
As heard on 97.1 The Ticket - Tayshaun Prince scored a team high 21 points and eight rebounds for the Pistons but lacked the offensive support to combat the Magic's deep double digit scoring.
Five Orlando players scored between 14 and 22 points in the routing of Detroit with Jason Richardson hitting six 3-pointers and scoring the game high 22 points.
Glen Davis added 16 points and 16 rebounds starting in place of center Dwight Howard, who missed his third game in two weeks with back spasms.
The Pistons lost their third straight game since a three-game winning streak. Detroit concludes its four-game road trip at Charlotte on Thursday.
With both Howard and Hedo Turkoglu (out for the regular-season with a facial fracture) missing from the starting lineup, Magic coach Stan Van Gundy inserted Davis and Redick into the lineup.
Neither player disappointed early, with Redick connecting from the outside and scoring eight first-quarter points, and Davis reaching double-double status just minutes into the second period.
Orlando also got an instant boost from the return of Ryan Anderson, who had missed the three previous games with a sprained right ankle.
Even seldom-used point guard Ish Smith got into the act, making the most of his extra minutes playing in place of Duhon. Smith had five of his seven assists in just six minutes of action.
The Magic led by as many as 23 in the first half and the lead ballooned above 30 early in the third quarter. It didn't hurt that they also connected on 15 of their 28 3-pointers for the night.
It got almost comical how easily the ball was falling through the net for the Magic, with Richardson getting a high and very favorable bounce on a rushed 3-pointer in the second half.
They shot 53 percent for the night from the field.
The only sore spot was reserve forward Earl Clark getting ejected with 7.5 seconds to play in the game by referee Scott Foster.
Orlando did catch Detroit playing its fourth game in five nights, but with each of its remaining games holding potential playoff seeding implications, the Magic will take wins where they can get them.
They began the night in the sixth spot in the Eastern Conference, behind division mate Atlanta.
The Magic scored 64 points and led by 21 at the half with a balanced attack that saw four of their five starters reach double figures.
Orlando shot 53 percent (10 for 19) from the 3-point line and 51 percent (22 for 43) from the field overall. It also scored 12 points off seven Detroit turnovers.
The Pistons shot 43 percent in the half, but were mostly stagnant offensively except for Prince's 15 points.
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(TM and © Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
