The good news for the Orlando Magic, as they approach their first home game of the NBA Playoffs at Amway Arena against the Detroit Pistons Thursday night, is they believe they can compete against the Eastern Conference’s top-seeded team. Although down two games in the best of seven series, the Magic played tough and with confidence on the Pistons home floor in the Palace at Auburn Hills in games one and two of the series. The bad news for the Magic is the Pistons were the only team in the Eastern Conference with a winning road record (27-14).
Betting opened at most offshore sportsbooks with Detroit favored, but only by a bucket (-2.0 points) and the opening total has been set at 183. In the first two Magic losses, they lost by eight points in each game covering +10 ATS in game one and getting a push as a +8 underdog in game two. The total went OVER in both games at the Palace.
During the regular season, the Pistons were road victors against the Magic twice but only by a combined nine points. Detroit won by five on February 5th and won by four back on December 8th. The total went UNDER in both games played between the teams in Orlando. Overall, the Pistons are 6-0 straight up against the Magic but have covered the betting line (ATS) three times including both games played in Orlando.
Orlando is 28-40 all-time vs. Detroit (19-15 at home, 9-25 on the road) during regular season action, including 0-4 this season. Orlando is 6-5 vs. Detroit in the playoffs (2-0 at home, 1-0 on the road, 1996 first round series; 2-1 at home, 1-3 on the road, 2003 first round series; 0-0 at home, 0-1 on the road, 2007 first round series). Orlando has lost 14 of the last 17 regular season meetings with the Pistons overall. The Magic have lost seven of the last nine match-ups at home, but won 19 of the last 28.
In the last game (playoffs game-two) at the Palace in Auburn Hills, all five starters scored in double figures for Detroit, led by Richard Hamilton’s 22 points, as the Pistons defeated Orlando, 98-90. Chauncey Billups recorded 21 points and eight assists, while Tayshaun Prince netted 18 points.
Hedo Turkoglu led the Magic with 22 points, and Grant Hill tallied 21 points and eight rebounds. For the second straight game, the Pistons came out strong from the opening tap and led for most of the contest. Leading 47-44 at halftime, Detroit opened the second half with a 7-2 spurt and led by as many as 15 points during the fourth quarter. The back breaker came with 2:54 left in the contest, as Rasheed Wallace banked in a deep three-pointer as the shot clock expired to push the Pistons’ lead back to double digits.
