Pistons' guard trio leads them over Magic

AUBURN HILLS, Mich.(AP) — The Detroit Pistons realized in the
preseason that they might have found something in the small,
speedy guard combination of Ben Gordon, Rodney Stuckey and Will
Bynum.

Tuesday, they discovered they were right.

With Tayshaun Prince (back) missing his first game in six years
and Richard Hamilton (ankle) also sidelined, the Pistons got 63
points from Gordon, Stuckey and Bynum in a 85-80 victory over
the Orlando Magic.

“A victory like this is sweet – there’s no question about it,”
rookie Pistons coach John Kuester said. “Our guys did a great
job of controlling the pace, getting the ball from one side of
the court to the other and coming up with big plays. You always
miss guys who play such an intricate part of what you do, but it
is great to see other guys step up.”

With the smaller lineup and their reliance on getting to the
basket – the Pistons only had two first-half assists and just
one in the fourth quarter – they knew that Dwight Howard’s
defensive presence could wreck any chance they had of winning.

The Pistons, though, went right after Howard and frustrated him
into fouling out in just 17 minutes.

“We knew if we could get Dwight into foul trouble, they’d be in
trouble, because we’d have an open path to the basket,” Bynum
said. “So we just tried to keep attacking.”

Howard struggled all night with the fouls and a sore shoulder.
Howard missed half of the third quarter after aggravating an
injury sustained Sunday in Toronto, and fouled out with 3:45
left. He finished with eight points and five rebounds.

“It’s just very, very sore, but it is hard when you get hit so
hard every night,” Howard said. “I’m a big guy, but it still
hurts when I’m getting hit this much. It’s getting worse, but I
have to keep my composure and try not to complain. The last two
games, though, I’ve been very close to going off.”

Vince Carter led Orlando with 15, but struggled with an ankle
problem, while Jameer Nelson ended up with seven points and five
turnovers.

“I thanked Vince for going out there, but he couldn’t attack the
basket and he couldn’t keep up with Bynum,” Orlando coach Stan
Van Gundy said. “Jameer had a nightmare. He couldn’t dribble the
ball two feet without losing it tonight. It was just a terrible
night for everyone, including me.”

Orlando led 41-38 at the half, despite Howard being limited to
nine minutes because of foul trouble, and lost him again less
than 90 seconds into the third quarter with a shoulder injury.

Howard returned midway through the period and the game was tied
at 60 heading into the fourth quarter.

The game was still tied at 77 when Howard fouled out, but the
Magic didn’t score again until J.J. Redick’s meaningless
3-pointer at the buzzer.

“We just couldn’t stop their three guards,” Van Gundy said. “We
knew that’s where all of their offense was going to come from,
and we couldn’t even contain them.”

NOTES: Mickael Pietrus missed his second straight game with
flu-like symptoms. … Howard made Orlando’s first free throw
with 5:01 left in the third quarter. … Detroit’s Jonas Jerebko
became the first Swedish-born player to start an NBA game. Miles
Simon, born in Stockholm, came off the bench in all five games
of his brief career. … Prince had played 496 straight games
since Rick Carlisle didn’t use him in a game against Memphis in
April 2003, and he and Hamilton had never missed the same game
in their seven-plus seasons as teammates.

The best newsletter on the web