Hamilton’s 31 Helps Pistons Rip Magic 91-86

Posted by Stephen Rhodes under NBA PLAYOFFS

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There was some of the good and bad in Tuesday’s game between the Orlando Magic and Detroit Pistons.? First the good: Detroit committed only 3 turnovers (a NBA playoff record).? Now the bad: Orlando committed 21 turnovers and Detroit shot only 36% from the floor.? While at first glance the bad outweighs the good for the Pistons, they played solid defense and made just enough shots (they made 30 while converting 29 free throws to Orlando’s 16-of-28 from the charity stripe) to compensate as they eliminated the Magic from the Eastern Conference playoffs, defeating them 91-86 at The Palace of Auburn Hills to advance to the Eastern Conference finals against the winner of the Boston-Cleveland series.

Neither team shot especially well during the first half as Detroit and Orlando were deadlocked at 20 after one quarter, and the Pistons would outscore the Magic 27-21 in taking a 47-41 lead into the third quarter.? Orlando would carry a 68-65 lead into the fourth quarter but would struggle; after the Magic’s Rashard Lewis made a pair of free throws in the opening seconds of the period, but they would go scoreless for almost 7 minutes as the Pistons?went ahead on a layup by Rodney Stuckey during a 13-0 run which sealed the win for Detroit.

Detroit’s starting five all scored in double-digits, led by Richard Hamilton with another strong performance, scoring 31 points, grabbing 2 rebounds, dishing out 3 assists and stealing 4 balls while Antonio McDyess?scored 17 with 11 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal; Stuckey added 15 with 3 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals.? Orlando was led by Hedo Turkoglu with 18 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists but committing 5 turnovers while Dwight Howard scored 14 with 17 rebounds and 3 blocks.? ?

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