Chauncey Goes Down And So Does Detroit

The Orlando Magic took care of business Wednesday night on their home court in Game Three of their second round matchup against The Detroit Pistons. Rashard Lewis scored a career playoff high 33 points for The Magic in an emotional 111-86 win in front of their home crowd. To make matters worse for Detroit, Chauncey Billups went down early in the first quarter with a hamstring injury and didn't return.

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Key Points:

• Chauncey went down early slipping along the baseline after a foul from Jameer Nelson and fell awkwardly doing the splits as he went down. He will be looked at again today, but the Pistons list him as day to day with a hamstring injury.
• The Pistons lost their game plan as soon as Billups headed to the locker room. Orlando scored a 10 quick points and the Pistons made just 2 of their first 15 shots. It didn't help that Lindsey, who would have had plenty of time on court in Chaunceys' absence, was on the bench in a suit.
  
• Give it up for the Magic who got their first playoff win against Detroit in 5 years.
• Rodney Stuckey played well in Chauncey's absence putting up 19 points with 2 assists and 3 boards. He still makes the rookie mistakes and sometimes looks a little overwhelmed, but it's nice to know he has the confidence in big situations.
• Sheed was agitated and in foul trouble early in the game. Rasheed played just 27 minutes and had a sub par all around night in a game that Detroit could have really used a big game from the big man. Sheed was just 4-for-15 for 11 points and four boards. The refs got under his skin early and he just didn't recover. When he looks like this, noting good comes of it.

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• The Pistons looked just awful in the first quarter and when the Magic went up 20-3 it was almost comical. Orlando was getting easy buckets, dunks and buckling down on defense to disrupt everything Detroit tried.
• Rashard Lewis had a career playoff high 33 points and was simply unconscious knocking down 6-of-8 from downtown.
• Howard had a big night too putting up 20 points with 12 boards and 6 impressive blocked shots.
• It's funny now that the game is over I remember wondering why Dyess or Maxiell weren't putting up numbers. Now I know after looking at the box score that they weren't on the court much. Maxiell played just 18 minutes while Dyess just 14. What's the reason for that? Both went scoreless on the night and neither were in foul trouble. Was it because they used Walter and co. to mathup against the smaller guards? If it was, it didn't work.
  
• NBA.com Highlights of the Game.
• Rip Hamilton started cold but quickly got going sparking the Pistons when they needed it. Rip led Detroit with 24 points on 10-for-20 shooting 6 boards, 2 takeaways and 3 assists. He was also responsible for 6 of the Pistons 10 turnovers.

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• If you can ever be OK with a win, I am with this one. "Both Teams Played Hard," but Orlando gave it everything they had. Not to say The Pistons didn't, I was happy with their effort in getting back in this one, they just didn't have it Wednesday night.
• What happened to all the Rasheed Wallace cut out masks? I didn't see one in the crowd.
• "We're shooting for him to play on Saturday," said Detroit coach Flip Saunders. "It's sore right now [and] we won't know for the next 24 hours where he's really at, but all indications are we're shooting for him to go on Saturday." Via ESPN
• Give it up to Walter, Afflalo and Ratliff who provided a much needed defensive spark. I only wished Arron got a little more time on the floor, he looked confident and his shot was going down. He finished with 4 points and 2 assists in 11 minutes.
• Arnie Kander, the Pistons magical trainer, has 2 full days to get Billups up and running. Game Four is Saturday at 5 PM.
• This one was so ugly I have no highlights for you worth mentioning or showing.
  
• My guess is that Lindsey and Dixon will be in uniform if Chauncey can't go on Saturday. That means Jarvis and Johnson will have to dress in their finest for seats on the bench.
• The Pistons headed into the fourth quarter down by just 4. That Magic lead quickly grew and Flip threw in the towel moving his starters to the bench with about five minutes left in the game.
• Solid Tayshaun Prince, who I wish got more touches. Tayshaun put up 22 points on 8-for-14 shooting and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the line. He took control of the point at times and did his best to get Detroit back in the game. He added 6 boards and 3 assists in his amazing playoff run this season. Lets hope for the Pistons sake he keeps on playing like royalty.

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• I sure wish Arroyo was on the floor more for Orlando, Detroit surged when he was in charge. I still don't understand how he's still got a job in the NBA, especially with those socks. I'm bet he'd do fine on the And1 mixtape tour, but come to think of it, The Professor would tear him up.
• "Van Gundy gushes about just how talented and intelligent Detroit's Rasheed Wallace is. "He changed their entire team. They were a good team, but they became a championship team and contender when he came (to Detroit in a trade). They've tried to give everybody more credit, whether it was Ben Wallace or whoever else. But nothing changed when Ben left (for Chicago). But everything changed for the better when Rasheed Wallace came. I don't think he's been given enough credit for what they've done over the last few years.'' Via Florida Today - Thanks to the link from Ben Q. Rock at Third Quarter Collapse.
  
• Detroit missed shots, didn't get into the flow defensively and made easy turnovers giving the Magic open lanes, uncontested shots and wide open threes. Can't win like that.
• This was the game I thought they would drop, now they have to step it up and take the next two.
• Pistons were outscored 30-15 in the first quarter.
• Orlando shot 53% on the night.
• Detroit never lead. Orlando's largest lead was 25.
• By the tone of everyone's comments I can tell you are all on the same page as I am. Bad game, concerned about Chauncey, but know Detroit is the better team and will prevail.
• The Orlando Sentinel Guarantees The Magic win the series if Chauncey's out.
• I know this doesn't represent all Magic fans, but what Scanlac said in the comments really upset me. "I went to this game last night as I do every time that the Pistons play in Florida. The Orlando fans have no class when CB went down they cheered. I was called everything from cheater to four letter words just for wearing a Pistons jersey. I took my 55 year old mother to the game and Magic fans were throwing paper at her and some guys kept called her a f'n bi#$%. Not as bad as when I went to games in Cleveland, but still pretty bad. It just goes to show you when a team depends on so many bandwagon fans your going to get alot of low class drunks at the game."