After falling behind 2-1 in its First Round series with Philadelphia, Detroit won the last three games in convincing fashion to advance. In Games 4-6, their average margin of victory was 16.3 points per game.
By evading one upset from a young Sixers team that hadn’t been in the playoffs since 2004, the Pistons now face the Magic, a team that last season made the playoffs for the first time since 2003 and were summarily dumped by the Motor City men, 4-0.
The Orlando team that got swept (by an average of 9.0 points per loss) last Spring is different from the Magic contingent that Detroit will contend with in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Last year, Orlando featured a roster that centered around Dwight Howard, but it also had Grant Hill and Darko Milicic as major contributors.
This year’s Magic squad almost did some sweeping of its own, beating Toronto 4-1 in the First Round, thanks to the services of Howard, the addition of Rashard Lewis and the, well, improvement of the Most Improved Player award winner Hedo Turkoglu.
It promises to be a series predicated by defense. The Pistons held their opponents to a league-low 90.1 points per game, while the Magic were 11th in the league, also keeping their opponents’ average points per game below the 100-point mark.
Detroit is balanced, combining skilled wing defenders in Chauncey Billups and Tayshaun Prince, with the savvy Rasheed Wallace and big-bodied Jason Maxiell down low.
Orlando’s defense, on the other hand, is all about Howard’s (rear)end and the intimidation factor that comes with plugging a 6-11, 265-pound chiseled masterpiece in the middle. His sheer presence keeps teams out of the lane, causing opponents to shoot more jump shots.
When he’s controlling the defensive glass after those jumpers, the Magic are a tough team to beat.
Game 1 is Saturday, May 3 (7:30 p.m. ET, TNT). We’ll see who’s defense is strongest in Deeeeee-troit.
this is a different orlando magic than last year, and also this is the different detroit too, because both had made some adjustments including bench scoring and field goal percentages.
PUT THE MOMENTUM TEMPO!!!
lets get it on GAME 1!!!
DEEEEETROIT BASKETBALL!!!!!
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