Orlando was determined to make better on its effort from a disappointing loss Tuesday night in Detroit. Its fast start helped the team build a large lead that seemed to let the team coast to the finish. Things seemed right in the world.
Then Charlie Villanueva, the free agent acquisition who did not do much Tuesday night, decided to show up and prove why he is worth the money he earned this summer.
Villanueva scored 22 of his 28 points in the final quarter, helping Detroit finally get over the hump and close in on Orlando. His run got the Pistons to within six, but Jameer Nelson and Matt Barnes had the big shots the Magic needed for a 110-103 win.
Orlando got anything and everything it wanted early to build up a 19-point lead. The Magic got out to a 13-2 start and played with the type of energy they lacked Tuesday night in Detroit. More importantly, Dwight Howard was aggressive but not reckless early and set himself and his teammates up for success.
Howard finished the evening with 22 points and 12 rebounds, but more importantly three assists. He has gotten a lot more patient in the post and when he works as a distributor and a scorer, the Magic are simply unstoppable on offense.
The problems for Orlando, of course, came in the third and fourth quarter. The Magic had a 15-point lead at the half and 14 -point lead at the end of three after surviving a few mini-runs. The final onslaught came in the fourth behind Villanueva's strong play.
But that confidence could arguably be built by what the Pistons were able to do to Howard. Howard got into foul trouble again in the third quarter after largely staying out of that column of the box score in the first half.
Howard has not had this many issues with foul trouble in his career and it is something concerning. I was unable to watch this game (listened to it on the radio), but it seems like the perimeter defense is just not where it was last year and the team is relying even more on Howard as a last line of defense. He fouled out again tonight in the waning seconds of the game.
The defensive efficiency is not anywhere near last season's level and that is very concerning. While Orlando is able to seemingly score at well, we have also seen the offense grounded to a halt. With Ryan Anderson day-to-day after spraining his ankle in the third quarter tonight, the offense is reliable but not the crux of a championship team.
Howard is still a great deterrent, but the perimeter defense has to improve. Detroit's guards are faster than most backcourts, but Orlando had problems with them again -- Ben Gordon and Rodney Stuckey combined for 39 points.
Luckily for the Magic, Jameer Nelson was able to rally the troops with a six-point lead and help the Magic stave off the Pistons and get the win.
Vince Carter's absence is probably hurting a little bit at this point, but this team is still settling in. We have seen them be an offensive juggernaut, but I am still curious how the team responds defensively when the shots stop falling like they did tonight.
They scratched and clawed their way to a win, but the Magic had plenty of opportunities to really put the Pistons away and failed to do so.
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