Well, it's been no-go for victory in Detroit so far. That said, the fight that the Magic put up tonight in the third and fourth quarters gives me some hope that they can and will develop into a playoff-hardened team sooner or later. Player of the night was Jameer Nelson (22 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists), who hit several threes to put us back in the game midway through the third when things were looking very bad. It wasn't enough, unfortunately, to hold back 2004 Championship MVP Chauncey Billups from tearing up the court all night.
What interested me about tonight's game is the fact that it was only Billups that seemed to give us major problems. Defensive play was tighter and the team was able to draw a lot of fouls from Detroit's front court. Antonio McDyess fouled out of the game in the fourth, Rasheed Wallace came close with 5 personal fouls, and Jason Maxiell had 4.
If Stan Van Gundy has in fact worked out a way of curbing at least some of Detroit's main threats (Wallace and Rip Hamilton in particular) then hopes ought to be high for the next two games in Florida.
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