Pistons 85, Magic 80

Will Bynum, Pistons frustrate Magic

Terry Foster / The Detroit News

Auburn Hills -- Will Bynum saw white flashes before his eyes.

It scared him and he immediately thought he had a detached retina when he was knocked to the floor during the Pistons 85-80 victory over the previously unbeaten Orlando Magic on Tuesday night at The Palace.

He had surgery on both eyes a year ago, and doctors said if he got hit the wrong way he might have to have surgery again.

"I was scared," he admitted. "But I am OK now."

Bynum was blinded by the white but he kept on attacking the basket. He knows that's his job and it was the only way the Pistons could win this game. He finished with 20 points and made a number of critical baskets during a grind-it-out second half.

"We knew if we could keep attacking the basket that we could get Dwight in foul trouble," Bynum said. "So we kept attacking the basket and scoring the ball. That is the way I play."

Superman, by the way, left the building angry, frustrated and to a chorus of cheers.

Dwight Howard didn't make much of an impact, fouling out with 3:18 remaining. In fact, the entire Magic team left grumbling about officiating, and the short-handed Pistons took advantage.

Bynum is no Superman. But he played a super game.

"I have been kind of down on myself with the way I have been playing the last couple of games," Bynum said. "Once I smelled blood, I wanted to keep on attacking."

The Pistons (2-2) played a gritty game of defense and grinded it out on offense. They were like a band of brothers, but had no choice because they had to play one of the NBA's top teams without Tayshaun Prince (lower back strain) and Rip Hamilton (ankle sprain).

The Prince injury was surprising and came just minutes before tip-ff. The Pistons said he might not return until Sunday for an afternoon game against the 76ers at The Palace.

The team said he would not travel with the team for road games at Toronto tonight and Orlando on Friday.

He was replaced in the starting lineup by rookie Jonas Jerebko, who went scoreless. But they didn't need him. The Pistons got 23 points from Ben Gordon and another 20 from Rodney Stuckey. But the big little man was Bynum, who kept the Pistons afloat by attacking the rim against the foul plagued Howard.

It was his biggest performance of the season. The Pistons are not healthy and they needed a miracle performance. Bynum came off the bench to give it to them.

He said solid defense set him up and gave him confidence.

"I was getting stops on the one end and keeping them contained," Bynum said. "I was scoring, and once I felt they could not stop me I wanted to keep on going."

This was one of those ugly games that happen in the NBA. The Magic also were short handed and missed a number of open 3-point baskets. This is a team that wins by dumping it into Howard. And when defenses collapse, they bury teams with 3-point shots. But the Magic was off.

Howard finished with just eight points and five rebounds in 17 minutes. The Magic made just 29 percent of their 3-point shots. But the Pistons put up ugly numbers, also. They shot just 37.5 percent from the field and had just eight assists for the game.

They did not make a 3-point shot the entire game, missing all six attempts.

This also was a big evening for the big men. No one inside put up big numbers, but Charlie Villanueva, Chris Wilcox, Kwame Brown and Ben Wallace all took turns banging bodies with Howard.

The Magic were attempting to go 4-0 for the first time in team history. They led 77-75 when Bynum drove the lane and was fouled by Howard.

The little man got the better of the big man and carried his team the rest of the way.

terry.foster@detnews.com (313) 222-1494