The Orlando Magic have the best player on either team in Dwight Howard, but the Pistons are a fantastic team that plays without egos. It will be interesting to see if any of the other Magic players take their games to a higher level in this series. I’m thinking that Grant Hill could be that guy as he’s playing against his old team. The Pistons will need good work from their big men if they want to get the series over with quickly. Here’s a look at the matchups for this series:
POINT GUARDS: Chauncey Billups could be a matchup nightmare for the Magic. He’s a big point guard that’s sometimes likes to post up smaller opponents and Jameer Nelson definately qualifies as one of those. Billups averaged 17.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game this season and he should have better numbers than that in this series. Jameer Nelson finished the season poorly for the Magic and that does not bode well for him or the Magic in this series. He averaged 13.0 points, 3.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game. He’s a shoot first point guard and that is not a good thing against a team that plays defense like the Pistons do. EDGE: HUGE FOR THE PISTONS.
SHOOTING GUARD: Grant Hill returns to the city that made him a star. Hill played a long time for the Pistons and would like nothing more than to knock them out. That will be easier said than done. Hill will be able to post up on Richard Hamilton all day long and the Magic should look to take advantage of the size difference. Hill averaged 14.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game this season. Richard Hamilton will try to take advantage of his speed advantage over Grant Hill when the Pistons have the basketball. He should succeed with his usual mid-range game. He averaged 19.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game this season. EDGE: PISTONS
SMALL FORWARD: Tayshaun Prince is a very underrated basketball player. He plays stellar defense and he has a good offensive game even though the Pistons don’t often showcase him. He’s almost the perfect team player as he does the dirty work needed to help his team win the game. He averaged 14.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game this season. Hedo Turkoglu will have his hands full in dealing with Prince. That being said, Turkoglu has a nice little offensive game and he might be able to drag Prince away from the basket with his shooting ability. He averaged 13.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game this season. EDGE: PISTONS
POWER FORWARD: Rasheed Wallace has seen his numbers go down this season, but make no mistake, he’ll show up in the bright lights of the playoffs. He is still a little bit of a dirty player but he’s still got some game. He averaged 12.3 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game this season. He’s a great outside shooter and he still can pack it in the paint and get key rebounds. Tony Battie will start at power forward for the Magic and his game is all in the paint. He’s a good defender and a decent rebounder, so he should lend some support inside for Dwight Howard. Battie averaged 6.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game this season. EDGE: PISTONS
CENTER: Dwight Howard is the best basketball player that will be playing in this series. He averaged 17.6 points, 12.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game this season. The only thing that can stop him from dominating in this series is if he gets in foul trouble at some point. The Pistons don’t have anyone on their roster that can stop Dwight Howard. Chris Webber played decent for the Pistons after the Sixers dumped him. For the Pistons, Webber averaged 11.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game this season. Webber will have his hands full dealing with Howard. EDGE: GIGANTIC FOR THE MAGIC
BENCH: The Pistons have a veteran bench that all buy into the team concept and that helps the team as a whole. F/C Antonio McDyess is the most important reserve for the Pistons as he backs up both Webber and Wallace. He averaged 8.1 points, 6.0 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. He should have a pretty good series against the Magic. Forward Jason Maxiell has really impressed the Pistons this season and he will likely get some PT in the playoffs behind Tayshaun Prince. He averaged 5.0 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game this season. Flip Murray is an important player for the Pistons as he backs up both guard positions. He averaged 6.7 points, 1.6 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game this season. Carlos Delfino also had a solid season as he averaged 5.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. Reserve point guard Lindsay Hunter provides defense at point guard off of the bench. He averaged 4.9 points, 0.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game this season.
The Magic use their bench a lot and they likely will continue to do that in this series. Trevor Ariza is a sparkplug off the bench that provides a ton of energy for the Magic. He averaged 8.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. Power Forward Darko Milicic could be a factor for the Magic as he will likely get a lot of playing time against the team that never let him off of the bench. He averaged 8.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game this season. Keyon Dooling (7.9 points, 1.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists) and Carlos Arroyo (7.7 points, 1.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists) both provide good minutes off the bench at guard for the Magic. Keith Bogans also should get some PT for the Magic in this series. He averaged 5.1 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game this season. EDGE: EVEN
PREDICTION: The Magic will play hard in this series but it won’t show on the scoreboard. Look for the Magic to win a game at home, but the Pistons will win this series in 5 games.
