The Detroit Pistons need one win to secure the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. It will likely take a lot more than that for the Orlando Magic to secure a postseason spot.

The Pistons look to wrap up home-court advantage throughout the East playoffs Wednesday night as they try for a season series sweep of the Orlando Magic.

Detroit (50-27) needs one win or a Chicago loss to clinch home-court advantage throughout the conference playoffs. The Bulls host Charlotte on Friday night.

The Pistons beat New York 91-83 on Monday night, giving them 50 wins in a franchise-record sixth straight season - one more than their stretch from 1986-91.

ADVERTISEMENT
"Fifty wins is not something that is easy to go by. It's not something you just pluck out," Detroit coach Flip Saunders said. "Teams that are at 30 are dying to get to 50. That's kind of become our norm."

The Pistons will try to complete their first sweep of the Magic (36-41) since winning all four meetings in 1991-92. Detroit is 3-0 against Orlando this season, holding the Magic to 86.7 points per game.

In the last meeting, the Magic shot 39.4 percent and lost 94-89 on Feb. 23 at Orlando in the finale of a home-and-home series.

The Pistons have won five in a row at home against the Magic since an 87-86 defeat on Feb. 22, 2004. That doesn't bode well for Orlando, which is in a tight race with three teams for the final two playoff spots in the East. (The Magic will be tied for seventh place if New Jersey loses tonight.)

Detroit has won five of six overall, holding opponents under 90 points in each victory.

Chauncey Billups scored 22 points and Richard Hamilton added 19 in the victory over the Knicks. Billups is averaging 25.3 points while shooting 57.7 percent in his last four games against the Magic.

Rasheed Wallace was back in Detroit's starting lineup after coming off the bench in a win over Cleveland on Sunday, and recorded six points and six rebounds in 28 minutes against New York. The Pistons want to limit Wallace's workload because of a hyperextended finger on his left (non-shooting) hand.

Orlando equaled its best shooting performance of the season Monday night, making 62.5 percent of its shots from the floor in a 117-94 victory over Milwaukee. The Magic also shot 62.5 percent in a Feb. 2 victory over New Jersey.

Orlando is on its best two-game offensive run this season, having shot 58.2 percent in a 116-89 win over Memphis on Saturday night. That's due in part to Hedo Turkoglu, who's averaging 25.6 points while shooting 62.8 percent (27-for-43) in his last three games. He had 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting Monday.

"Getting ready for the playoffs, you've got to have guys on the perimeter that knock down those shots," said Magic forward Dwight Howard, averaging 23.7 points and shooting 62.5 percent in three games against Detroit this season.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/media/photo/2006-12/26802796.jpg
"Don't make me eat you, kid"

Place your bets! It's alpaca (http://wtfdetroit.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9033)time:

NBA: Richard Hamilton (DET) Total Points vs. Orl (4/11/07) (http://wtfdetroit.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9048)

NBA: Dwight Howard (ORL) Total Rebounds vs. Det (4/11/07) (http://wtfdetroit.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9047)

NBA: Orlando at Detroit over/under (4/11/07) ESPN (http://wtfdetroit.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9046)

NBA: Orlando at Detroit (4/11/07) ESPN (http://wtfdetroit.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9045)

Let's go Pistons!

12.5 boards for Dwight Howard? I can't help but bet it all on that.
He could go over that on his worst night ^_^

No Darko line?

O/U on TOs + PF = 5

9 boards before halftime, DH = Alpacaust

BIG......FUCKING....SHOT .........
to clinch the east.

We shoot 55%, both guards score 20+, 30-odd assists, Dwight Howard has a subpar game at the other end, and we only win by 5? Hmmm...

look at the free-throw discrepancy...

I'm really liking the way the boys are playing down the stretch. The seam geared up for another run. The Heat are the only team in the East that scares me.

i saw like 2 mins of the game in the 3rd, but it looked like we were just toying with them. im not sure theres anything to take from this game.

This shit is 100% Sun Tzu's Art of War. The best way to win a basketball game is by looking for weaknesses and taking advantage of them. Most basketball games don't need to be hard-slogging deathmatches. Strategy can make the game much easier.

Pistons play with a formula - they have to, they don't have any Ubermensch freaks like Lebron on the team. Every formula can be figured out, and by the time this happens, word spreads fast.

Playing against Shaq was a pretty easy formula for a long time - they had to pass to him, so foul him, he can't make FTs. But with Wade around, that doesn't work anymore, so the new formula is obviously "force Miami to pass to Shaq, and after a few buckets he'll turn into jelly." (Well, it's not obvious to Flip Saunders, but it's obvious to a lot of other coaches.)

The formula on the Pistons seems to be getting some play now - "wait until they have one of their periods of defensive laziness, usually in the 2nd or 3rd quarter, and then start driving to the hole." Don't be fooled - it can be done.

The formula on the Pistons seems to be getting some play now - "wait until they have one of their periods of defensive laziness, usually in the 2nd or 3rd quarter, and then start driving to the hole." Don't be fooled - it can be done.

All warfare is based on deception.

Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.

^_^

When teams go on those runs while Detroit is taking their smoke break from the regular season redundancy , Detroit is the fresh team at the end of the game.