Detroit Pistons magical in win over Orlando

38. 109. 64. Final. 86

Caldwell-Pope struggled mightily on both sides of the ball in the first half, particularly when having to guard Victor Oladipo. However, it was a different story, at least defensively, in the second half when he and the rest of the Pistons flipped the script and played better as a unit against the slashing Oladipo.Unfortunately, Caldwell-Pope never found much of a rhythm offensively and finished just 2/8 from the floor.. SG. Pistons. KENTAVIOUS CALDWELL-POPE. D

B. It was a rough first half for all of the Pistons starters, including Drummond. Offensively he was almost nonexistent, including a pathetic display from the free throw line, but what was worse was his defense on Nikola Vucevic. Vucevic’s range in particular was troubling Drummond as he started 4/4 with three of his first four shots 15-feet and out to which Drummond had no answer for. Then Drummond came alive in the third quarter recording 9-points, 11-rebounds, with two blocks in about 10 minutes of play. When came out of the game in the third quarter, he never needed to return thanks to the outstanding bench play. Drummond’s final stat line would be 17-points, 22-rebounds, and three blocks. The reason his grade drops is because he went just 5/16 from the free throw line.. Center. Pistons. ANDRE DRUMMOND

B. Tolliver got his feet wet, making his Piston debut tonight. It was a good start for him, the Pistons won and he knocked down a few nice shots in just under 11 minutes of play.. SF/PF. Pistons. ANTHONY TOLLIVER

Pistons. BRANDON JENNINGS. D. Jennings finally cooled off after shooting the ball well over the last four games. Tonight he was 2/9 from the floor with just two assists and he didn’t over much defensively either as the Magic’s rookie point guard Elfrid Payton had a few easy lay ins.. PG

C. nine points for Singler tonight on 50% shooting, but he was out classed on defense against Tobias Harris, particularly in the first half.. SF. Pistons. KYLE SINGLER

D. Monroe left a lot to be desired on offense and didn’t do too hot on Vucevic defensively when Drummond was taking a breather. However, he had some nice boards in the third quarter and gave good effort.. PF/C. Pistons. GREG MONROE

A+. Meeks was unconscious in the second quarter going 6/6 from 3-point land and scoring a total of 20-points. His shooting was impressive to say the least, but give credit to D.J. Augustin for setting him up with easy shots. His defense was also solid aside from being blown by a couple times by Oladipo. There was one play in particular in the second quarter where Drummond was caught sleeping as Vucevic cut to the other side of the paint behind him for what would have been an easy two points. Unfortunately for Vucevic, Meeks recognized what was going on and slip over to help until Drummond could recover.<p class=. SG. Pistons. JODIE MEEKS

A+. Augustin’s 11-points and 10-assists in 30 minutes is impressive, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. His play in the second quarter during a seven minute period ignited the Pistons run to grab the lead before the half. Jodie Meeks deserves a ton of credit for his lights out shooting, but most of that was set up by Augustin’s penetration in the lane.. PG. Pistons. D.J. AUGUSTIN

CARON BUTLER. C. Butler had a pretty quite night in just 18 minutes of action, going 1/4 on the night for three points.. SF. Pistons

A. 6-points, four-blocks, 3-rebounds for Anthony in just 12 minutes. Anthony probably played his best game in two seasons tonight. If the Pistons could get half of that from Anthony every night he could find himself into the rotation.. Center. Pistons. JOEL ANTHONY

B-. Nothing will pop out on the stat sheet from Jerebko tonight, but I thought he always made the right play on offense and I didn’t notice any issues on defense either. Jerebko did have a highlight offensive rebound in the second quarter that might have been one of the best offensive rebounds I’ve ever seen, particularly because it was with three magic defenders standing near him. His effort is spectacular every night.. SF/PF. Pistons. JONAS JEREBKO

A+. I loved Van Gundy’s substitutions tonight. He let Meeks and Augustin play the entire second quarter together which arguably won the Pistons the game and he let Drummond and Monroe bully the Magic down low in the third quarter which sealed the game. In fact, the Pistons played so well tonight that Caldwell-Pope was the only starter that saw fourth quarter minutes tonight.<p class=. Head Coach. Pistons. STAN VAN GUNDY