Detroit Pistons vs Orlando Magic Match Player Stats On Apr 12, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Apr 12, 2017

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Aaron Gordon scored 32 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in leading the Orlando Magic to a season-ending 113-109 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night.

Elfrid Payton scored 21 points, including six in the final 1:10 to ice the victory for the Magic (29-53). The Pistons (37-44) trailed throughout the night and never led by more than two points.

Nikola Vucevic had 18 points and 11 rebounds. Payton added 13 assists. Evan Fournier had 12 points. Reserve Jodie Meeks scored 12 points.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Ish Smith led the Pistons with 20 points. Andre Drummond had nine points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Boban Marjanovic had 14 points and 11 rebounds. Reggie Bullock scored 17 points. Henry Ellenson had 12 points, including nine in the fourth quarter rally.

Marjanovic completed back-to-back 3-point plays to give the Pistons a 106-105 lead with 1:23 remaining. Payton answered with three consecutive baskets that made the difference.

Detroit tied the game at 90 on a free throw by Ellenson early in the fourth. Darrun Hilliard followed with a pair of free throws for Detroit's first lead of the game, 92-90.

Caldwell-Pope scored 13 points in the third period when the Pistons cut the deficit to just six points.

The Magic led 59-49 at halftime when Gordon scored 18 points and made seven of his 12 shots. They led by as many as 21 points in the first quarter when they hit six of their 10 3-point attempts.

The Pistons struggled to shoot straight early. Detroit's five starters made just four of 25 shots in the opening period. The Pistons reserves outscored the starters before intermission.

The Magic scored first and never trailed in the first half.

NOTES: Hanging over the season finale was the growing speculation that the Magic will soon fire general manager Rob Hennigan, who was hired in 2012 but has failed to produce a team that reached the playoffs. ... The Magic slipped from 35 victories to just 29 this season. The Pistons also finished a disappointing season, going from 44 victories last season to just 37 this season. Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy -- who also is team president -- said before the game that his coach didn't have a good year. "I don't think I had a good year (as coach), or did a good job with this team," Van Gundy said. "You can't look at the results, and say I did a good job, although I still feel I'm the guy who can get it turned around." ... Magic C Nikola Vucevic found little joy earlier this week when he passed Shaquille O'Neal to become the second leading rebounder in franchise history, now trailing only Dwight Howard. He did it against Chicago in a 47-point loss, the worst loss in franchise history. "I'm proud of it (passing O'Neal), but I couldn't really enjoy it on a night like that," he said.