DETROIT _ On an afternoon the Detroit Pistons shot lights-out from deep, the Orlando Magic just couldn't overcome the absences of their two leading scorers and their sixth man Sunday.
With Aaron Gordon, Evan Fournier, Terrence Ross and Arron Afflalo out with injuries, the Pistons took advantage of the Magic's diminished depth and withstood a late Magic rally for a 114-110 victory at Little Caesars Arena.
The Magic fell behind 105-81 when the Pistons' Anthony Tolliver sank a 3-pointer with 7:00 remaining in the fourth quarter.
But Orlando scored the game's next 19 points to cut their deficit to 105-100 on a layup by Jonathon Simmons with 2:40 to play.
Mario Hezonja missed a 3-pointer from 28 feet with 1:45 to go that would have pulled the Magic within two points. On the Pistons' ensuing possession, former Magic forward Tobias Harris scored on a layup.
The Pistons made 17 of their 34 attempts from 3-point range while the Magic went 17 of 33 from deep.
The Magic did themselves no favors with their ball security. They turned the ball over 17 times, directly leading to 25 Pistons points.
The Magic opened their season with an 8-4 record. Since then, they've lost 16 of 19 games to fall to 11-20.
On Sunday, the Magic wasted a nice performance from center Nikola Vucevic, who tallied 24 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists. Hezonja scored a career- and game-high 28 points.
The Pistons (17-13) won their third consecutive game.
The teams were tied at 22 with 3:14 to go in the first quarter.
Over the next four minutes, the Pistons outscored the Magic 16-3 as Simmons, D.J. Augustin, Jonathan Isaac, Bismack Biyombo and Wes Iwundu received the bulk of the playing time during that stretch.
Isaac, the Magic's prized rookie forward, returned from a 17-game absence due to a sprained right ankle.
In almost 17 minutes of playing time, Isaac disrupted several Pistons shots with his length and agility, but he went 0-of-4 from the field and had two turnovers.
