Empty the Bench

By Brian Spencer

It’s only one game in a long season, and it was on the road against a team that’s had their number for a few seasons now. Sometimes the ball simply doesn’t bounce your way, good shots don’t drop, everything your opponent does comes up roses. One bad game by the Orlando Magic is hardly cause for panic, but if head coach Stan Van Gundy is smart (and we already know he’s passionate), he uses Tuesday night’s 85-80 loss to the short-handed Detroit Pistons as an excuse to remind his team that last year was last year. If they hope to successfully defend their Eastern Conference crown and return to the NBA Finals, they’re going to have to work hard at it, every night. Probably even harder than they did last year.

The table was set for a Magic blowout win: the revamped Pistons are still finding their way and in search of their team identity, as evidenced by their back-to-back losses to the scary Oklahoma City Thunder and the raw Milwaukee Bucks. They were missing their leading scorer of the past seven seasons, Rip Hamilton, as well as ironman Tayshaun Prince, whose streak of consecutive regular-season games finally came to an end at an astounding 496. On top of that, the thin Pistons’ frontcourt looked to be overmatched by the brute low-post force of Dwight Howard, the seven-foot presence of backup center Marcin Gortat, and the versatility of Brandon Bass, Matt Barnes, and Ryan Anderson.

This is why they play the game though.

The Pistons defense again surprised, holding the Magic to just 36% from the field as a team, including 28% from behind the three-point line. Defense was supposed to be Detroit’s biggest liability this year, but at this very early stage of the season they’re ranked second overall in points allowed, behind just the smothering Boston Celtics, at 85.3 points per. They outrebounded the bigger, stronger Magic by a margin of 44-42 thanks to a game-high 10 from a rejuvenated Ben Wallace and 14 total between starting guards Ben Gordon and Rodney Stuckey. And they got the Magic in early foul trouble, with both Howard and Gortat fouling out in the fourth quarter and combining for just 12 points and 12 boards.

Give it up for the Pistons. They scratched and clawed and hustled their way to the W. Backup PG Will Bynum, in particular, was magnificent, especially during the tight fourth quarter. Bynum wanted the ball in his hands, repeatedly broke down Jameer Nelson on the perimeter, and fearlessly drove into the teeth of the Magic defense to draw crucial fouls on the Magic bigs. He finished with 20 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals in 28 minutes off the bench.

For all the Pistons did well, though, the Magic were lazy for much of the night: look no further than their 35 three-point shots, the most ever attempted in a single game against any Detroit Pistons team. You got the sense that they felt like they could just show up and walk off the court with an easy win, and that’s something Van Gundy needs to nip in the bud immediately. They are not in a position to take anybody lightly.

I’m not suggesting that kind of attitude has or will manifest itself within this team, but I’ve seen it before in the post-championship Pistons of a few years ago, and it’s a recipe for disaster. The Magic may still consider themselves a hunter since they fell short of their ultimate goal last year, but they need to realize that they’re now actually the hunted in the East. They have a target on their chest, and on most nights they’re going to get their opponents’ best effort.

It’s only one game. But I think the Orlando Magic just got their first wake-up call of the season, and I think Stan Van Gundy just got his first chance to impart a valuable teaching lesson.