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Magic welcome Pistons to central Florida

Nov 30, 2010 - 3:47 PM (Sports Network) - The Orlando Magic will try to keep a few winning streaks intact when they welcome the Detroit Pistons to central Florida this evening for a showdown at Amway Center.

Orlando has won three in a row overall, four straight at home and is unbeaten in the previous three meetings with the Pistons. In Saturday's 100-99 win at Washington, Dwight Howard banked in a shot with four seconds remaining to finish with a season-best 32 points and also grabbed 11 rebounds.

Quentin Richardson had 20 points and six rebounds, while Jameer Nelson added 11 points for the Magic, who have won seven of their last eight games.

"There was never a doubt in that one, guys. We played that one exactly the way we wanted. Never a doubt," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy told NBA.com. "You'll hear coaches say that, but it couldn't be more true tonight. We absolutely stole a game."

The Magic were without veteran Vince Carter for the third straight game because of a strained knee. Carter is questionable for Tuesday's game against the Pistons. Orlando is 9-2 against the Eastern Conference and 8-2 in the Magic Kingdom this season.

Detroit, meanwhile, will try to put the brakes on a three-game road losing streak Tuesday night and has dropped five of its last seven games overall, including Sunday's 125-116 double-overtime loss versus New York.

Richard Hamilton scored 17 points and became the sixth player in team history to score 11,000 points. Tayshaun Prince and Rodney Stuckey contributed 31 and 29 points, respectively, for the Pistons, who will also visit Miami on the short trek and are 2-7 outside of The Palace this season.

"We had to change some things up because they had a pretty small lineup and we had to make some adjustments," Pistons head coach John Kuester said. "I thought our guys did a good job of it. We kept our poise and made the game go into overtime."

Tracy McGrady had season highs of 13 points and 29 minutes in defeat.

The Pistons are 10-5 in the past 15 meetings with Orlando, but have lost two in a row and three of four contests at the Magic.