During the second week of the 2009-2010 season, the Pistons have gone 1-2 and are 2-4 overall at the moment.
They began with an 85-80 home victory over the visiting Orlando Magic minus both Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince, who’d come down with an unexpected lower back strain. Prince’s injury ended his streak of 496 consecutive games played and league-leading mark of 439 consecutive starts.
The loss was the Magic’s first of the season and their 20th to the Pistons in 24 games going back to the 2006-2007 season.
The depleted Pistons controlled the pace of the game from start to finish and held Dwight Howard, who fouled out, to 8 points and 5 rebounds in 16 minutes. There were a number of heroes from Ben Wallace, who defended Howard, to Will Bynum, who led the reserves with 20 points and drove to the basket repeatedly (despite being poked in the eye by Marcin Gortat) and helped get Howard to foul out in the fourth quarter.
Vince Carter played for Orlando, but was hobbled by a hurt ankle. Rashard Lewis was out, serving a suspension for testing positive for elevated testosterone during the offseason.
The Pistons’...
