Magic fall to Pistons
Squander 3-1 series lead as they drop first-round Game 7
TODAY IN CENTRAL FLORIDA SPORTS HISTORY
The Orlando Magic were so close to pulling off a historic playoff series win. Instead, they met a familiar postseason ending at the hands of the Detroit Pistons.
The Magic were overmatched by the top-seeded Pistons from the start as they absorbed a 108-93 loss in Game 7 of their openinground Eastern Conference playoff series of the Eastern Conference on this date in 2003.
Orlando took a 3-1 series lead but had few answers for Detroit after that.
The Pistons took Game 5 by 31 points and won the next two by 15 to eliminate the Magic from the first round for the third consecutive year.
Chauncey Billups scored a game-high 37 points as the Pistons became the seventh team in NBA history to that point to advance after falling behind 3-1 in a series.
Billups had 40 in Game 6 to help the Pistons, who earned the top seed in the East with a 50-32 record, force the decisive Game 7.
Tracy McGrady finished with 21 points, but he was harassed for much of the game by Pistons rookie Tayshaun Prince and wound up 7-of-24 from the field. McGrady, the NBA’s regularseason scoring leader, averaged 36.2 points through four games as Orlando went up 3-1 in the series.
“Before, I felt like we had to play almost perfect to have a chance. But this time, we were up 3-1 and it was right there for us to take,”
McGrady told the Associated Press after the loss.
The Miami Heat (1999) and Seattle SuperSonics (1994) had been the only top-seeded teams to lose in the first round since the playoffs were expanded to a 16-team format in 1984.
Ben Wallace, who went to Detroit as part of the trade that brought Grant Hill to Orlando in 2000, posted 12 rebounds, seven points, five assists, five blocks and two steals.