NBA ROUNDUP Thursday's game

Pistons 93, Magic 77
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Even on a night when the Detroit Pistons didn't play their best, they were good enough to beat the Orlando Magic -- again. Tayshaun Prince scored 23 points, Chauncey Billups added 21 and the Pistons took a 3-0 lead in the first-round playoff series. The victory ended a postseason trend for the Pistons -- they had lost their last six Game 3s when leading 2-0 -- and left them one victory from advancing to the second round. Game 4 is Saturday in Orlando. Detroit gave the Magic plenty of chances in this one. The Pistons trailed early, let Orlando be physical and seemingly got flustered as they were whistled for three technical fouls. Leading scorer Richard Hamilton even had an off night, scoring 10 points on 2-of-11 shooting. But Detroit made up for it with solid outside shooting from Prince, Billups and Rasheed Wallace. The Pistons finished 8-of-13 from behind the arc. Wallace, who had 15 points, was 3-for-3. Prince was 3-for-5, and Billups was 2-for-3. Jameer Nelson, a defensive liability at times in the first two games, led the Magic with 27 points on 10-of-19 shooting. Dwight Howard had 11 points and 12 rebounds. Grant Hill and Hedo Turkoglu, the two players who carried Orlando in the first two games, combined 6-of-22 from the field.
Associated Press
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