Pistons 104, Magic 102: Detroit leaves J.J. Redick's 31 points in the dust

The Detroit Pistons edged the Orlando Magic, 104-102, Sunday night at Amway Center to send Orlando to its 16th loss in its last 18 games. The game belonged to J.J. Redick, who made his third consecutive start at shooting guard, as he matched a career-high with 31 points.

Coach Jacque Vaughn's decision to start the Duke product again seemed to work well for the Magic's offense as they faced Detroit. Despite the Magic crumbling in their last road game against the Pistons, 105-90, Orlando competed in a much tighter contest. But a few plays down the stretch cost Orlando the victory.

In the end it was Pistons combo guard Brandon Knight who drilled back-to-back 3-pointers and to help his team eke out a win; he finished the night by setting a new career-high of 31 points. The Magic could have tied the game with a tip-in on their final possession, but Glen Davis, Nikola Vucevic, and Jameer Nelson all missed inside.

Redick tied the Magic's franchise record for most three-pointers made in any quarter; the last Magic player to have accomplish that feat was Cuttino Mobley on Dec. 8, 2004.

And in what was a rare instance, Redick also missed a pair of free throws in the beginning of the third quarter. He quickly made up for those misses by setting his own personal record career-high of eight 3-pointers made.

In his last three games starting at small forward, Arron Afflalo has averaged 6.7 points in his outing. Sunday, Afflalo scored as many points as his jersey number (four) and shot a dreadful 2-of-7 from the field. He did not play in the fourth quarter.

Behind Redick, E'Twaun Moore finished was the only bright spot for Orlando's bench scoring 18 points. Moore shot 50-percent from the field picking up the slack for Afflalo.

Nelson tied with Moore in points scored. Davis scored 17, but he missed 14 of his 22 shot attempts.

The Magic will start their five-game road trip Monday as they face the Brooklyn Nets at 7:30 PM.