The Pistons are slumping, no longer the team that has been so formidable over the last several years. They will come to Orlando having lost eight consecutive games.

They beat the Magic in the second round last year, and they swept the Magic in the first round two years ago. Last year was devastating for a young team that thought it should have won the series.

The Pistons have struggled since trading Chauncey Billups to Denver early this season in exchange for Allen Iverson. They still could be a first-round playoff opponent if they can pull out of their slump.

If that's the case, the Magic would love to send a message in advance.

The Magic are coming off a 114-109 victory at New York in which they rebounded from a dreadful showing in Chicago on Tuesday. Although the Magic clearly are the better team now, the thought of meeting the Pistons in the playoffs would be cause for concern.

MAGIC 114, KNICKS 109: Hedo Turkoglu had his second 30-point game of the season, but it was Dwight Howard doing the heavy lifting again with a 24-point, 21-rebound night. It was the sixth 20-20 game this season for Howard and the 20th time in his career that he has accomplished the feat. Both came out with considerably more energy than they showed the previous night at Chicago. Although some teams are often sluggish on the second half of back-to-back games, the Magic were just the opposite Wednesday. "This is the most famous arena in the country," said Turkoglu. "It's not hard to get excited about playing here."