The Detroit Pistons alternated Rasheed Wallace and Antonio McDyess inside on Dwight Howard all game, making sure the Orlando Magic's 6-foot-11, 268-pound center always had a fresh body pressed against him.
And just for good measure, Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince never strayed far away, digging down on Howard's catches on the low block.
But, according to McDyess, Detroit's famed defense wasn't the only thing stopping Orlando's first-team All-NBA center in Game 4.
"[The Magic] played defense on him, we didn't,'' McDyess said, taking a not-so-subtle jab at Orlando's indifference to getting Howard the ball. "They stopped giving [Howard] the ball in the paint. [Hedo] Turkoglu just started taking over the game and he wasn't getting the ball in the paint. So that was huge, and we just tried to stay body to body with [Howard] and help out when Turkoglu came to the basket."
Orlando squandered a golden opportunity to draw even with the veteran-laden Pistons on Saturday, losing 90-89 in a game in which it once led by 15 points and had Detroit without star point guard Chauncey Billups because of a strained hamstring.
Orlando lost when point guard Jameer Nelson missed a free throw with 44 seconds remaining that would have put the Magic up two points. The Magic lost when they allowed McDyess to grab his 14th rebound of the game, one that eventually set up Tayshaun Prince's go-ahead points with 8.9 seconds remaining.
But ultimately the Magic's great undoing was getting away from relentlessly pounding the ball inside to Howard. He scored six points in the game's first five minutes, but had just two free throws the rest of the game. His eight points were a playoff low, and afterward Howard could barely hide his frustration over not getting the ball.
"We can't get stuck in playing the way they play; we have to play our game,'' said Howard, referring to the Magic's offense bogging down and not running more in the second half. "The main thing is to not get frustrated. I got a little frustrated. If we want to win this series, we've got to be able to play our game."
Wallace, like McDyess, saw Howard's frustration building throughout the game when he got just 12 shots and two free throws. Also, Wallace feels that the constant pounding might be starting to wear on Orlando's 22-year-old star. And those easy dunks and putbacks that Howard got so often in the first round when he hammered the Toronto Raptors for three 20-point, 20-rebound games have been nonexistent in this series.
"He couldn't get in there and get the easy buckets that he wanted and we definitely saw that frustration from him,'' Wallace said. "We want a physical game. That's right up our alley.''
Howard refused to blame his teammates for not getting him the ball more, only promising that he will be better in Tuesday's Game 5.
"I missed a lot of shots," Howard mumbled. "I just had a little frustration and there wasn't a thing I could do about. I just have to come back the next game and give a better effort."
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