Magic finally get past Pistons

Just 48 hours earlier, many of the Orlando Magic's players had sweaty palms and racing heartbeats as their team plane made an unscheduled landing in Cincinnati and had a convoy of fire trucks and ambulances escorting them down the runway.
Contrast that somewhat scary scene to Wednesday night when a Magic team under heaps of pressure kept its cool and had the playoff-hardened Detroit Pistons sweating and gasping for air.
When Rashard Lewis played like the 118 million dollar man that he is with 33 clutch points and Dwight Howard swatted shots like a basketball version of Karch Kiraly, the Magic were finally able to make a stand against a Detroit team that had dominated them for years.
The Magic's 111-86 thumping of the Pistons not only helped them get back into a second-round series, but it also allowed them to end a five-year drought against Detroit. Dating back to their infamous 3-1 collapse in 2003, Orlando had lost nine consecutive playoff games to the Pistons, the fourth longest such streak in league history.
To Howard, who was openly embarrassed by last spring's first-round sweep at the hands of the Pistons, this was especially gratifying.
"It just feels good to finally beat those guys," said Howard, who battered Detroit's Jason Maxiell for 20 points, 12 rebounds and six thunderous blocks. "The main thing is when we play how we know how to play -- run and cut the turnovers down -- we can beat anybody. (Wednesday) was a great win for us."
It was finally a bit of good news for a Magic team that endured a couple of rounds of high drama on Monday. First, they lost Game 2 in controversial fashion after Chauncey Billups' 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter was allowed to stand despite a malfunctioning clock.
Then, incredibly, things got worse for an already frazzled Magic squad. Minutes into their flight home from Detroit, pilots informed the team that they would have to make an emergency stop in Cincinnati because of mechanical problems on the plane. If that wasn't enough to rattle some of those already fearful of flying, the sight of all the flashing lights on the fire trucks certainly did the trick.
"There was nothing we could do because we don't have parachutes and nobody knows how to skydive," joked Jameer Nelson. "They just said that everything was fine and that we needed to land and be safe. Nobody panicked, or nobody showed it, at least. But I'm sure some guys were a little nervous."
If Lewis was nervous heading into Wednesday's Game 3, he certainly didn't show it. He limped into the game shooting a frigid 36.6 percent from the floor and 16.7 percent from the 3-point line. But on Wednesday he hit 3-pointers when open (five of six) and relentlessly attacked Rasheed Wallace off the dribble (11 of 15 shooting overall). He was, in a word, cool.
"It feels good, especially hitting a couple of threes," said Lewis, who had his highest scoring game in a Magic uniform and registered a new playoff high. "I hadn't been shooting the 3-ball well since the playoffs started. My shot has felt really good, but it just hasn't been going in. Shooters don't stop shooting, and I wasn't going to stop."