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Pistons hand Magic 1st loss

The Associated Press

Orlando Magic's Dwight Howard, center, watches from the bench with Vince Carter, left, and Marcin Gortat.

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The Associated Press

Published: November 3, 2009

Updated: 11/04/2009 12:46 am

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - Ben Gordon scored 23 points and Rodney Stuckey added 20 as the shorthanded Detroit Pistons beat Orlando 85-80 on Tuesday night, handing the Magic their first loss of the season.

Vince Carter led Orlando with 15 points. Dwight Howard had eight points and five rebounds in 17 minutes before fouling out.

Orlando led 41-38 at the half, despite Howard being limited to nine minutes because of foul trouble, and lost him again less than 90 seconds into the third quarter with a shoulder injury.

Howard returned midway through the period and the game was tied at 60 heading into the fourth quarter.

The game was still tied at 77 when Howard fouled out with 3:45 left, but the Magic didn't score again until J.J. Redick's meaningless 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Detroit's Tayshaun Prince saw his streak of 496 straight games played end as he was sidelined with a back injury. Prince last missed a game on April 13, 2003 - during his rookie season.

Prince will be sidelined for at least three games before his status is evaluated this weekend. Richard Hamilton (ankle) also sat out.

The Pistons got 20 points from third guard Will Bynum.

The Pistons won despite only getting two assists in the first half and one in the fourth quarter.

ORLANDO (80) - Carter 6-16 0-0 15, Anderson 2-14 2-2 7, Howard 2-2 4-8 8, Nelson 3-11 0-0 7, Redick 4-12 3-3 14, Gortat 2-4 0-0 4, Bass 3-7 0-0 6, Barnes 5-9 1-1 11, Williams 2-4 2-2 8. Totals 29-79 12-16 80.

DETROIT (85) - Jerebko 0-5 0-0 0, Villanueva 3-11 6-7 12, Wallace 1-2 0-0 2, Stuckey 7-20 6-8 20, Gordon 6-10 11-11 23, Brown 2-5 2-6 6, Bynum 7-15 6-6 20, Wilcox 0-2 0-0 0, Daye 1-2 0-0 2, Atkins 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-72 31-38 85.

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