Magic hope to halt skid with Pistons in town

The Orlando Magic will give it another shot at stopping their current slide as they host the Detroit Pistons Sunday at Amway Center.

The Magic have lost four in a row and 15 of their last 17 games, and dropped a 97-95 decision versus the Toronto Raptors on Thursday. DeMar DeRozan nailed a go-ahead jumper with less than a minute remaining to lift the Raptors, while Nikola Vucevic had 19 points and 14 rebounds to pace Orlando.

Arron Afflalo and Glen Davis ended with 16 and 15 points, respectively, and both Jameer Nelson and J.J. Redick scored 14 points.

"I just think the basketball gods are against us right now," Redick told NBA.com. "They've turned their backs on us. We need to get back in their good graces. Tonight was a first step, if a loss can be a step in the right direction, because we competed the whole game."

Orlando is 8-15 at home this season and has lost three straight and nine of the last 10 games in central Florida. After Sunday's bout with the Pistons, the Magic will start a five-game road trip Monday at Brooklyn.

Detroit will close out a three-game road trip this evening and has lost two straight and four of the past six games.

In a 110-88 blowout at the hands of the Miami Heat on Friday, Greg Monroe had 31 points and 12 rebounds in a losing effort. Will Bynum scored 13 points for Detroit, which beat Miami, 109-99, on Dec. 28 at the Palace of Auburn Hills and dropped to 4-16 away from home.

"[The Heat] turned up the pressure and got right up into our air space and we did not handle it very well," said Pistons coach Lawrence Frank. "There are just certain things from a preparation standpoint that we have to take more pride in and we did not do those things tonight."

The Pistons, who blew a 43-34 lead, committed 19 turnovers which led to 26 Miami points. Meanwhile, Monroe has six double-doubles in his last eight games and 17 this season. Pistons forward Tayshaun Prince needs one 3-pointer for 500 in his career and is closing in on 10,000 career points (needs 179).

Prince is also 31 games shy of tying Vinnie Johnson (798) for fourth on the franchise's all-time list.

Detroit will head home to take on Milwaukee Tuesday night and has lost two of three meetings with the Magic this season, including a 90-74 setback in Orlando on Nov. 21.

Orlando has won eight of 12 meetings with Detroit.