The set-up: It's starting took as if more than a few people "jumped the gun" in their praise that the addition of Blake Griffin was going to help the Detroit Pistons secure an Eastern Conference playoff spot. The Pistons obtained Griffin from the LA Clippers on Jan. 30. They had lost eight straight but beat Cleveland shortly after the deal was completed. Griffin's arrival occurred in the second game of what would become a five-game winning streak that pushed Detroit one game above .500 on Feb. 7 after beating the Brooklyn Nets. However, Detroit then lost six of its next seven, with five of those defeats coming by double digits.The 29-32 Pistons are currently sitting in the No. 9 spot in the Eastern Conference, 2 1/2 games outside of the playoff 'cut line.' Detroit will be in Orlando tonight to face the 18-43 Magic, as they open a three-game road trip. Orlando owns the worst record in the Eastern Conference and the Magic are coming off a 117-104 home loss to the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday, the team's seventh straight loss. It marks the team's fourth losing streak of at least seven games this season.

Detroit: The Pistons did earn an impressive win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday (110-87) and will try to make it two in a row in tonight's game. Detroit snapped a three-game slide with Wednesday's win and a big difference was the play of the second unit, led by Johnson. He has been moved from the starting lineup to the bench and delivered 19 points, six rebounds and four assists in 30 minutes. "We've got, what? Twenty-one games left?" Pistons small forward Stanley Johnson asked reporters after Wednesday's win. "And we're back what? Three games (entering play on Thursday)? We've got to get on it. There's no sugar coating that. Everyone in the gym knows it. We know it. Y'all know it. It's our job to do our job." Griffin scored 24 points in his Detroit debut back on Feb. 1 in a 104-102 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. The Pistons are 6-6 in the 12 games Griffin has played with him averaging 18.3-6.8-5.5. Center Drummond is a double-double 'machine' (15.1 & 15.8) but the Pistons really need PG Jackson (14.6 & 5.5 APG) to get back on the court. Head coach Stan Van Gundy said he's hopeful Jackson (ankle) can return to practice at some point prior to the team's West Coast road trip on Mar. 13.

Orlando: The Magic Orlando allowed the Raptors to shoot 54.2 percent from the floor on Wednesday and is near the bottom in the NBA in field-goal percentage defense (.47.5% ranks ). "We kind of lose the same way every night," Magic swingman Evan Fournier told reporters. "We start well, we're playing good, and in the third quarter or fourth or whatever we let them get on a run and we never recover from it. They get too comfortable and once the lead is up to seven or eight, the lead keeps growing and we're just never able to come back." The loss repeated the pattern from Monday's five-point loss at Oklahoma City on Monday. The Magic shot 56 percent and scored 62 points by halftime against the Thunder, but those totals dropped to 42 percent and 43 points in the final two quarters. "It's been an issue for us all year long," Magic center Nikola Vucevic told reporters. "We have to figure out how to do a better job defensively, follow the game plan, compete and make the extra effort out there. We don't (make) enough of those plays consistently." PF Gordon (18.0 & 8.2), SG Fournier (18.0) and center Vucevic (17.2 & 9.0) are all quality players but the Magic continue to struggle.

The pick: Detroit bounced back nicely by dominating the paint and the boards in a 110-87 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday but how much does that really mean? Detroit hasn't covered two straight in a 21game spanand is 2-11 SU in its last 13 road games. Friday begins a stretch with nine of 12 games outside of Detroit and the Pistons haven't won on the road since Jan. 10 at Brooklyn (are 9-19 SU away from home on the season). Sure, Orlando has won just 18 games all season but the Magic have won five straight here in Orlando vs. the Pistons. Take the home dog and make Orlando a 10* play.