Chris McCosky of the detroit News reports that the Pistons knew Tracy McGrady would give them a battle, but they didn?t expect the officials to do so also. Detroit lost to Orlando 104-99 behind 46 points by McGrady and a 28-9 disadvantage at the free throw line.

McGrady had missed 3 of the last 4 games because of a sore lower back but was able to hit 14-26 shots from the field and score 18 points from the line.

"He has a tremendous game and I don't want to take anything away from him," said Cliff Robinson, one of four defenders the Pistons tried on McGrady. "We gave ourselves an opportunity to win the game, but do we feel as though we got a fair whistle? No, we don't. At the same time, the whistles are going to be inconsistent at times and you have to fight through that."

The Pistons fought through a 17-point deficit in the third quarter and were able to get to within two points on a few occasions but were unable to overcome the disparity at the line and a game-saving circus shot off the glass by Orlando guard Darrell Armstrong as the shot clock expired.

"I don't want to comment on the discrepancy of fouls," said Coach Rick Carlisle, whose team has lost two straight. "But there were a couple of times down the stretch where we deserved to get a call and we didn't, but that's the way it goes."