The Magic caught the Detroit Pistons at the right time this time.

The struggling Pistons buried themselves with awful shooting in the first half, and could not recover sufficiently to avoid their seventh straight loss, 87-78, Friday night before a crowd of 15,146.

Darrell Armstrong scored 21 points and Tracy McGrady added 20 points, eight rebounds and six assists before fouling out in the final minute as the Magic (14-17) broke a three-game losing streak of their own.

After shooting 29 percent in the first half, the Pistons were hanging around late in the game, down by only seven when Magic Coach Doc Rivers thought he saw some of his players hanging their heads.

"We had a timeout when they made the run and I said: 'Hey guys, they've lost six in a row over there, so it's not like that's a big confidence group over there either,' " Rivers said. "It's going to come down to who wants to drag this out down the stretch, and our guys did."

Armstrong scored the next two baskets and the Magic went on to avenge a 105-100 loss here a month ago.

"Detroit is at the top of the Eastern Conference right now, but they're struggling as well," said McGrady. "Every team goes through what we've gone through this year, except the Lakers."

Ben Wallace led the Pistons with 16 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks. Jerry Stackhouse and Chucky Atkins scored 13 each. But Stackhouse shot 3-for-15.

Led by nine rebounds from Patrick Ewing and eight each by McGrady and Horace Grant, the Magic had a rare 49-42 rebounding advantage.

The Magic grabbed the lead with 12 straight first-quarter points while McGrady was on the bench. He didn't score until making a couple of free throws with 7:16 left in the first half.

McGrady followed that with a three-pointer, his only field goal of the half, during a stretch of more than a 13 1/2 minutes in which the Pistons managed just seven points. Troy Hudson turned a steal into a layup for a 33-15 lead, the largest of the game.

Detroit made only nine of its first 38 shots. Clifford Robinson, Stackhouse and Atkins made three straight to help the Pistons get back to within 12 points at the end of the half.

Wallace had four dunks on a 25-13 Piston run that reduced a 17-point lead to 62-57 in the third quarter.

A three-pointer by Dana Barros chopped the lead to four early in the fourth period, but a technical foul on Jon Barry contributed to a four-point play that helped the Magic push it back up to 10.

MAGIC NOTES
Ewing, who turns 40 in August, said he will not attempt to play beyond his current contract, which runs out after next season.