ORLANDO, Fla.(AP) -- Dwight Howard made up for a miserable
performance against the Pistons three nights earlier.

Even so, he was still irked by what happened in the fourth
quarter.

Howard's 22 points and 12 rebounds were enough to help the
Orlando Magic hold off Charlie Villanueva and Detroit 110-103
Friday night, but the win was soured by the Pistons' 35-point
fourth quarter.

"We haven't played good enough defense to be a great team,"
Howard said. "We have to try and be great every night, and
that's just not happening yet. Sometimes you have ugly games,
and tonight the fourth quarter was ugly, but we still got a good
win."

Villanueva scored 22 of his 28 points in the quarter, but it
wasn't enough to get past the defending Eastern Conference
champs, who led by 19 early and never trailed at all.

"Charlie was great. He gave us a chance in the fourth, but you
can't rely on one guy to try and bring you back," Ben Gordon
said. "We dug ourselves a hole and just couldn't get over the
hump."

Three nights after fouling out with eight points in 17 minutes,
Howard was nearly perfect. He made 7 of 8 field goals and 8 of 9
free throws and didn't commit a foul until after halftime.

Matt Barnes had 18 points and nine rebounds for the Magic and
Jameer Nelson also scored 18, with eight assists.

Orlando had lost 20 of 25 regular season games to the Pistons,
including one earlier in the week.

The closest Detroit came on Friday night was 96-90 after a shot
by Villanueva with about three minutes to play.

Rodney Stuckey scored 20 points and Gordon finished with 19 for
the Pistons.

"We're not playing smart enough. We didn't play enough defense
and for too many minutes we were just hanging on to win a
regular-season game," coach Stan Van Gundy said. "We aren't
making the push to be great. I don't know if we will. We'll have
to see."

NOTES: The Magic were already without Vince Carter (sprained
left ankle) and Rashard Lewis (10-game suspension) before losing
lost starting power forward Ryan Anderson to a sprained right
ankle in the third quarter. ... Detroit was without starters Rip
Hamilton (right ankle sprain) and Tayshaun Prince (lower back
strain). ... The Magic shot 30 of 35 overall from the line. ...
The Pistons were staying at a downtown hotel less than mile from
where a gunman opened fire and killed one person and wounded
five others late Friday morning, causing a shutdown of city
streets during a search for the assailant. They had to detour
returning to the team hotel after the morning practice.