magische winx » up with some wins." Teheran began

ORLANDO, Fla. -- During the Magics recent struggles one of the few constants has been the offence provided by Arron Afflalo. The veteran provided another reminder of why hes so indispensable for a young team trying to find itself. Afflalo scored 23 points to lead five Orlando players in double-figures and the Magic snapped a three-game losing streak with a 109-92 win over the Detroit Pistons on Friday night. Orlando led the Pistons by as many as 22 points and cruised in the fourth quarter. Afflalo said the victory was one of the most complete efforts the Magic have posted in recent memory. "Its good to get a win at home for once," said Afflalo, who has scored at least 20 points in five straight outings. "I dont think weve won here this month. It was pretty impressive defensively. I thought the bigs did a great job trying to fight their bigs all night rebounding. I thought we shared the ball throughout the game, made the right play. "When we play like that I think were pretty good." The Magics leading scorer this season, Afflalo played eight minutes of the third quarter after lightly turning his left ankle. But after coming out of the game briefly, he was able to finish the period -- scoring six points -- before resting in the fourth. "The ankle, its one of those things where if you can fight through it, you go ahead and play," he said. The victory halted a five-game home losing streak for the Magic, who hadnt won at the Amway Center since the day before Thanksgiving. Nik Vucevic added 20 points and 11 rebounds, and rookie Victor Oladipo finished with 16 points and a career-high 11 assists. Magic coach Jacque Vaughn thought Fridays effort was sparked by what he called a surprisingly "intense" practice for this time of year. "That has to be our signature -- we have to come to work," he said. "I always tell them I dont know what results thats going to lead to wins and losses-wise, but you can look yourself in the mirror and appreciate what you do for a living, and your teammates appreciate you when you come to work." Brandon Jennings had 21 points and Will Bynum added 18 for the Pistons, who had a streak of three consecutive road victories ended. "From the start of the game, we just couldnt get anything going. We got a couple stops in the third quarter, but we couldnt score, and it just kept going downhill from there," Pistons coach Maurice Cheeks said. "We couldnt get anything going offensively, they pushed the ball down our throat defensively, and then we didnt make any shots." The Pistons, who claimed eight of their 14 wins on the road, never found a flow on offence. They shot 41 per cent for the game, and were outscored in the paint 58-48. "We had no sense of urgency and we didnt muster energy at all tonight," Jennings said. "Its got to be a collective unit to try to get it back together, but we didnt have it tonight." In some of their recent losses Orlando had started fast, only to fall apart late in the games. The Magic jumped out to another early lead, but this time were able to sustain it with a variety of scoring bursts that kept the Pistons playing catch up for most of the night. Orlando hovered over 50 per cent shooting throughout and carried a 19-point lead into the fourth quarter. The Magic carved out their early advantage shooting 56 per cent in the opening 24 minutes to take a 55-48 lead into halftime. Glen Davis had eight points in less than five minutes and then yielded to Afflalo, who finished the half with 12 points. Oladipo and Tobias Harris each added 10 points. Afflalo said theres no secret to what it will take for the Magic to have another "good night" like Friday. "Just get after it, man. Theres no mystery," he said. "We know what we need to do -- same focus, same effort. It starts with our preparation in shootaround, our intensity, attention to detail. And keeping our foot on the gas pedal." NOTES: The Magic improved to 5-6 when they score 100 or more points. ... Pistons G Chauncey Billups opted to continue his recent program of resting his tendinitis-affected knee on the first game of back-to-backs. Cheeks said Billups is expected to play when Detroit visits Washington on Saturday. Andrew Cashner Jersey . The Bruins forward has been fined $5,000 by the National Hockey League for spearing Red Wings defenceman Danny DeKeyser in the groin. Roberto Alomar Jersey . Its the second of three meetings between these teams this season. Vancouver was a 2-1 winner on home ice December 22nd. http://www.theoriolesteamshop.com/Oriole...bo-Kids-Jersey/. The Vancouver coach and an announced sellout crowd of 18,910 watched in dismay as the Canucks lost 7-4 to the New York Islanders on Monday night by squandering a 3-0 lead in the third period. Jim Palmer Jersey . Jamies number grades given are out of five, with five being the best mark. Marc-Andre Fleury, Penguins (3) - Surrendered a tough first goal against on a deflection through the body short side. Custom Baltimore Orioles Jerseys .com) - Wimbledon runner-up Eugenie Bouchard notched a win, while second-seeded two-time champion Ana Ivanovic, third- seeded Australian Open runner-up Dominika Cibulkova and fifth seed Sabine Lisicki all exited the draw at the Generali Ladies Linz tennis event.ATLANTA - With a runner on second and first base open, the Cubs played it by the book and walked Justin Upton. Even before leaving the batters box, Upton flashed a grin to Freddie Freeman, who also grinned as he waited on-deck. They seemed to know what was coming. Freemans single up the middle drove in Jason Heyward from second base in the 10th inning and the Atlanta Braves recovered from Craig Kimbrels blown save to beat the Chicago Cubs 3-2 Friday night. Freeman said he savored the opportunity when the Cubs walked Upton. "It puts a smile on my face," Freeman said. "I dont know if you saw on TV, but after the second, third and fourth pitches Justin and I were kind of just laughing at each other. It kind of fires you up, if youre not fired up already. "When they walk someone intentionally to get to you, it definitely lights a fire under your butt." Chris Johnson, whose two-run single in the third inning gave Atlanta a 2-1 lead, said facing Freeman with the game on the line is a dangerous strategy. Freeman, who had three hits, is hitting .321. "I think Freddie is the best hitter in the National League," said Johnson, who had three hits. Kimbrel couldnt hold the 2-1 lead in the ninth after Julio Teheran allowed only one hit — Mike Olts homer — in eight innings. Wesley Wright (0-1) walked Heyward to lead off the 10th. Heyward stole second base, setting up Wrights intentional walk to Upton. Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said he knows Cubs manager Rick Renteria faced a tough decision. "Youve got to pick your poison," Gonzalez said. Freeman ended the game with his single. Heyward slid home with the winning run as Ryan Kalishs throw from centre field was off target. Luis Valbuena led off the 10th with a single to right field off Alex Wood (3-5), who then recorded three straight outs in his first relief appearance of the season. The Braves announced before the game Wood was moving to the bullpen for one week. The Braves eaarned only their second win in their last 10 games.ddddddddddddThe Cubs, last in the NL Central, have lost five of six but took some solace in the ninth-inning comeback off Kimbrel. "All in all, I take away we fought a pretty good battle, but we just fell a little short," Renteria said. Olt led off the third inning with his seventh homer to give Chicago a 1-0 lead. Teheran retired 17 consecutive batters after the homer. Chris Coghlan led off the ninth with a single off Kimbrel. Coghlan moved to second on Emilio Bonifacios groundout and scored on a single to left by Kalish, who advanced to second on Justin Uptons fielding error. Kalish moved to third on Anthony Rizzos grounder to first. Kimbrel walked Starlin Castro before ending the inning on another grounder by Nate Schierholtz. "Theres definitely a lot of fight in this team," Olt said. "As long as we keep fighting were going to find a way to come up with some wins." Teheran began the night fifth in the majors with a 1.80 ERA and he lowered the mark to 1.71. He had a season-high nine strikeouts with two walks. Kimbrel suffered his second blown save in 11 chances. Chicagos Jason Hammel allowed two runs on seven hits and one walk in seven innings. The Braves only runs against Hammel came on a string of three straight two-out hits in the third. Freeman and Evan Gattis singled, Gattis moved to second on a wild pitch and Johnson drove both runners in with a single to left field. NOTES: The start of the game was delayed 18 minutes by rain. ... Johnson capped his big night with an eighth-inning single before stealing second — his first stolen base since 2012 and only the 11th of his career. ... Wood had been scheduled to start Sunday against the Cubs. Instead, RHP Aaron Harang will make Sundays start. Gonzalez said Wood will be back in the rotation on May 17 against St. Louis. ... The series continues on Saturday night when Braves RHP Ervin Santana faces Cubs RHP Jeff Samardzija. ' ' '