Swooning Magic fall to Pacers

Ron Artest added 17 points and Austin Croshere scored 13 of his season-high 15 in the second quarter to help Indiana extend its winning streak to five games.

Orlando is four losses short of tying its franchise-worst losing skid. That stretch was set in 1991-92, the season before the Magic drafted Shaquille O'Neal.

Juwan Howard, returning to a starting role, scored 17 points to lead four Orlando players in double figures. Donnell Harvey had 13 points and nine rebounds in his first start of the season, and Gordan Giricek and Tyronn Lue also scored 13 points. The Pacers struggled early against the Magic in new head coach Johnny Davis's home debut. Davis replaced Doc Rivers, who was fired a week ago in the middle of an 0-5 road trip.

But with 6:45 left to play, a 3-point play by O'Neal put the Pacers up, 77-63. From there, Orlando never drew closer than 8 points. Croshere was 6 for 9 and 3 of 5 on 3-pointers.Pistons 94, Hawks 89 -- Chauncey Billups redeemed himself at the free throw line by hitting four straight shots in the final 18.3 seconds to help Detroit win in Atlanta. Billups finished with a team-high 24 points despite shooting only 7 for 23 from the floor.

The Pistons, winning for the fifth time in six games, trailed Atlanta by 16 following Shareef Abdur-Rahim's 12-footer with 5:46 left in the third quarter.

Detroit answered with a 24-4 run, capped by Billups's 14-footer from the right wing with 7:14 remaining.