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But can he heal the Pistons' defense? It hasn't been the same since Game 1, when Orlando sputtered home with 72 points. Stan Van Gundy scurried into a coaching hole and said he couldn't come out until he figured out a way to loosen things up.
He was actually staring into his computer when that oil light came on and never even looked up. Whatever he's been drawing up, it's working.
"Yeah, I'm an offensive genius," Van Gundy said.
He's looking like a rumpled, mustachioed Einstein at the moment. Dwight Howard is getting the ball in spots where he can do damage. And when Howard is feeling it on offense, he generally turns into Godzilla on defense.
Nelson seems to be maturing into a consistent point guard before our very eyes. He's done that before, only to revert back into Jameer. But he's never played this well for this long.
Then there's Lewis. Welcome to the playoffs, Money Man.
The Magic are paying him $118 million to take them to the next playoff level. He'd made 12 of 52 3-pointers before Game 3, when he hit five-of-six. The biggest came when Detroit had cut the lead to 67-64.
Like the flight home, there was no panic.
"We played the way we know how to play," Howard said.
The next time the Pistons flip a switch, they might see this series in a whole different light.
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(c) 2008, The Orlando Sentinel (Fla.). Distributed by Mclatchy-Tribune News Service.
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