We had been thinking the Magic could struggle for a bit once Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner returned to active duty after lengthy absences. It turns out that was spot-on, as Wagner finally returned to active duty on Thursday vs. Toronto but it helped little as the Magic lost for a fifth straight game. Orlando had been earlier struggling to fit Banchero, who missed more than two months, back into the flow, as Jamahl Mosley recalibrates his rotations that eventually worked so well with both stars sidelined. One constant with Orlando, however, is lower-scoring games, which the Magic's recent stretch of scoring below 100 in five of six has sustained; Orlando is under three straight and 12 of tis last 16. Play Pistons-Magic Under

Appears that Magic lead guard Jalen Suggs will return after missing the past 10 due to injury as he was at shootaround so the team should have its Opening Night starting five for the first time in several weeks. Probably a bit of urgency as well with Orlando on a season-high five-game skid -- otherwise this probably would at least -180. The Pistons lost by 11 in O-Town on Nov. 23. Cade Cunningham missed it for Detroit but so did Paolo Banchero for Orlando.

The Orlando Magic enter today on a five game losing streak. They’ll face a surging and confident Detroit Pistons team that beat them New Year’s Day, and has won the first two games on their current road trip. This is the game where the Magic have to dig in and avoid the flat low scoring second halves. Expect their defense to also be heightened in a game they need desperately.

The Pistons are thriving on the road and they have won 7 of 8 on the road. Being a dog suits them quite well and this is a pick 'em game for me. Pitons are clearly playing better ball this month and it's not particularly close. Orlando has dropped 5 straight and Magic are just 2-8 in their last 10 games. They are prone to prolonged scoring droughts and I'm not sure the return of Franz Wagner is going to change nearly enough about what's going wrong. DET is a top 7 NBA team in net rating over the last 10 games (+4.8), while Magic are 28th (-13.1). Maybe they turn it around here, but I'm betting against it.

The Pistons have covered 10 of 16 and 10 of their last 12 on the road. More to the point, they have covered by an average of 7.96 PPG in that 12-game span. They have covered all 4 road games this month. The Magic have failed to cover 5 straight games, all by at least 5.5 points. Yikes. ORL is 4-11 ATS in their last 15, they look totally disjointed offensively and lack energy on the court. They are 2-7 ATS in their last 9 at home.. Five of their last 6 losses at home are by 13 points or more. I think the wrong team is favored here.