ORLANDO, Fla. — As hard as they may have tried, the Orlando Magic couldn’t completely avoid the outside noise of tanking — a team doing less than everything it can to win — heading into Tuesday’s 134-120 home loss to the Detroit Pistons.
It comes with the territory when two of the league’s worst teams — and the only ones who’ve officially been eliminated from playoffs contention — play each other late in the season. Especially when both are without multiple key players in a game they have more incentive to lose than win.
Nonetheless, Magic coach Jamahl Mosley insisted pregame his group blocked out comments about a loss to the Pistons (19-51) possibly helping them later when it comes to draft lottery odds.
