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ORLANDO, Fla. - Maybe that blinking oil light was just what the Magic needed.
It started flashing on the flight home Monday night. The plane began to shake, smoke was spewing out of an engine and Stan Van Gundy jumped into Jameer Nelson's lap and just wanted to be held.
OK, that's not quite how it happened. But if Hollywood was producing this series, the story line would be the Magic faced death.
After that, what's so big about facing Detroit? Orlando certainly didn't rattle Wednesday night when its season flashed before its eyes. Lo and behold if Rashard Lewis didn't appear from the heavens, or wherever he's been hiding for most of the playoffs.
He scored 33 points in a game that felt like more than just one game. It feels as if the Pistons are now in a plane being flown by Amelia Earhart, or whoever the point guard is behind Chauncey Billups.
His name is Rodney Stuckey, and he actually played pretty well Wednesday night. But Billups or no Billups, the Magic have undoubtedly figured out how to beat the Pistons.
That was seriously in doubt after Game 1, but now the question is whether Game 3 was more Orlando being good or Detroit being Detroit.
The Pistons have a well-earned reputation as switch-flippers. They've been around so long and been good so long that they simply pick their spots.
Game 3 is usually not a favorite spot. The Pistons had lost six of seven Game 3s before last year's playoffs. In their final series they lost Game 3 against Cleveland and never won again.
So you could make the argument that Wednesday night was just the Pistons fighting off a collective yawn. Or you could argue that the Pistons' oil light is starting to flash and the air bags are about to deploy.
I don't see a complete crash in their immediate future, but this suddenly looks like a six or seven-game series. A lot will depend on Billups, who limped to the locker room with a towel over his head in the first quarter.
As his hamstring tightened, the Magic took an 18-point lead. Give the Pistons credit for coming back without their fearless leader.
"We've got one of the best trainers in the world," Rip Hamilton said.
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