It's a bad ending to a good season.

The Magic reached the second round of the playoffs for just the first time in 12 years. They won 52 games, their most since the 1995-96 season. Yet they lost badly again to the Detroit Pistons, 4-1, failing to get past the most dominating team in the Eastern Conference.

Just when they thought they had made progress, it was the Pistons again. At least this time it wasn't a sweep like it was a year ago. This time, it came down to close finishes in three of the four losses. The Pistons used their experience to get every one of the three.

The Pistons bottled up Dwight Howard, who still got his rebounds but failed to dominate offensively like the Magic needed.

They also showed their lack of experience against the most experienced, playoff-savvy team in the Eastern Conference.

PISTONS 90, MAGIC 89: Richard Hamilton had his second consecutive big game, scoring 31 points to lead the Pistons to a 4-1 series win over the Magic.

Hamilton, who had 32 points in Game 4, made only 7 of 20 shots, but he made all 16 of his free throw attempts. The Magic were led by Hedo Turkoglu, who had 18 points.

The Magic had 21 turnovers compared to just three for the Pistons. The Pistons also made 28 of 32 free throws, compared to only 16 of 28 for the Magic.

The Magic last led, 70-69, early in the fourth quarter, but once Rodney Stuckey hit a basket to give the Pistons the lead, they never lost it again. The Pistons led most of the game.

Dwight Howard was limited to just 14 points, although he had 17 rebounds. Turkoglu had nine rebounds and seven assists.

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