Vince Ellis

Detroit Free Press

ORLANDO, Fla. – Reggie Jackson let out a loud yell.

The Detroit Pistons point guard had just concluded the post-game interview with FS Detroit and the yell was for the few Pistons fans waiting for him to run off the Amway Center floor.

And he acknowledged them, running off the floor, rushing to join his teammates in the happy visitor's locker room.

The Pistons were in a good mood because the magic number is now down to one.

Jackson scored 12 of a game-high 24 points Wednesday night in the fourth quarter to help the Pistons to a crucial 108-104 victory over the Orlando Magic. The Pistons had to overcome a seven-point halftime deficit.

Reserve Reggie Bullock was the not-so-unsung hero in scoring 13 points and adding six assists, as the Pistons (42-37) can clinch their first playoff berth since 2009 with one more victory in their remaining three games. Their first opportunity will come Friday night when one pursuer, the Washington Wizards, will visit the Palace.

The Wizards and Chicago Bulls will be eliminated with their next losses. The eighth-place Pistons remain a half-game behind the seventh-place Indiana Pacers (42-36).

But while the smiles were contagious, no one was saying the playoffs are given. And rightfully so considering Jackson is the only starter who has been to the NBA playoffs.

"Hell, no," Jackson said when asked if he felt a sense of relief.

"Hell, no. The way we got this one tonight was very tough. Every team is coming out swinging. If people think people are going to ease up, this is the moment where a lot of people are battling for contracts or they're battling for playoff seeding. Everybody is going to go out there and give each other the best punch and each game at this point is hard as hell to get a win so I'm happy that we came out with one. We got another one to try to get on Friday."

Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy wouldn't bite neither when asked about a sense of relief.

"No, not all, because when we beat the Bulls, then I saw the Miami game after that so no relief whatsoever," Van Gundy said of Saturday night's win at Chicago and the humbling loss Tuesday night at Miami.

The Pistons were in trouble after Victor Oladipo's three-pointer gave the Magic a 94-89 lead with 5:41 remaining.

But the Pistons surged with a 12-2 run and a Bullock steal that led to a fast-break three-pointer from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (18 points on 7-for-10 shooting) gave the Pistons a 101-96 lead with 2:43 remaining. Jackson scored seven points in the run.

But the Magic didn't go away, cutting the deficit to two points three times in the final 30 seconds. But the Pistons were 7-for-8 from the line to close out the tough victory.

"We came in and it's a tough team that'd been playing well over their last five (games) extremely well," Jackson said. "I think they'd won four out of five and we knew they were going to come in and try to punch us in the mouth, especially on their home court.

"I'm just happy to come out with a win, especially the way we played all night, especially playing from behind."

The Pistons also clinched their first winning season since 2008 and made a winner of Tobias Harris (13 points) in his return the home arena of the team that moved him at the trade deadline. The Magic fans greeted Harris with a nice round of applause when he was introduced in pre-game introductions.

"A couple of guys over here said I was going to get booed," Harris said. "I told them I don't think so. That would be kind of rude. It was good to see that. It goes to show you, come in, handle your business, be professional, respect the organization, don't burn any bridges and just be who you are. It goes a long way."

Evan Fournier led the Magic (33-45) with 19 points. Former Piston Brandon Jennings scored five points in 15 minutes.The Magic bench scored 46 points.

Andre Drummond finished with 13 points and 16 rebounds, but was removed for the last 1:37 for Aron Baynes.

Drummond was away from the huddle during the next time-out where he was consoled by veteran Joel Anthony. He did rejoin the huddles of later time-outs.

Harris capped off an early 11-0 run to give the Pistons a 13-4 lead

But the Magic answered with an 11-0 run of its own to take a 17-15 lead.

The Pistons held the Magic to 38.5% shooting in the first quarter to take a 25-21 lead behind Caldwell-Pope’s seven points.

Coach Stan Van Gundy surprised a little when the first player to come off the bench was Bullock in the first quarter. The move wasn’t a total shock considering Stanley Johnson is shooting 31% since the NBA All-Star break and has become a turnover machine in recent games.

And Bullock responded he scored eight points in the second quarter and his three-pointer at the 7:12 mark gave the Pistons a 37-30 lead.

But the Magic closed the half on a 13-1 run to take a 51-44 lead at halftime.

Contact Vince Ellis at vellis@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @vincent_ellis56.

Detroit Pistons' Hilliard, Morris have strong praise for Iverson