Prince, Jackson lead Pistons to 111-97 win in Orlando

ORLANDA, Fla. – It takes a lot to get equal billing to a triple-double.

But Tayshaun Prince accomplished the feat Friday night when he gave Detroit Pistons fans a glimpse of the good times when he scored 23 points in a 111-97 victory over the Orlando Magic at the Amway Center.

Reggie Jackson dominated with a triple double of 26 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists – his second triple double with the Pistons – as the team has won five games of six.

But the media scrum around Prince was almost as big as Jackson, who listens intently to Prince's wisdom since both joined the Pistons at the Feb. 19 trade deadline.

"He looked like a young Tayshaun today," Jackson said. "(Isolating), playing great defensively on rotations, along with the rest of the team.

"Tayshaun played phenomenal. Hopefully we can have the same type of performance from him. He's the ultimate professional. He sacrifices a lot to come off the bench. We know he does a lot of things at a high level. He's a complete, all-around player. He really got it going for us tonight."

Anyone watching on Fox Sports Detroit had to have flashbacks to the last era of great Pistons basketball.

He was the starting small forward for the 2004 world champions, but it looked like his days of contributing to Pistons playoffs runs were over when he was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies in January 2013.

But he was brought back to the Pistons from the Boston Celtics at this year's trade deadline.

And he was 10-for-15 from the field tonight as the Pistons are still four games out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with 10 games left.

"It was just one of those things where if I'm making shots, I'm going to keep shooting," Prince said. "If not, I'm going to do other things. It was just my night tonight and I wasn't looking to pass."

Nikola Vucevic led the Magic (22-52) with 20 points and 14 rebounds. Elfrid Payton had 14 points and 13 assists and Victor Oladipo added 16 points.

It was the second triple-double for Jackson as a Piston and he was well on his way in the first quarter with seven points, five assists and four rebounds. But he wasn't overly effective with two turnovers and he shot only 3-for-8 from the field.

Prince scored 14 of the Pistons' 24 points in the second quarter and his 10-footer gave the Pistons a 43-36 lead at the 5:13 mark.

Jackson took over the game in the third quarter. Payton struggled defending high pick-and-rolls and Jackson dominated.

"I thought what he did today was more impressive than what he did in the past because once he blocked (the bad first-quarter play) out, he said, 'I'm going to keep going,' and as you saw in the third quarter, he was really, really going downhill, turning the corner, making the right play and stuff like that," Prince said. "It's great to see him playing well and just everybody feeding off him."

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