Dwight Howard had 22 points and 12 rebounds to help the Orlando Magic hold off Charlie Villanueva and the Detroit Pistons 110-103 Friday night.

Villanueva scored 22 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter, but it wasn't enough to get past the defending Eastern Conference champs, who led by 19 early and never trailed at all.

Matt Barnes had 18 points and nine rebounds for the Magic and Jameer Nelson also scored 18, with eight assists.

Orlando had lost 20 of 25 regular season games to the Pistons, including one earlier in the week.

The closest Detroit came on Friday night was 96-90 after a shot by Villanueva with about three minutes to play.

Ben Gordon finished with 19 points for the Pistons.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)