AUBURN HILLS, Mich.--Penny Hardaway scored 22 points, including seven down the stretch, to lead the Orlando Magic to an 87-81 victory over the Detroit Pistons yesterday.

Grant Hill scored 25 for the Pistons, who looked tired and out of sync for the first time in five games.

The Magic took a 63-53 lead into the fourth quarter, and any hopes the Pistons had for a comeback appeared dampened when Michael Doleac and Nick Anderson opened the quarter with 3-pointers for 69-55 Orlando lead.

Still, the Pistons worked the deficit down to three points four times late in the game--the last at 84-81 on a layup by Bison Dele with 53 seconds remaining. Hill appeared to make it a one-point game on a layup with 29.9 seconds left, but instead picked up an offensive foul.

Hill missed a jumper from near the free throw line with 19.3 seconds left, and Darrell Armstrong closed out the scoring with three free throws for the Magic.

Dele, who finished with 21 points, scored six points in an 8-0 Detroit run to open the third quarter, closing the Pistons' deficit to 45-43. But Hardaway hit a 3-pointer from the right corner and Horace Grant scored on a layup to start an 18-8 run that put Orlando ahead 63-51 with 1:24 left in the quarter.