By JOHN DENTON
Florida Today

ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. - The irony dripping from the Eastern Conference playoff series between the Orlando Magic and the Detroit Pistons is both delicious and somewhat comical now.

A Magic team that was battered, bruised and pushed around the past two postseasons is now being portrayed by the Pistons as the team that threw the first punch, delivered the harder fouls and played with the kind of verve that would have put a smile across the smug face of former Detroit Bad Boy Bill Laimbeer on Sunday.

The Magic, 99-94 winners in Game 1 when they delivered 35 fouls, as playoff enforcers? It's enough to draw hearty chuckle even from the focused and locked in Tracy McGrady.

"We've been known in the past to be soft, known for giving up 3-point plays, easy baskets and not fouling guys hard," McGrady said through the laughter. "But we've definitely set a tone now. It's a different game in the playoffs and every possession counts. You just have to be more physical than you have ever been now."

Detroit has already sent word that things will be drastically different Wednesday night when Game 2 of the best-of-seven series tips off at The Palace. Already, Pistons players Chucky Atkins and Corliss Williamson and even head coach Rick Carlisle have threatened to "knock McGrady to the floor," if that's what it takes. The top-seeded Pistons, statistically the best defensive team in the NBA, are still infuriated over how they allowed McGrady to get to the bucket unimpeded nine times in Game 1 - six for layups or dunks and three misses - en route to 43 points.

"We've had two days to marinate in our own anger after losing Game 1," the 6-foot-7, 245-pound Williamson fumed. "Everyone is really anxious to get back into the gym and start the game. We are well-prepared and we understand the mistakes we made. It's going to be a different story in Game 2. Guys are going to come out and try to make a stand."

It's uncertain whether McGrady will be standing throughout the game Wednesday night. The Pistons have made it no secret that they are ready to send the NBA's leading scorer to the floor - regardless of the repercussions from the league office. And Detroit sure has the muscle to do it with fearsome shot blocker Ben Wallace, the muscular Williamson and 7-footer Mehmet Okur in the middle.

McGrady's response: Bring it on. After all, he said, it's nothing he hasn't seen before. And he stressed that any cheap shot will only make his inner fire burn hotter. He said he read all the Detroit newspapers and watched each news channel Monday, compiling a mental list of the Pistons players who sent threats his way.

"That's really taking it too far if you feel you've got to knock me to the floor," McGrady said. "That's dirty basketball. A hit or two going to the basket is fine, but if you want to knock me down and not get up, that's dirty basketball. Oh, but I'm getting up. It's not going to change me coming at you. It's just going to (tick) me off even more."

Getting physical with McGrady really only worked twice this season - when the volatile Ron Artest used his strength to muscle McGrady off the block early in the season and held him to 13 points; and later when he was sent flying to the floor by 284-pound New Orleans' power forward Robert Taylor.

McGrady was the victim of several particularly hard fouls in the playoffs - last season against the Hornets when center Jaamal Magloire hit him across the head with a forearm and was ejected; and in 2001 when Scott Williams repeatedly sent him to the floor with shots to the body.

In addition to getting hammered inside and on the glass, what infuriated Magic coach Doc Rivers the most was that none of his centers or power forwards ever sent a message back the other way.

That could change now that the Magic can put Drew Gooden, Shawn Kemp, Andrew DeClercq and Steven Hunter along the frontline. The group accounted for 26 rebounds and 14 fouls in Game 1, outplaying Wallace, Williamson and Okur. Kemp was assessed three flagrant fouls during the season, while DeClercq - affectionately nicknamed "Hammer" by his teammates - broke the nose of New Jersey's Kenyon Martin with a hard foul.

"The whole team has to protect our queen bee," Gooden theorized. "You know what I'm saying? We're like the worker bees and we have to protect our queen or king. If he goes down, their top guy has got to go down, too."

The Pistons are also put off by the bluntness of McGrady's assessment of how he has become an unstoppable force in these playoffs. He had as many as six different Pistons on him at one time or another Sunday and still set a Magic record for points in a playoff game.

McGrady practically oozes confidence on the court, and when his words are taken out of context, they can come off as being braggadocios. But to the Magic, McGrady's bold talk is merely the maturation of a 23-year-old superstar who seemingly has no limits to his future.

"I doubt it," McGrady said when asked if Detroit could stop him. "I just don't think so because I'm in a good rhythm and I feel like I can make anything happen on the basketball court. I feel like once I have the ball that defender is at my mercy. Once I get that feeling there's basically nothing you can do."

Williamson certainly sounds like he's ready to do something about it.

"They can all run their mouths and say whatever they want to," he said. "I couldn't care less about what (McGrady) or anybody else has to say. He wants to talk trash, good for him. We're still going to come out and try to beat (them)."