Pistons stun ice-cold Magic with furious 2nd-half rally, force Game 7
ORLANDO, Fla. — A 24-point third-quarter lead by the Orlando Magic had evaporated, and Desmond Bane he had simply missed two 3-point pictures when he had the ball by the Kia Center brand, not sure of what to do.
With his teammates not transferring on offense, Bane launched one other 3 from 29 ft that hit the entrance rim with 6:14 remaining in Game 6. The residence crowd groaned.
Orlando led by 24 factors early within the third quarter and was 23 minutes from upsetting the top-seeded Detroit Pistons and advancing to the second spherical. But the Magic suffered an astounding collapse that included lacking a playoff-record 23 consecutive pictures over a 12-plus minute span to permit the Pistons to maintain their season alive with an unbelievable 93-79 win Friday night time.
The Magic led 3-1 on this best-of-7 collection, nevertheless it’s the Pistons who’ve rediscovered the swagger and impenetrable protection that helped them win 60 video games and earn the highest seed within the Eastern Conference. Detroit has fought to tie the collection and may full this unimaginable comeback Sunday at residence in Game 7 and advance to the second spherical.
“Until it’s over for us, it ain’t over,” Pistons head coach JB Bickerstaff stated. “And they just continue to impress me. We just have that mentality that you are going to have to choke the life out of us.
“And if not, we will preserve swinging. And as they are saying, one in all them goes to hit the temple, and we’ll get a chance to win video games.”
| Year | Team/Opp. | Trailed by |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Thunder (at Grizzlies) | 26 |
| 2017 | Cavaliers (at Pacers) | 25 |
| 2019 | Clippers (at Warriors) | 23 |
| 2026 | Pistons (at Magic) | 22 |
| 2021 | Clippers (vs. Jazz) | 22 |
| 2021 | Hawks (at 76ers) | 22 |
Instead, they went ice-cold. They shot 4 for 37 in the second half, setting the worst field goal percentage in any regular-season or playoff half with at least 35 attempts in the play-by-play era (since 1997-98) according to ESPN Research. They shot an abysmal 1-for-20 in the fourth quarter.
Paolo BancheroBane and Jalen Suggs combined to go 2-for-26, including 0-for-13 from 3, in the second half. At one point, the Pistons held the Magic without a made basket for 45 minutes in real time.
Stunning doesn’t come close to describing Magic’s epic offensive meltdown.
“They have been simply taking part in extra determined than us, taking part in more durable than us,” said Bane, who was acquired for four first-round picks and a pick swap to stop this kind of shooting drought. “Whether it was offensive rebounds, heating up their stress to get steals, actually sort of took us out of our stuff, messed with our stream.”
Cade Cunningham put the Pistons in position to win this series. He had 32 points, 10 rebounds and four steals. The Detroit star outscored the Magic in the second half 24-19. He scored 19 points in the fourth quarter, when Detroit just kept gaining more and more confidence with each Orlando miss.
“Detroit screamed,” Cunningham said in a postgame interview on the court. “That’s what we have been speaking about all 12 months.”
In this series, the Pistons have had two massive runs that basically saved their season. They had a 30-3 third-quarter run that fueled their Game 2 win in Detroit. And after falling behind by 24 early in the third, the Pistons went on a 42-10 spurt that gave them an 80-72 lead with 5:14 remaining.
“It’s our protection,” Cunningham said. “When we’re guarding the way in which that we’re imagined to be, it is actually onerous for them to attain on us. And there’s simply been too many stretches all through this collection the place we’ve not guarded the way in which we’re imagined to. So, we have allowed them to have life. We’ve allowed them to maneuver and get their pictures and all that stuff.
“But whenever we really lock in on our defense, it’s tough for them to score on us, and we know that.”
Orlando went from being one half away from changing into simply the seventh No. 8 seed to upset a high seed within the first spherical for the reason that playoffs expanded to 16 groups in 1983-84 to doubtlessly blowing a 3-1 lead.
How will the Magic get well from the collapse with the chance that Wagner misses Game 7? Wagner didn’t take part within the morning shootaround earlier than Game 6 and was in a strolling boot on the bench.
“Just keep everybody together,” stated Banchero, who completed with 17 factors, 10 rebounds and 6 assists. “The series [isn’t] over. They clawed their way to tie it up 3-3. We won a game there to start the series. We’ve just got to do it again.”
