By Charlie Commeret
The Detroit Pistons kicked off their 2026 postseason run Sunday night against the Orlando Magic, where fans had high hopes of a convincing victory. The Magic ended up taking game one 112-101
The Orlando Magic thought otherwise as they held the lead for the entire way. Anyone who has been watching all year knew the Magic wouldn’t be a cakewalk for the Pistons, as they split the season series 2-2 in the regular season, and the Magic do present some problems for the Pistons, which were on display in this game.
The biggest story of this game was Magic star Forward Paolo Banchero making plays both with the pass and scoring in isolation situations, as Detroit didn’t have an answer for him all night.
Against Detroit’s bigger guards and forwards, such as Tobias Harris and Cade Cunningham, he was consistently able to get to his spots on the baseline and hit his turnaround fade. Banchero finished 23 points, four assists, and nine rebounds on 8/15 from the floor as well as 2/4 from 3-point range.
The Pistons only trailed by four at halftime, 55-51, mostly due to their ability to force turnovers and misses and get out in transition and run their fastbreaks for easy baskets. However, they did have their fair share of poorly run fastbreaks off the advantage, as the Pistons had a few poor decisions in the open court that led to turnovers.
The Pistons’ inability to make the Magic pay for helping was a key factor in the loss as several times whoever was guarding Tobias Harris dropped in help and forced Cunningham to kick it out to him for catch-and-shoot 3s. He was unable to make them pay all night long as he finished 1 out of 7 from the 3-point line.
The Magic were able to get out and run a bit off the Pistons turnovers and misses, as they finished with 23 fastbreak points on the night. It was very apparent early in the game that Magic guard Jalen Suggs, who is a standout defensive player, was all over the place, wreaking havoc on the Pistons’ half-court offense. The Magic also had some key fastbreak points off of some Pistons misses, which gave them advantages in transition, and they were able to capitalize on some of them. Some notable ones were some long misses by Cade Cunningham or a miss where he hit the deck, which put the defense in a compromised position, as the Magic were able to score some key baskets
The Magic won this game in crunch time as Detroit had an uncharacteristic defensive fourth quarter. This allowed The Magic to get in anything they wanted.
They specifically put Center Jalen Duren in a ton of actions, and he was caught out of position multiple times. Magic Forward Franz Wagner was able to get going as the Pistons’ pick-and-roll defense broke down twice on ball screens near the top of the key and allowed him to get easy paint touches and finishes. Magic Guard Desmond Bane made Duren pay on some dribble handoff actions in drop coverage, as he was able to get downhill and find Center Wendell Carter Jr for easy layups as Duren got caught helping too high up in coverage.
For the Pistons, offensively, in crunch time, it was a heavy dose of Cunningham creating everything offensively. His successful shooting kept the Pistons within striking distance for most of the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough as Orlando extended its lead to double digits. With just a few minutes left, the Magic got a couple of key defensive stands late.
If Detroit wants to win this series and advance further into the playoffs, they will need contributions collectively from their role players offensively, especially in the case of a short time.. Cunningham finished with 39 points, five rebounds, and four assists on 13-27 shooting from the floor, along with 3-8 from the 3-point line
The Pistons have a chance to even the series on Wednesday before the series shifts to Orlando, as the Magic have a 6-1 record at home in the last two playoff runs.
