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Magic make wrong kind of history in brutal loss to Pistons
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- Magic make wrong kind of history in brutal loss to Pistons
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The Orlando Magic authored a historic collapse in a 93-79 loss to the Detroit Pistons in Game 6 of their first-round playoff series on Friday night at Kia Center, squandering a comfortable lead in one of the worst playoff breakdowns in recent memory.
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Orlando led 60-38 at halftime and extended that advantage to as much as 24 points in the first half, putting itself in position to close the series after previously holding a 3-1 lead. Instead, the second half unraveled completely. Detroit outscored the Magic 55-19 over the final 24 minutes, including a 24-11 run in the third quarter and a lopsided 31-8 fourth quarter.
Orlando shot just 4-for-37 (10.8%) in the second half, including 2-for-18 from three-point range. That 10.8% mark stands as the worst shooting percentage in a playoff half in the play-by-play era (since 1997). The Magic finished with just 79 points, the fewest ever by a team that scored at least 60 in the first half.
A defining stretch came when Orlando went 45 real-time minutes between made baskets , from late in the third quarter to the middle of the fourth, missing 23 consecutive field-goal attempts, the most by any playoff team this century. Overall, the Magic missed 27 of their final 28 shots and managed only eight points in the fourth quarter on 1-for-20 shooting, including 0-for-10 from beyond the arc.
Individually, Paolo Banchero scored 17 points but shot just 4-for-20 and missed all nine three-point attempts. Jalen Suggs produced only one made field goal on 10 attempts. Orlando was without Franz Wagner for the second straight game.
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Meanwhile, Cade Cunningham led the Pistons’ comeback with 32 points, continuing a stellar series in which he is averaging 32 points, six rebounds, and six assists. In Game 6 alone, he matched the Magic’s entire second-half scoring output in the fourth quarter by himself .
The loss marked the largest blown second-half lead in a potential closeout game in NBA history and tied the largest comeback win in Detroit’s franchise history. Orlando also became the first team in the shot clock era (since 1955) to score fewer than 20 points in a playoff half under these circumstances.
Now tied 3-3, the series heads to Detroit for Game 7 on Sunday, with momentum fully shifted to the Pistons after a 36-point swing from halftime to final score.
Related: Magic star Franz Wagner officially ruled out for Game 7 vs. Pistons
Related: 3 Magic players most responsible for ugly Game 6 loss to Pistons
