Beede’s Breakdown: Magic blow 3-1 series lead as season ends with Game 7 loss in Detroit
DETROIT — The Magic have waited 16 years to win an NBA playoff series and they’ll have to wait even longer now.
Playing in a do-or-die Game 7 inside Little Caesars Arena on Sunday afternoon, Orlando trailed by as many as 23 points in a game that saw the top-seeded Pistons pull away in the second half to win 116-94 in front of a national TV audience on ABC.
“These guys laid it all on the line in this game,” said Magic coach Jamahl Mosley, whose job security is in question entering the offseason. “That’s all you’ve asked them to do. That’s part of being able to coach this group – that they found a way to fight no matter what the circumstances.
“That’s the one thing I want to say – I’m appreciative most of all for these guys,” he added.
With the loss, Orlando’s season comes to an end after it led the first-round series 3-1 and missed a prime opportunity to win it in Game 6 at home. They led by 24 points in Game 6 in Orlando before the Pistons rallied.
Instead, the Pistons forced Game 7 and won on its home court, clinching its first series victory since 2008, a second-round win over Orlando. The Pistons also became the 15th team in NBA history to overcome a 3-1 deficit and the second in the last two nights, after the Philadelphia 76ers came back to eliminate Boston on Saturday.
And history repeated itself after the Magic blew a 3-1 series lead over top-seeded Pistons in their 2003 first-round series. This time around, Orlando only scored 113 points in the final six quarters of the series — an average of 18.8 per period
Although Magic star forward Paolo Banchero scored 38 points, he was without key teammate Franz Wanger (right calf strain) for a third straight contest and didn’t get much help elsewhere on the court.
Meanwhile, Detroit star and Montverde Academy product Cade Cunningham notched 32 points, Tobias Harris hit five 3-pointers to score 30 points and Daniss Jenkins scored 15 off the bench. Cunningham and Harris became the first Pistons teammates to score 30 points in a playoff game since Bob Lanier (33) and Howard Porter (30) against the Golden State Warriors on April 17, 1977.
Orlando got no closer than 14 points with 4:22 remaining in the game but the Pistons didn’t crumble late.
It’s the second time in the last three years the Magic have come up short in a first-round Game 7. Orlando also lost to Cleveland in seven games in 2024. The Magic fell to Boston in five games on the first round last year as well.
“It’s frustrating being in the same spot three years in a row and getting the same result,” Banchero said.
The Pistons will face Cleveland in the Eastern Conference semifinals starting Tuesday – the Cavaliers won their own Game 7 against the Toronto Raptors on Sunday – while the Magic will head home to start an offseason searching for answers after an underwhelming season.
Banchero’s impact
The Magic forward wasted no time making his mark on the contest by scoring Orlando’s first 11 points.
Banchero sank his first four 3-pointers to reach 23 points in the first half but was the only member of the Magic to reach double figures before the break.
“He finds a way to turn up another level,” Mosley said about Banchero. “His ability to put the ball in the hole, create, things like that have been big. His aggression, his will to want to go get the game, those are important pieces.”
But Banchero was far from perfect, turning the ball over five times while grabbing nine rebounds and dishing out six assists.
It was his second 30-point performance in the series – he scored 45 in Game 5 – and marked the eighth time he’s surpassed 30 points in a playoff game. Orlando, though, fell to 1-7 in those contests.
Rest of starters
Jalen Suggs was responsible for three of Orlando’s nine first-half turnovers. After a tough going in Game 6, Suggs failed to find his shot in Game 7 as well.
The Magic guard shot 2-for-9 from the floor for just six points in 34 minutes and missed all four of his 3-point attempts.
Desmond Bane knocked down two 3-pointers before the break, but found himself in early foul trouble, picking up his third with 4:01 left in the second quarter. Bane added one more 3-pointer to finish with 16 points in 38 minutes.
Wendell Carter Jr. (13 points) and Jamal Cain (5) – who started in place of Wagner – shot a combined 5-for-13 from the field for just 18 points.
Detroit’s starters outscored Orlando’s 95-78.
Second-quarter swing
The game was tied at 45-45 with 2:47 left in the second quarter before Detroit wreaked havoc and closed out the first half on a 15-4 run.
The Pistons scored 12 points off six Orlando turnovers during the frame while the Magic forced zero turnovers in the same stretch. Those turnovers led to easy scoring opportunities for Detroit, which notched 10 fastbreak points and 10 points in the paint during the second quarter.
“A couple empty possessions, a couple misses at the rim, they get out in transition … The biggest sign for me was when I think we missed one at the rim, Cade comes down and hits a knockdown 3, and that’s the momentum swing,” Mosley said.
Two of those turnovers were forced by Detroit’s Ausar Thompson , who recorded two steals in the second quarter. On the other end, Cunningham dished out seven assists with zero turnovers in the frame.
Detroit outscored Orlando 40-27 in the second quarter to take a 60-49 lead into the break and didn’t let up from there.
Change in rotation
Mosley made a significant change in his rotation by turning to reserve center Moe Wagner instead of Goga Bitadze , the latter of whom had served as the team’s backup center in the first six games.
Playing in his first meaningful minutes of the series, Wagner knocked down his first 3-pointer from the right corner. The older brother of Franz Wagner , however, finished with just five points and two rebounds in 10 minutes.
Mosley also stuck with veteran Jevon Carter off the bench. Carter only played two first-half minutes in Game 6 but saw six minutes of first-half action on Sunday. He saw three more minutes in the second half but didn’t score on two missed shots.
“This is the chess match of the playoffs,” Mosley said of his rotation change.
Anthony Black was the first Orlando reserve to enter the game but started 1-for-6 from the floor while missing his first three triples. Playing most of the fourth quarter, Black ended with 11 points and five steals in 33 minutes.
Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com
