Pistons’ JB Bickerstaff admits he never wavered during epic 3-1 comeback

Story by

Steve Silverman, ClutchPoints

Sun, May 3, 2026 ·

2 min read

Pistons’ JB Bickerstaff admits he never wavered during epic 3-1 comeback appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .

The Detroit Pistons quickly learned that success in the NBA regular season often has little to do with surviving and advancing in the playoffs. The Pistons were the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, but they found themselves down 3 games to 1 in their opening round series against the 8th-seeded Orlando Magic . It appeared that their season would come to an end in an explicable and embarrassing fashion.

However, as badly as it looked for the Pistons, Detroit head coach J.B. Bickerstaff and his players never lost faith in themselves. The Pistons rallied to win the last three games of the series and advanced to the second round of the NBA playoffs.

The Pistons defeated the Magic 116-94 in the seventh game, and that allowed Pistons fans to breathe a huge sigh of relief. Bickerstaff was asked what he thought the turning point in the series was, and he provided a different kind of spin with his response.

“To be honest with you, I never doubted [that] we were going to win this series,” Bickerstaff sai d. “That’s the truth of the matter.”

Bickerstaff may have had complete confidence in his team, but the Pistons needed their two stars to dominate in the seventh game. Cade Cunningham led the way for Detroit with 32 points as he made 10 of 18 shots from the field and 4 of 6 from beyond the arc. Tobias Harris was right there with Cunningham as he scored 30 points on 11 of 18 shooting while making 5 of 7 three-point attempts.

The Pistons will have home-court advantage in the second round against the winner of the seventh game between the Toronto Raptors and Cleveland Cavaliers Sunday night.