The Orlando Magic have been eliminated from the NBA playoffs. In the decisive Game 7 against the Detroit Pistons, star Paolo Banchero kept the visitors in the game for a long time. However, the outcome became clear before halftime, and the game ended with a decisive 116-94 victory for the favorites.
It was clear by then—if not before—that Paolo Banchero would once again be the key player, especially after news leaked that Franz Wagner would miss his third consecutive game due to a calf strain. And the American delivered: The Magic’s first eleven points all came from Banchero, who proved to be highly accurate both from beyond the arc (3-for-3 in the first quarter) and in the paint.
Another surprise came a few minutes later when Moritz Wagner took the court for the first time in the current playoffs. He replaced Goga Bitadze in the big-man rotation off the bench. It took barely a minute before the Berlin native scored his first points with a three-pointer, putting Orlando in the lead (20-18).
Pistons pull away in the second quarter thanks to furious shooting
However, the tide turned as early as the second quarter. Once again, Orlando had no answer for Pistons star Cade Cunningham (32 PTS, 12 AST), who stood out in this phase not only as a scorer but above all as a playmaker (8 AST by halftime). Meanwhile, veteran Tobias Harris (30 PTS, 11/18, 9 REB) provided momentum for the hosts. The forward scored 13 points in about four minutes, extending Detroit’s lead to more than ten points for the first time.
The second half began just as the first had ended. With the Magic’s offense stalling, Banchero acted as a one-man army, driving to the basket time and again. In the forward’s shadow, however, no other Magic player seemed able to really generate momentum. Instead, Orlando committed 13 turnovers (Detroit just six) and gave up 11 offensive rebounds. At times, the home team had more than ten additional shot attempts to their credit.
Driven by some furious three-point shooting, the home team went on a veritable scoring spree after halftime. Backup point guard Daniss Jenkins contributed to this, sinking four of his six attempts from downtown. The accuracy from beyond the arc opened up more space for the Pistons under the basket. One beneficiary of this was All-Star center Jalen Duren, who recorded his first double-double of the series with a strong 15 points and 15 rebounds (6 offensive).
After falling behind 1-3: Detroit pulls off 15th comeback in playoff history
By the time Cunningham and Harris had extended the lead to +25 with eight minutes remaining, the game was effectively over. Even two late baskets from Desmond Bane (16 PTS, 5/10), who had finally awakened from his slumber, could not change the outcome.
For the Orlando Magic, the playoff run thus ended once again in the first round of the playoffs. It was the 15th time in playoff history that a team holding a 3-1 lead still ended up losing the series.
The Detroit Pistons celebrated not only the 15th comeback from a 1-3 deficit in playoff history, but also the franchise’s first series victory in over 18 years. In the conference semifinals, Cade Cunningham and Co. will face the Cleveland Cavaliers.
