DETROIT — Although the Magic made a season-low 26 shots from the field to score a season-worst 83 points during Game 2 of Orlando‘s first-round playoff series against the top-seeded Pistons, the team feels confident about its ability to bounce back as the series shifts to Kia Center for Game 3 on Saturday.

In their minds, Wednesday’s 98-83 loss to Detroit inside Little Caesars Arena boiled down to three things: A failure to convert extra scoring opportunities, a lack of shotmaking and an inability to take care of the ball.

Compared to Orlando’s Game 1 road victory, the Magic scored seven fewer second-chance points, shot 16% worse from the field (49% FG vs. 33% FG) and committed seven more turnovers during its Game 2 loss.

But now the pressure is on the eighth-seeded Magic to protect homecourt. Teams that win Game 3 of a 1-1 best-of-seven series go onto win the series 73.7% of the time, according to the NBA.

“We had good opportunities — multiple chances of putbacks, multiple chances of daggers 3 — and some nights you just don’t make shots,” Magic guard Desmond Bane said in the locker room. “I anticipate us making more shots throughout the series.”

To Bane’s point, Orlando shot 8-for-32 from 3-point range and an even worse 0-for-11 in second-chance scoring situations. The team’s five second-chance points all came at the free-throw line.

While Detroit only made six 3-pointers, it also took six fewer attempts from distance compared to Orlando and it shot 6-of-16 for 13 second-chance points. Plus, the Pistons controlled the paint 54-34 and beat Orlando 57-42 on the glass.

“You got to give them credit,” Paolo Banchero said about the Pistons. “I thought we had some good looks in the first half. They met us at the rim a few times, and they brought the intensity on defense. But we got good looks, and nobody really had a great night shooting the ball.

“So not a game that you’d expect to win after looking at the stat sheet,” he added. “But I would say it’s nothing that’s discouraging.”

The tide turned when Detroit went on a 30-3 run to open the third quarter, a frame that it eventually won 38-16 to capture full control.

Although the Magic actually forced more turnovers (23) than Detroit did (19), the Pistons forced timely ones out of the break. In the third quarter specifically, Orlando only came up with three turnovers, compared to Detroit’s seven.

As the mistakes piled up, the Magic were unable to respond the same way they did in Game 1. Banchero missed all five of his third-quarter attempts, while Jalen Suggs shots 1-for-4 from the floor in that stretch.

On the other end, six different players scored at least five points for the Pistons in the quarter.

“Not having that same poise that we had in Game 1,” Magic guard Anthony Black told the Orlando Sentinel about what led to Orlando’s disorganization on offense Wednesday. “Letting the fans, the run, play a part. We know we’ve got to be better when they go on those runs, and we’ll fix it, for sure, for Game 3.”

Should the Magic find a way to bounce back in Game 3, it’ll require them to play with more aggression. The Pistons sent Orlando to the free-throw line much more in Game 2 (32 free throws) than they did in Game 1 (19), signaling they were willing to disrupt the Magic on offense, even if it meant a chance at free points for the opposition.

The plan worked in Detroit’s favor when the Magic ended up missing nine free throws, including seven in the first half.

“That’s one main key from (Wednesday) that I think that’s what they did better,” Franz Wagner said about Detroit’s physicality. “I think just being ready for that, embracing that physical style … Other than that, I don’t think we played a terrible game.

“I think the other three quarters were pretty solid,” he added. “They didn’t score 100 points, that’s not easy to do in this league. So, not all bad.”

The Magic are hoping they can bring what worked well in those three quarters into Game 3 given its importance to the series. There have been nine best-of-seven series in Magic history that have been tied 1-1 after Game 2, and Orlando is 4-5 in those series.

Wagner believes Orlando can lean on its postseason experience against the Pistons. The Magic have gone 6-1 at home in the postseason the past three years under coach Jamahl Mosley.

Orlando won three home games during its 2024 first-round series with Cleveland, the Nos. 7-8 play-in game when it hosted the Hawks last year, Game 3 against the Celtics in the opening round a year ago and this year’s win-and-in play-in game over Charlotte.

“The playoffs are way different, and it definitely helps to have been there before and just kind of know how the flow of a series goes,” Wagner said. “It’s still early in the series. Also, (we know) that margins will decides these games. That’s the beauty of the playoffs and that’s why it’s important to play every possession really well.”

It also helps the Magic that they are heading home not only for one game but two over the course of the multiple days after spending much of the past two weeks on the road.

“We get a chance to go and play in front of our fans,” Bane said. “I’m sure it’s going to be a good crowd so I’m looking forward to it.”

Added Wagner: “We’re really confident at home. I’m really excited to go back home, play some playoff games there and hopefully play a little bit more consistent.”

Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com

Up next …

Magic vs. Pistons, Game 3

When: 1 p.m., Saturday, Kia Center

TV: Peacock/NBC Sports Network