For the second time in the past two weeks, the fate of the Magic‘s season comes down to one game.
Win. Or go home.
That’s the straightforward situation in which Orlando found itself April 17 in an elimination game of the NBA play-in tournament, and that’s the same spot Jamahl Mosley‘s squad finds itself in entering Sunday’s Game 7 at No. 1 Detroit.
Win against the Pistons and the Magic advance to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2010.
Lose and an offseason filled with difficult questions awaits the franchise’s front office, head coach and roster.
“It’s one game. That’s all that matters,” Magic forward Paolo Banchero said Friday night inside Kia Center after Orlando squandered a 24-point lead in Game 6. “We’ve got to do whatever it takes.”
Orlando once led the first-round best-of-seven series 3-1 and had chances to win both Game 5 on the road Wednesday as well as Game 6 on Friday night at home. The players also felt like they let Game 2 at Detroit on April 22 slip away.
They’ve been without Magic forward Franz Wagner the past two games due to a right calf strain and they’ll be without him again Sunday after the team ruled him out for a third straight game Saturday afternoon.
Much like the rest of what’s already been a turbulent season, Orlando has made this playoff series as difficult as possible.
During Game 6, the Magic missed 23 straight shots from the floor and went 45 minutes of real time between made baskets (8:46 p.m. to 9:31 p.m.). The Pistons defended at a high level and outscored Orlando 55-19 in the second half en route to a 93-79 victory to force Game 7.
Orlando shot 1 for 20 (or 5%) in the fourth quarter. That was the worst shooting percentage by any team, in any quarter, since Washington shot 5% in the fourth quarter against Charlotte on Nov. 25, 2015, according to the Associated Press.
Put another way, it was the worst shooting performance in any quarter by an NBA team in the league’s last 20,238 games, the AP reported.
In the process, the Magic became the first team since 1996-97 — when play-by-play began getting tracked — to lose at home after leading by at least 24 points with a chance to win a series.
Overcoming such a jarring result won’t be easy Sunday for the Magic, but they believe they can do it.
“It’s a new day,” Magic guard Desmond Bane said. “It’s not over with. We’ve got another game in this series so we’ll go and attack it.”
Added third-year guard Anthony Black in the locker room: “We all believe already what we’re about to go do.”
Despite the optimism of the Magic’s players, history won’t be on Orlando’s side Sunday.
Entering Saturday, there had been 155 Game 7s in NBA history.
The 156th was scheduled for Saturday night between Boston and Philadelphia; the winner of that game will meet the Knicks in an Eastern Conference semifinal. Orlando’s meeting at Detroit will serve as the 157th.
And the Magic-Pistons series winner will face off against the winner of the 158th Game 7 between Toronto and Cleveland that takes place at 7:30 p.m. Sunday. That will be in the other Eastern Conference semifinal series, which opens Tuesday.
Ahead of the trio of Game 7s, home teams had a record of 115-40 (.742) in Game 7s, according to the NBA. There has been at least one Game 7 road winner in each of the last 10 years (2015-16 – 2024-25 seasons), the league said.
The Magic are 2-2 all-time in Game 7’s during their playoff history — 1-0 at home and 1-2 on the road.
The franchise lost Game 7 at Detroit on May 4, 2003, in the first round and then again fell in Game 7 of a first round-series two years ago on May 5, 2024, at Cleveland. Orlando’s lone road win in a Game 7 came May 17, 2009, at Boston during the Eastern Conference semifinals and the franchise won at home in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals versus Indiana on June 4, 1995.
There are, however, intriguing parallels between this current series and Orlando’s pair of past Game 7 losses.
Similar to this go-around with the Pistons, the 2003 Magic jumped out to a 3-1 series lead before having to head back to Detroit for a Game 7.
Meanwhile, majority of Orlando’s current roster was a part of that 2024 series against the Cavaliers. In fact, nine of the 15 players were in the building when the Magic blew an 18-point lead that closed the book on their season on the road two playoffs ago.
Orlando forward Jamal Cain can’t get past Detroit guard Dannis Jenkins (24) during Game 6 of their NBA playoff series at the Kia Center in Orlando on Friday. Detroit played terrific defense and won the game 93-79 to force a Game 7 in Detroit. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)
And the coach of those Cavaliers?
Current Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff – longtime, close friend of Mosley. Detroit’s Caris LeVert was also with Cleveland at the time and notched 15 points that game.
That experience, however, is something the Magic believe they can lean on entering their latest Game 7 on Sunday.
Otherwise, their season will end.
“I remember going up big early and losing the lead in the second half, so just learning from that, you’ve got to play the full game,” Banchero said about his first Game 7. “You’ve got to stay locked in for 48 minutes.
“You can’t get comfortable at any point, especially on the road. It’s going to be a hell of a challenge for the team.”
Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com
Up next …
Magic at Pistons, Game 7
When: 3:30 p.m., Sunday, Little Caesars Arena
TV: ABC