{"id":238501,"date":"2026-04-20T04:35:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T04:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/238501\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T04:35:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T04:35:11","slug":"orlando-magic-stun-pistons-in-game-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/238501\/","title":{"rendered":"Orlando Magic stun Pistons in Game 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

DETROIT \u2014 The Magic<\/a> accomplished something Sunday night against the top-seeded Pistons<\/a> that they had yet to do under coach Jamahl Mosley<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Eighth-seeded Orlando<\/a> won on the road in the postseason. With the 112-101 victory, the Magic have a 1-0 lead in their Eastern Conference opening-round series. Game 2 is set Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Detroit on ESPN.<\/p>\n

Previously 0-8 away from Kia Center in the postseason (0-7 in the playoffs and 0-1 in the play-in tournament) across three seasons, the Magic led wire-to-wire and built leads of as many as 13 points inside Little Caesars Arena<\/a> in front of a national TV audience on NBC. The Magic repelled the Pistons each time Detroit got close, like late in fourth quarter. The Pistons pulled to within 96-92 with 6:50 left after Cade Cunningham made a pair of free throws.<\/p>\n

Orlando\u2019s Tristan da Silva answered with a 3-point shot and Detroit never got closer than seven points the rest of the way.<\/p>\n

The Magic recorded their first playoff victory on the road since April 13, 2019, a 104-101 win at Toronto in a first-round series.<\/p>\n

\u201c(The Pistons) went on their runs and our guys did a very good job of coming together, communicating the things that they saw both offensively and defensively,\u201d Mosley said. \u201cThat\u2019s a big portion of it for me.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we communicate at this high level and understand exactly what everybody\u2019s trying to accomplish on both sides of the ball, I think this team can be pretty good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Orlando\u2019s starting lineup \u2014 Paolo Banchero (23 points), Franz Wagner (19), Desmond Bane (17), Wendell Carter Jr. (17) and Jalen Suggs (16) \u2014 combined to score 92 of the team\u2019s 112 points when they often silenced Pistons\u2019 fans in attendance during the 11-point victory.<\/p>\n

Cunningham and Tobias Harris were the only two players to score in double figures for the Pistons. Cunningham led the way with 39 points on 12-of-27 shooting, to go along with five rebounds and four assists. Harris added 17 points on 5-of-15 shooting.<\/p>\n

The result is significant. Orlando\u2019s players finally proved they can win on the road in the playoffs. More importantly, the emphatic victory comes with precedent. Teams that have won Game 1 of a first-round series have wound up winning the series 76.1% of the time since 2003, according to the NBA.<\/p>\n

No. 1 Detroit, which is in the playoffs for a second consecutive year after a five-year gap, hasn\u2019t won a playoff game at home since 2008. After Sunday\u2019s loss, the Pistons are 0-11 at home in the playoffs in that span. It\u2019s the longest home playoff losing streak in NBA history.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a step in the right direction for the team, for this group, with our past track record on the road in the playoffs,\u201d Banchero said. \u201cWe\u2019ve just got to get ready for Wednesday, see what we did well (and) what we can clean up. I expect (the Pistons) to come out with a lot of energy and we\u2019ve just got to be ready for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Banchero\u2019s playoff success continues<\/p>\n

The Magic forward was aggressive from the jump, driving to the basket and finding his spots on the floor. He notched nine points in the first quarter and 17 in the first half.<\/p>\n

Banchero also made two 3-pointers in the first half and finished 5-for-7 from the free throw line. Playing 37 minutes, he recorded nine rebounds and four assists.<\/p>\n

After Sunday, Banchero has scored 20 or more points in 11 of his 13 career playoff games.<\/p>\n

\u201cPaolo\u2019s dominance in his approach to the game was excellent,\u201d Mosely said. \u201cHis voice, his command of the floor (and) his court presence was special. When he has that presence, it\u2019s something to be seen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JalenOrlando’s Jalen Suggs, center, battles Ausar Thompson of the Detroit Pistons for a second-half rebound during Game 1 of a first-round NBA playoff series Sunday in Detroit. Orlando won 112-101. (Gregory Shamus\/Getty Images)
\nSuper Suggs<\/p>\n

The Magic guard was the only other Orlando player to reach double figures in the first half with 11 points. He was far from accurate from beyond the arc, shooting 2-for-9 on 3-point attempts during the first two quarters.<\/p>\n

Even when his shots weren\u2019t falling (he ended 3-for-10 from distance), Suggs still made an impact on both ends by making plays for his teammates (four assists) and forcing Detroit turnovers (three steals). Neither team protected the ball exceedingly well. The Magic scored 17 points off 14 Detroit turnovers. The Pistons totaled 18 points off 23 takeaways.<\/p>\n

Suggs put his body on the line, too, diving for loose balls and finishing through contact around the rim. Sometimes, though, his physicality was too much. He picked up his fifth foul with 7:53 left in the fourth quarter and fouled out with 1:34 remaining in the game.<\/p>\n

Favoring his left left at times throughout the game, Suggs said afterward he feels good.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re very important,\u201d he said about the next two days before Game 2. \u201cIt\u2019s time for us to spend time together, stay connected as a unit, watch the game, take care of our bodies and just get ready for another battle. \u2026 I\u2019m feeling solid.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bane bumpy<\/p>\n

Desmond Bane was added to the injury report in the morning due to an illness, but was listed as probable before he eventually was able to play.<\/p>\n

He failed to find his shot from 3-point range, missing his first five long-range attempts and ending 1-for-8 on 3-pointers. Bane also found himself in foul trouble, picking up his third foul roughly a minute into the third quarter, his fourth roughly halfway through the fourth and his fifth with 3:45 remaining in the game.<\/p>\n

The Magic guard was able to drive downhill at times, though, and convert in the paint. Orlando outscored Detroit 54-34 in the lane.<\/p>\n

After the game, Bane told reporters in the locker room he was dealing with a stomach ache but feels good after playing 35 minutes in Game 1.<\/p>\n

Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DETROIT \u2014 The Magic accomplished something Sunday night against the top-seeded Pistons that they had yet to do…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":238502,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[114,2295,139,141,1239,140,109,76046,110],"class_list":["post-238501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-latest-headlines","tag-nba","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-magic","tag-orlando-news","tag-social","tag-social-sports","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238501\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}