{"id":238556,"date":"2026-04-20T06:02:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T06:02:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/238556\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T06:02:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T06:02:17","slug":"magic-stun-rusty-looking-pistons-in-game-1-win-for-early-series-lead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/238556\/","title":{"rendered":"Magic stun rusty-looking Pistons in Game 1 win for early series lead"},"content":{"rendered":"

DETROIT \u2014 Paolo Banchero had 23 points, nine rebounds and four assists to lead the eighth-seeded Orlando Magic to a 112-101 win over the top-seeded Detroit Pistons on Sunday night in Game 1 of their first-round series, extending the longest home playoff losing streak in NBA history.<\/p>\n

Detroit has dropped 11 straight home games in the postseason, a drought that dates to 2008.<\/p>\n

The Pistons will get another chance against Orlando on Wednesday night in Game 2.<\/p>\n

Detroit\u2019s Cade Cunningham scored a playoff career-high 39 points and Tobias Harris added 17 for the Pistons, but the rest of their teammates were quiet offensively.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re sick about losing this one,\u201d Cunningham said after the loss. \u201cIt\u2019s a long series.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PaoloPaolo Banchero #5 of the Orlando Magic handles the ball while defended by Cade Cunningham #2 of the Detroit Pistons during the game during Game 1. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t come out with the right energy,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Franz Wagner scored 11 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter to help seal the victory for the Magic, who never trailed. Orlando\u2019s Desmond Bane and Wendell Carter scored 17 points each and Jalen Suggs had 16.<\/p>\n

The Pistons haven\u2019t advanced beyond the first round in the postseason in 18 years and the Magic haven\u2019t since 2010.<\/p>\n

Orlando looked ready and Detroit looked rusty early.<\/p>\n

The Magic, coming off a rout of Charlotte in a play-in game on Friday, led 18-5 midway through the first quarter after holding the Pistons to 1-of-6 shooting with four turnovers in their first game in a week.<\/p>\n

\"CadeCade Cunningham #2 of the Detroit Pistons drives to the basket during the game against the Orlando Magic during Round One Game One of the 2026 NBA Playoffs on April 19, 2026 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Detroit rallied to pull within two before Orlando closed with six straight points to lead 35-27 after Banchero and Suggs combined to score 20 points.<\/p>\n

The Magic led 55-51 at halftime.<\/p>\n

The Pistons came out flat in the second half and Orlando took advantage, scoring eight of the first nine points and prompting Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff to call a timeout.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were chasing them all night,\u201d Bickerstaff said. \u201cWe made some runs to get ourselves back in the ballgame.\u201d<\/p>\n

Detroit scored 10 straight points and 13 of 15 to pull into a 65-all tie on Cunningham\u2019s 3-pointer.<\/p>\n

Banchero answered with a long jumper over Jalen Duren and Bane followed with a 3-pointer over Cunningham, leading to the Magic restoring a double-digit lead. Orlando led 81-74 going into the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve been off and we\u2019ve found a little bit of a rhythm,\u201d Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. \u201cThat always plays a part in it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DETROIT \u2014 Paolo Banchero had 23 points, nine rebounds and four assists to lead the eighth-seeded Orlando Magic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":238557,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[5834,2295,92028,105803,139,141,1239,140,110],"class_list":["post-238556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-detroit-pistons","tag-nba","tag-nba-playoffs","tag-nba-playoffs-2026","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-magic","tag-orlando-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238556","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=238556"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238556\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}