Perhaps the rust of being off for a week played a factor. But from the jump, the Magic were ready to match the Pistons’ physicality. If not, exceed it.<\/p>\n
Detroit suddenly found itself on its back foot, trying to figure out how to handle a team that was not going to back down with a little punishment or pushing. They were going to push back.<\/p>\n
The battle lines for this series are now drawn.<\/p>\n
“Just not coming out ready to play,” Ausar Thompson said after Sunday’s Magic win. “They came out and they hit us first. So, we have to do a better job of coming out and hitting them first and executing our coverages better.”<\/p>\n
The Magic blitzed the Pistons for a 17-5 lead in the first five minutes of the game on their way to a 112-101 thrashing<\/a>. They played with more downhill force, made some timely threes and took the fight to the Pistons. <\/p>\n This was not some pushover 8-seed happy to be here. The Magic truly believe they can win.<\/p>\n And one of the big reasons they believe they can win is because they can match the Pistons’ physicality.<\/p>\n After Game 1, it is clear this Magic team will not back down.<\/p>\n Packing the Paint<\/p>\n There were really two keys to the way the Orlando Magic defeated the Detroit Pistons. Both had to do with the team’s ability to win the typically physical battles in the paint.<\/p>\n Orlando was insistent on protecting the paint, often guarding Detroit the same way many teams guard Orlando. The Magic seemed content to let the Pistons shoot from three if that meant it was difficult for Cade Cunningham to get downhill or Jalen Duren to catch the ball near the rim.<\/p>\n The Pistons led the league with 57.9 points per game, ranked third in offensive rebound rate at 35.4 percent and finished fourth with 17.0 second-chance points per game.<\/p>\n Detroit finished with only 34 points in the paint, making a paltry 17 for 39 shots in the paint. The Pistons grabbed only six offensive rebounds, for a 24.5 percent offensive rebound rate. They still scored 16 second-chance points.<\/p>\n But all of that took the Pistons out of their game. They never found a consistent rhythm. Everything they relied on did not work.<\/p>\n The only thing that worked for Detroit was getting to the foul line, where the team took 19 of the team’s 38 free throw attempts in the second half. Orlando had only five of 19 in the second half.<\/p>\n But that was the only area the Magic struggled defensively. Orlando responded to every push Detroit made throughout Game 1.<\/p>\n “I think it\u2019s something we were just really harping on a couple of days before the game, just with what it was going to take in terms of our communication and how together we were coming in here on the road,” Paolo Banchero said after Sunday’s win. “I thought we did a great job just having huddles, talking in the timeouts and being on the same page. Whenever stuff started to go a little left, we just came together and got back on track.”<\/p>\n Something to watch then will be the Pistons’ 3-point shooting. If Orlando is going to crowd the paint and focus on stopping Detroit from being near the basket, there will be openings from three.<\/p>\n The Pistons went just 10 for 32 from three. That could be what loosens the paint. But the Magic unequivocally won the paint in Game 1.<\/p>\n Keeping Duren in check<\/p>\n
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