{"id":246574,"date":"2026-04-25T20:40:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T20:40:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/246574\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T20:40:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T20:40:26","slug":"orlando-magic-take-2-1-lead-over-detroit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/246574\/","title":{"rendered":"Orlando Magic take 2-1 lead over Detroit"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the Magic<\/a> returned home for Game 3 of their first-round playoff series against the top-seeded Pistons<\/a>, the players vowed they would shoot the ball better than they did during a deflating Game 2 loss at Detroit<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Inside a rowdy Kia Center<\/a> on Saturday afternoon, eighth-seeded Orlando<\/a> accomplished that goal behind seven 3-pointers from Desmond Bane, key runs in the fourth quarter and a higher level of defensive intensity.<\/p>\n

Behind a combined 67 points from Bane (25), Paolo Banchero (25) and Franz Wagner (17), the Magic took a 2-1 series lead with an emphatic 113-105 victory over the Pistons, who turned the ball over 16 times that Orlando converted into 24 points.<\/p>\n

Montverde Academy product Cade Cunningham, who tied the game at 104-104 with 3:14 remaining in the game with his third 3-pointer of the day, led all scorers with 27 points but shot just 3-for-10 from beyond the arc in 41 minutes.<\/p>\n

The Magic didn\u2019t wilt, though, and took hold of the game.<\/p>\n

Wagner scored five straight points, including a 3-pointer with 1:46 left on the clock, to give Orlando control again late. Banchero then extended his team\u2019s lead to eight points with 38.8 seconds remaining when his second 3-pointer bounced high above the rim and down into the basket.<\/p>\n

The Magic shot 45.5% from 3-point range; they held the Pistons to 34.4% shooting from distance in the eight-point win.<\/p>\n

The Magic host Game 4 Monday night on NBC and will try to extend their lead in the series to 3-1 with a victory.<\/p>\n

The Bane event<\/p>\n

The Magic guard shot a combined a 3-for-15 from 3-point range in the first two games on the road but found his rhythm from distance early in Game 3.<\/p>\n

Bane started the afternoon with a reverse layup down the baseline on the opening possession and quickly raced up eight first-quarter points. In the first half alone, he shot 4-for-4 from beyond the arc to lead the team with 14 points at the break.<\/p>\n

His four first-half 3-pointers tied the franchise playoff record for most 3s made in a single half. Bane added his fifth 3-pointer early in the third quarter and his sixth a couple of minutes later.<\/p>\n

Finishing with 20-plus points for the 11th time in his playoff career, his seven 3-pointers tied the franchise record for most 3s made in a playoff game.<\/p>\n

\"OrlandoOrlando guard Jalen Suggs (4) and Orlando forward Franz Wagner (22) celebrate after a three-point shot Saturday. Orlando beat Detroit 113-105 to take a 2-1 lead in their NBA playoffs series. (Stephen M. Dowell\/Orlando Sentinel)
\nSuggs\u2019 strong second quarter<\/p>\n

Suggs only took one shot in his first 10 minutes on the floor and was held scoreless in the opening quarter. That didn\u2019t last long.<\/p>\n

The Magic guard hit his first 3 of the afternoon from the right wing of the perimeter five minutes into the second quarter that capped off a 9-0 run. Suggs sunk another triple from almost the exact same spot with about a minutes left in the first half.<\/p>\n

Scoring all of his 12 first-half points in the second quarters alongside three assists, Suggs finished with 15 points and found himself in foul trouble late.<\/p>\n

He picked up his fifth foul with 5:45 left in the game but added three rebounds and three assists in 33 minutes.<\/p>\n

Banchero\u2019s impact<\/p>\n

The Magic forward had a slow start when he opened 1-for-5 from the floor in the opening quarter and 2-for-9 in the first half. Although his shot wasn\u2019t falling, he was still making plays for his teammates with eight rebounds and seven assists across his first 20 minutes.<\/p>\n

Banchero, who missed two dunks in the first half, connected on a runaway slam that put Orlando ahead of Detroit by 11 points three minutes into the second half.<\/p>\n

Forcing his way to the free-throw line where he shot 11-for-14 for the night, Banchero notched 20-plus points for the 12th time in his playoff career. He also set a new playoff career high with nine assists and added 12 rebounds.<\/p>\n

Missed chances<\/p>\n

The Magic made their way to the free-throw line throughout the afternoon but didn\u2019t fully capitalize on trips.<\/p>\n

Orlando missed seven free throws when it ended the afternoon, finishing 26-for-33 at the charity stripe.<\/p>\n

Although Detroit shot fewer free throws, it was more accurate and went 20-for-24.<\/p>\n

Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Up next \u2026<\/p>\n

Magic vs. Pistons, Game 4<\/p>\n

When: 8 p.m., Monday, Kia Center<\/p>\n

TV: NBC\/Peacock<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the Magic returned home for Game 3 of their first-round playoff series against the top-seeded Pistons, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":246575,"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-246574","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\/246574","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=246574"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246574\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}