{"id":64728,"date":"2025-11-29T20:47:06","date_gmt":"2025-11-29T20:47:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/64728\/"},"modified":"2025-11-29T20:47:06","modified_gmt":"2025-11-29T20:47:06","slug":"orlando-magic-make-statement-again-on-road-at-pistons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/64728\/","title":{"rendered":"Orlando Magic make statement again on road at Pistons"},"content":{"rendered":"

After the Pistons<\/a> knotted up Friday\u2019s NBA Cup<\/a> contest at 100 with four minutes left in the game, Jamahl Mosley<\/a> called timeout.<\/p>\n

The Magic<\/a> coach wanted to make sure his players were on the same page and ready to execute the finer details on both ends of the court down the final stretch of a win-and-in Cup matchup inside Little Caesars Arena at Detroit<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cStay poised,\u201d Mosley said he told his team during the stoppage. \u201cJust understanding to win those four minutes. Win that mini battle within the game and understand what\u2019s working for us. [The Pistons] do an unbelievable job defensively, so trying to find matchups is not easy against them.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut our guys found ways to make plays,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Those plays included crucial layups from Franz Wagner<\/a> (21 points), four key offensive rebounds grabbed between Desmond Bane<\/a> (37) and Wendell Carter Jr., clutch free throws from Jalen Suggs<\/a> (14) and a game-sealing block from Anthony Black<\/a> (16) that denied Detroit\u2019s Duncan Robinson a chance to tie the game in the final second to secure a 112-109 victory in favor of Orlando.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose are just hustle plays,\u201d Mosley said about the offensive boards that took nearly a full minute off the game clock before Suggs stepped to the line. \u201cThose aren\u2019t a call. That\u2019s just making a hustle, hard-nosed, \u2018I want it more than you,\u2019 play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Added Black: \u201cDown the stretch, we just had more will to win the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

The win not only clinched the Magic\u2019s spot in the Cup quarterfinals \u2014 they\u2019ll host the Heat on Dec. 9 at Kia Center<\/a> \u2014 but it also snapped Detroit\u2019s 7-game home winning streak that started when the Pistons beat the Magic by 19 points on Oct. 29.<\/p>\n

And it was that double-digit loss earlier in the season to the Pistons that motivated Bane to score the most points by a Magic guard since former Magic guard Cole Anthony scored 37 in May 2021. Bane, who missed all 5 of his 3-point tries, scored 24 of his 37 points in the paint and shot 11 for 12 from the charity stripe.<\/p>\n

He added 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks and a steal as he scored 30-plus points for the 30th time in his career, three of which\u00a0 came against Detroit (15-4).<\/p>\n

\u201cLast time we played them, we were still trying to figure ourselves out as a team,\u201d Bane said. \u201cThey were chirping and doing what they do. So we wanted to come in and make sure that we were the ones setting the tone.\u201d<\/p>\n

And set the tone they did.<\/p>\n

Orlando scored 29 points off 24 Detroit turnovers while finishing with a 62-46 advantage in paint points. Each of those points were needed to win because the Pistons actually outshot the Magic from both the field (44% vs. 41.2%) and from 3-point range \u2014 39.3% (11 for 28) vs. 16.7% (5 for 30).<\/p>\n

Whether the Magic want to admit it or not, they notched another statement win in the East on the road following their Nov. 12 victory at New York \u2014 the last time All-Star forward Paolo Banchero (left groin strain) played \u2014 and they did so by leaning into their physical style of basketball.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust that we\u2019re tough,\u201d Black said when he was asked what Friday\u2019s win says about the Magic. \u201cWe withstood their runs. [The Pistons] are a physical, tough team.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like we brought that to them, did a good job of staying the course and making big plays down the stretch,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

By hosting Miami on Dec. 9, Orlando has positioned itself one win away from heading to Las Vegas<\/a> for the Cup semifinals.<\/p>\n

Magic to host Heat on Prime in NBA Cup quarterfinals<\/a><\/p>\n

Before then, the Magic (12-8) return to Kia Center for a three-game homestand that opens Monday against the Bulls and ends Friday vs. the Heat. Orlando travels again to the Knicks on Dec. 7 prior to facing Miami a second time in five days in Cup action.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s fantastic,\u201d Bane said about hosting the quarterfinal. \u201cWe\u2019ve got some great fans and we\u2019re going to need all of them. We\u2019re going to need everybody to come cheer us on and help us advance to Vegas.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Up next \u2026<\/p>\n

Magic vs. Bulls<\/p>\n

When:\u00a07:30 p.m., Monday, Kia Center<\/p>\n

TV:\u00a0FanDuel Sports Network Florida\/Peacock<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After the Pistons knotted up Friday\u2019s NBA Cup contest at 100 with four minutes left in the game,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":64729,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[114,2295,139,141,1239,140,109,110],"class_list":{"0":"post-64728","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando","8":"tag-latest-headlines","9":"tag-nba","10":"tag-orlando","11":"tag-orlando-headlines","12":"tag-orlando-magic","13":"tag-orlando-news","14":"tag-social","15":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64728","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=64728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64728\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}