The Orlando Magic are not celebrating. Not yet. But they are so close to stunning the NBA world.
Desmond Bane scored 22 points, Franz Wagner added 19 before leaving early with right calf soreness, and the Magic beat the Detroit Pistons 94-88 on Tuesday to take a 3-1 series lead and push the East’s top seed to the brink of elimination. One more win and Orlando becomes just the seventh No. 8 seed in NBA history to knock off a No. 1. Game 5 is Thursday in Detroit.
“We put ourselves in position to try to get four, but right now it means nothing,” said Magic coach Jamahl Mosley. “We have the advantage and now we have to try and make sure we keep that advantage.”
Magic Won Ugly—Won Anyway
This was not a pretty Orlando performance. The Magic shot just 32.6% from the field. Paolo Banchero scored 18 points but shot 4-for-18. Jalen Suggs went 1-for-13, including 1-for-11 from three, and missed his first eight attempts before nailing a corner three for an 85-80 lead late in the fourth.
None of it mattered, because Orlando protected the basketball. The Magic finished with 12 turnovers to Detroit’s 20—and in a low-scoring, grinding series, that margin is everything.
Cade Cunningham led the Pistons with 25 points but turned it over eight times. Tobias Harris added 20 and understood exactly what has cost Detroit in this series. “We went into the series saying we needed to win a possession game,” Harris said. “That came down to the rebounding battle and also taking care of the basketball—and in all of our losses, that’s what we haven’t been at our best at.”
Cain Delivers When Wagner Goes Down
Wagner’s exit with calf soreness in the third quarter could have deflated the building. Instead, Jamal Cain—his replacement—electrified it.
Cain threw down a driving dunk over Jalen Duren early in the fourth to ignite the crowd, then followed with a one-handed tip-in dunk that made it 87-85 with 4:55 remaining. When Ausar Thompson’s layup tied the game moments later, Bane answered—banking in a three-pointer with former Memphis Grizzlies teammates Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. watching from courtside—to push the lead to 92-86 with 1:16 left and effectively close the door.
“It’s special. Those are guys I spent five years with, started my career with, made a lot of memories with,” Bane said of the courtside visitors. “I’m super thankful that they came out to support.”
The Weight of History
The Magic haven’t won a playoff series since 2010, when they lost in the Eastern Conference finals. The Pistons, who won 60 games in the regular season, have not advanced to the second round since their own Eastern Conference finals run ended in 2008. Both franchises carry long droughts. Only one of them has a chance to end theirs this week.
Bane acknowledged what Detroit is capable of, even now. “This is a team that won 60 games. I’m sure they’re not blinking an eye about not being able to win three games in a row. They did it multiple times throughout the regular season.”
True. But the Magic are 8-1 at home in the playoffs over the past three seasons, they have the series lead, and they have Wagner’s status to monitor heading into a road game.
One win. That’s all it takes. Orlando knows better than to say that out loud.
