Desmond Bane scored 22 points and made one of his five 3-pointers with 1:16 left as the Orlando Magic beat the visiting Detroit Pistons 94-88 on Monday to take a 3-1 lead in their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series.
Detroit tied the game at 85-all with 5:24 remaining on Ausar Thompson’s layup before Bane’s 3-pointer capped a 7-1 run and put the Magic ahead 92-86.
Thompson missed two free throws with 28 seconds left and Detroit’s Caris LeVert was off target on a 3-point attempt before Jalen Suggs sealed the victory with two foul shots.
The top-seeded Pistons were held without a field goal in the final five minutes before Isaiah Stewart scored at the buzzer.
“We’ve gotta take care of the basketball, we’ve gotta win the rebounding battle and we’ve just gotta be in the moment of playoff basketball,” Pistons forward Tobias Harris said. “We’re a little too casual.”
Game 5 in the best-of-seven series is set for Wednesday in Detroit.
Orlando forward Franz Wagner had 19 points before exiting late in the third period due to right calf soreness. Paolo Banchero scored 18 points, and Wendell Carter Jr. had 12 points and 11 rebounds.
“Hopefully it’ll be better tomorrow,” Wagner said of his calf injury. “The guys got it done, so that’s all that matters.”
The eighth-seeded Magic forced 20 turnovers and improved to 6-1 in their past seven home playoff games.
Cade Cunningham led Detroit with 25 points, nine rebounds, six assists and eight turnovers. Harris scored 20 points, and Jalen Duren contributed 12 points and eight rebounds.
“They’re sending a lot of bodies to him,” Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff said about Cunningham’s turnovers. “We’ve gotta help him by giving him more space, so that he has room to operate. Set screens for him, be a little more physical, get the guys off of him.”
Orlando jumped to a 19-7 lead before Detroit closed the opening period on a 20-7 run to go up by one.
After Cunningham’s layup put the Pistons ahead 40-30 with 7:14 left in the second quarter, Orlando battled back to take a 54-52 lead into halftime.
Wagner had 17 points in the first half to lead all scorers. Cunningham put up 16 for Detroit before the break.
Bane closed the third quarter with a 3-pointer and two free throws to give Orlando a 75-69 lead.
Jamal Cain ignited the home crowd with a thunderous one-handed dunk over Duren to put the Magic ahead 80-76 with 8:34 left.
Cain provided a spark for Orlando after Wagner left the game and finished with eight points and nine rebounds in nearly 24 minutes off the bench.
“The guys have trust in him,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said of Cain. “They celebrate him when he has some success, but he just does all the little things within a game, rebounding, guarding multiple players. And just does it without saying anything, just (does) what’s necessary to help this team get a win.”
–Field Level Media
