05/01/26 08:54:00
Printable Page
05/01 20:53 CDT Pistons rally from 24 down to beat Magic 93-79 and force Game 7
after Orlando goes ice-cold
Pistons rally from 24 down to beat Magic 93-79 and force Game 7 after Orlando
goes ice-cold
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) --- Cade Cunningham scored 32 points and the top-seeded
Detroit Pistons pulled off an incredible rally Friday night, erasing a 24-point
deficit and beating the Orlando Magic 93-79 to force a Game 7 in their Eastern
Conference first-round series.
Detroit trailed by 22 at the half and Orlando's lead went to 62-38 early in the
third quarter. The Magic looked absolutely poised to become the seventh No. 8
seed to eliminate a No. 1 seed in the conference quarterfinal round.
And then everything went wrong for Orlando. Everything.
The Magic became the first team since 1996-97 --- when play-by-play began
getting tracked digitally --- to lose at home after leading by at least 24
points with a chance to win a series.
That number, and a whole lot of others, were just baffling. The Magic missed 23
consecutive shots from the field, Detroit went on a 35-5 run and just like
that, the story of the game --- and quite possibly the series --- changed
wildly.
Tobias Harris scored 22 points for Detroit, which will host Game 7 on Sunday.
Paolo Banchero and Desmond Bane each scored 17 for Orlando, which is now 0-2 in
closeout opportunities in this series.
The first quarter was back and forth, Detroit leading 26-25 after those opening
12 minutes.
The second quarter: Magic 35, Pistons 12.
Orlando outscored the Pistons 17-0 from 3-point range and the free-throw line
in that quarter, held Detroit to 2-for-11 shooting over the first 5:48 of the
period and took a 60-38 lead into the half.
The 22-point halftime lead was the fourth-largest by a No. 8 seed over a No. 1
seed in this format. And there was never an instance of a No. 8 seed --- at
least in the play-by-play era, which started in 1996-97 --- outscoring a No. 1
seed by 23 or more points in any quarter of a playoff game, either.
It seemed over. It was not. Because the third quarter: Pistons 24, Magic 11.
The tone was set for a comeback, and when the night ended those who remained in
Orlando's Kia Center booed as they departed for possibly the final time this
season.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA
|
