In a surprising development, the 8th-seeded Orlando Magic continued their stellar performance to take a 2-1 series lead against the No. 1-seeded Detroit Pistons. The Magic got an excellent performance from Paolo Banchero with a near triple-double. The Pistons—who had never really been challenged in the Eastern Conference all year—were now firmly on their heels.
Banchero finished with 25 points, 12 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks. The 23-year-old becomes the youngest player to record this set of numbers in NBA playoff history. He finished his eye-popping effort with one of the strangest shots we've seen in these playoffs.
Banchero was completely classy right after the game, though, while acknowledging his respect for the top-seeded player, he was unwilling to chide the Pistons.
"We have a lot of respect for those guys, but we also know our abilities, what we have in our locker room. We're not afraid of them."
Not to be outdone, Desmond Benn also scored 25 points in this game, while hitting seven three-pointers.
Pistons' stars run out as Magic take 2-1 series lead
Although, truth be told, the Pistons didn't really deserve to be in this game. Save for a 20-8 run in the fourth quarter to give the Magic a scare, their game was very poor. And the team that led the East almost to the wire needs to figure things out quickly.
The Pistons don't want to add their names to the ranks of the biggest-ever NBA playoff upset victims. The Denver Nuggets, led by the iconic Dikembe Mutombo, were the first No. 8 seed to clinch the No. 1 spot by defeating the top-seeded Seattle SuperSonics in 1994. Only six times in NBA history has the 8th seed defeated the top seed in the first round.
Cade Cunningham, Detroit's MVP, turned the ball over nine times, largely due to Orlando's full-court pressure and double-teams. Jalen Duran had another brutal game – he averaged only 9.0 points and 8.2 rebounds in the series. That's down from his regular season totals of 19.5 ppg and 10.5 boards.
Detroit's stars need to play like they did - like Banchero and Benn did for Orlando today - or the Pistons may run out of gas sooner than expected.
