Pistons escape 24-point hole vs. Magic, head home for Game 7

Cade Cunningham scored 32 points as the Detroit Pistons came back from a 24-point deficit to stun the host Orlando Magic 93-79 on Friday, forcing a decisive Game 7 in their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.

Tobias Harris racked up 22 points and Duncan Robinson had 14 points as Detroit won its second elimination game in a row. Cunningham, Harris and teammate Ausar Thompson each grabbed 10 rebounds.

The top-seeded Pistons began the fourth quarter on an 18-1 run to build an eight-point lead and ended up outscoring Orlando 55-19 in the second half. The eighth-seeded Magic missed 23 consecutive shots from the field during one stretch covering about 15 minutes in the second half.

Game 7 is Sunday in Detroit.

"A testament to the character of this group.," Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff said after the game. "What this group has been for the entire season. The consistency, the commitment to something greater than themselves."

Desmond Bane and Paolo Banchero each scored 17 points for Orlando, and Tristan da Silva added 10 points. Banchero, who posted 45 points in Game 5, shot 4-for-20 from the field. The Magic ended up 9-for-36 (25%) on 3-point attempts.

"It's the playoffs and this series has been a slugfest," Banchero said. "... Sometimes the game just goes that way. Unfortunately, we had a very bad drought tonight. We just have to wipe it off and get ready for Game 7."

Detroit also was the No. 1 seed in 2003, when the Pistons rallied from a 3-1 series deficit to defeat the Magic in the first round.

The Magic were held to 12 points over the first 19 minutes of the second half Friday as Detroit pulled ahead at 74-72 on a pair of Harris free throws with more than seven minutes to play.

"The same way your confidence can compound offensively, I think the same thing can happen defensively," Robinson said. "You're just making efforts. One guy does something that inspires you, you don't want to be the weak link."

Cunningham's 3-pointer and two free throws on the next possession put the Pistons up 85-75 with less than four minutes to play. Robinson's trey was the next basket as the lead grew.

The Pistons, down 22 at halftime, stormed back into the game by scoring 16 of the first 20 points of the second half. Detroit then went more than 4 1/2 minutes without scoring as Orlando built the margin to 71-54, but the Pistons closed the third quarter with an 8-0 spurt capped by a Robinson layup.

"We weren't going to get it all back at once," Bickerstaff said. "We would have to make play after play, possession by possession and I think that's what we did."

The Magic shot 3-for-17 (17.6%) in the third quarter, when they scored only 11 points.

"We've got to pick our heads up, understand that we did some things right," Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley said. "Obviously, in that first half we did some things very well. ...

"We've got to do it the hard way. Got to go to Detroit to get Game 7."

Orlando appeared to take control in the second quarter and built a 60-38 halftime lead, with Bane hitting his first three 3-point attempts.

The Pistons made only 6 of 25 attempts from the floor (28.6%) in the second quarter.

Detroit shot 10-for-19 (52.6%) from the field in the first quarter to lead 26-25. The Magic began the second quarter on a 13-2 run, which ended with Anthony Black's three-point play and Bane's inside hoop.

After a Detroit timeout, the Magic kept pouring it on to build a 17-point lead.

Orlando forward Franz Wagner missed his second game in a row because of a calf injury.

--Field Level Media

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This story was originally published May 1, 2026 at 6:56 PM.