Cade Cunningham has scored 195 points through 6 games, with 77 of those coming in the past two.
Where Orlando was and where Orlando is might feel like some out-of-body nightmare to the Magic players and coaches.
Halfway through Game 6 Friday in their first-round series against Detroit, they led by 22 points, had a jubilant home crowd behind them and could taste their first playoff series victory since 2010, bumping off the East’s No. 1 seed in the process.
Two days later, the Magic are back on the road, on the verge of having their season ended, already added to the NBA history book for scoring the fewest points in a playoff half (19). They were humiliated in those final two quarters of Game 6 – 23 consecutive missed shots, 14 minutes between baskets – and might feel that sting again in they become the 14th team to lead a series 3-1, only to lose.
Now apply all of the above to the Pistons but flip it. They were 24 minutes away from a long, miserable flight from central Florida back to Motown, lugging the onus of being the seventh No. 1 seed to squander all its advantages against No. 8.
And then, through the diligence of added energy and aggressiveness on defense, they turned those plot lines inside out. The Pistons are playing Game 7 (3:30 ET, ABC) not merely to advance but to reset this postseason and restore their 60-victory preeminence from the first 82.
Here are three things to watch for in the matinee at Little Caesars Arena:
1. The mismatch that Cunningham presents
Cade Cunningham becomes the first Pistons player since Isiah Thomas to record 30+ points and 10+ rebounds in an elimination game.
Scan Orlando’s roster and you’ll understand rather quickly why Cade Cunningham has been such a matchup problem. The Magic have quick players who are smaller than the 6-foot-6 Pistons point guard. They have guys who are taller but slower. They have Jamal Cain, who’s as tall as Cunningham but 30 pounds lighter.
Is it any wonder that Cunningham has scored 195 points through six games, more any two of his teammates combined? Seventy-seven of those have come in the past two games, ever since Orlando lost its best defensive option, forward Franz Wagner, to a strained right calf.
Not all of Cunningham’s excellence (short of turnovers) has come from sheer physical advantages. But he is strong enough to stay on course through body contact, tall enough to see over backcourt defenders crouching in front of him and swift enough to use bursts to blow past many.
Four weeks ago, Cunningham still was recovering from the collapsed lung he suffered in March. The past few days he has been knocking the wind out of Orlando’s upset hopes.
“I’m at my best whenever I’m calm and I’m in control of what’s going on,” he said after Friday’s breathtaking comeback. “Just trying to regulate myself as best as I can and making sure I can present my best self. … [Shoot], we got Game 7, we’re going to the crib.”
2. Banchero could use a little help here
Believe that Orlando’s Paolo Banchero has no problem carrying the biggest share of his team’s scoring load. No one has shot or scored more than the 6-foot-10 forward since he joined the Magic as 2022’s No. 1 pick.
But Banchero has been turned into a volume shooter by Detroit, putting up 118 field-goal attempts plus however many more to generate his playoff-leading 66 foul shots. He has not been efficient, with a slash line of 39.0%/28.6%/66.7%.
Wagner is out of the equation, guard Jalen Suggs is streaky on his best days, Carter is a banger, and Anthony Black and the others play off the bench. That leaves Desmond Bane, who has yet to give Orlando a breakout playoff performance.
Bane was the Magic’s attention-grabbing acquisition last summer, because of his skill set heading from Memphis to Orlando but also because of the four first-round picks sent the other way. He had a strong season (21.5 ppg) and was a hit with the fans at Kia Center.
Yet Bane’s best game in the series was Game 3, a Magic victory in which he hit 7-for-9 from the arc and finished with 25 points. Overall his scoring is down, his shooting has dipped fro 48.4% during the season to 38%. He’s getting to the line 2.5 times per game vs. 4.2 before the playoffs.
In the second half of Game 6, Bane made just one of nine shots, missed five 3-pointers and was a team-worst minus-39 in 20 minutes on the floor.
Twelve times during the regular season, Bane scored 30 or more, with a high of 37. This is a tough time of year for command performances – see item No. 3 below for one reason – but that’s what Orlando needs in the win-or-go-home game.
3. Don’t watch the ball, watch Thompson
It wouldn’t be fair to ask more from Bane without acknowledging Ausar Thompson as one reason he hasn’t already provided more. Thompson is an all-purpose defender, arguably the best athlete in the series, with the instincts, training and ability to seemingly defend multiple positions at once.
That’s how it seemed when he flashed over to block Carter’s dunk attempt with 3:53 left and Orlando within a manageable eight points Friday. It was one of Thompson’s four blocks in the game and 14 in the series, most on either team. He also has a series-best 14 steals.
Thompson finished third in Kia Defensive Player of the Year balloting, and since the top two were centers Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren, the Detroit wing legitimately can claim the league’s unofficial crown as best perimeter defender.
The points Thompson has helped Detroit take away – Orlando has swooned from 115.7 during the season to 98.3 in the series – have been as critical as however many Cunningham, Tobias Harris and the rest of their teammates have scored.
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Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.