{"id":715738,"date":"2026-04-22T09:18:50","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T09:18:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/715738\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T09:18:50","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T09:18:50","slug":"detroit-pistons-weaknesses-revealed-in-game-1-upset-vs-orlando-how-will-they-rebound-in-game-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/715738\/","title":{"rendered":"Detroit Pistons\u2019 weaknesses revealed in Game 1 upset vs. Orlando; how will they rebound in Game 2?"},"content":{"rendered":"

DETROIT \u2013 The No. 1 seed Detroit Pistons<\/a> have lost homecourt advantage in the best-of-seven series following their 112-101 defeat to the No. 8 seed Orlando Magic in Game 1.<\/p>\n

Detroit will look to tie the series on Wednesday (April 22) at 7 p.m. inside Little Caesars Arena<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Game 1 on April 19 was ugly in front of a sold-out LCA, as the Pistons came out flat and got embarrassed from the tip, with the Magic jumping out to a 35-27 lead at the end of the first quarter.<\/p>\n

The Pistons went on a 13-3 run in the third quarter to tie the game, but that was the closest they would get as Orlando outscored them 57-50 in the second half to take a double-digit victory in upset fashion.<\/p>\n

Of all the home teams in the first round of the NBA playoffs, Detroit was the only one to lose its opener, as the Magic exposed its weaknesses in the opener.<\/p>\n

Speaking of being at home, the Pistons have now lost 11 straight games inside LCA, meaning their last home playoff victory dates back to their 94-75 victory over the Boston Celtics on May 26, 2008, at The Palace of Auburn Hills, which has been demolished.<\/p>\n

Detroit, as a city and franchise, is all about toughness, but on Sunday, the Magic were more aggressive on both ends of the floor, especially on the glass, as they out-rebounded the Pistons 45-39 while shooting 44-90 from the field.<\/p>\n

The Pistons were 31-77 from the field but did not convert at the free-throw line, going 29-38, while Orlando was 14-19.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt starts always with us defensively,\u201d said J.B. Bickerstaff. \u201cWe weren\u2019t ourselves. Typically, when we play them, they go to the free-throw line a ton, around 36 times a game. We went 38, but they went 19. That means we weren\u2019t playing our brand of basketball, being physical, being aggressive. That set the tone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Orlando also had more assists (26) than Detroit (19), knocking down uncontested three-pointers that forced the Pistons to overhelp, leading to easy looks at the rim.<\/p>\n

Maybe Game 1 was the one the team could wash their hands of, given the old adage of rest vs. rust, as they had been off since their 133-121 victory over the Indiana Pacers on April 12, 2026.<\/p>\n

The most jarring aspect of the game was how Orlando forced Detroit to generate offense, a talking point for the 2025-26 team.<\/p>\n

All-Stars Cade Cunningham<\/a> and Jalen Duren<\/a> were a lethal duo in the regular season, but in Game 1, Cunningham scored 39 points with five rebounds and four assists, while Duren finished with eight points and seven rebounds in the defeat.<\/p>\n

Orlando\u2019s Paolo Banchero dropped 23 points while snatching nine rebounds and four assists in the victory.<\/p>\n

Banchero had four teammates score in double figures, including former Michigan Wolverines<\/a> star Franz Wagner<\/a> with 19 points, five rebounds, and four assists.<\/p>\n

Orlando had three-point shooting as well as Jalen Suggs (16 points), Desmond Bane, and Wendell Carter Jr., both of whom finished with 17 points in the victory, which is something that has plagued Detroit all season.<\/p>\n

Motor Cade, coming back from pneumothorax, was at tip-top form as he tried to will the Pistons to victory, but he took 27 shots in the loss.<\/p>\n

The Pistons shot 10-32 from beyond the arc, which was not great, but as a 60-win team, they are good enough to adjust for Game 2. <\/p>\n

But they\u2019ll need to make shots, create offense for shooters Duncan Robinson<\/a> and Kevin Huerter<\/a>, and get players like Duren and Tobias Harris<\/a> involved to tie the series at 1-1, which is something potential NBA Coach of the Year, J.B. Bickerstaff<\/a>, will have the team equipped with ahead of the pivotal Game 2.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DETROIT \u2013 The No. 1 seed Detroit Pistons have lost homecourt advantage in the best-of-seven series following their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":715739,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3779],"tags":[7,909,188,4958,403,1648,912,4103,908,48,1043,6,47,76,3883,933],"class_list":{"0":"post-715738","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando-magic","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-cade-cunningham","10":"tag-detroit-pistons","11":"tag-duncan-robinson","12":"tag-franz-wagner","13":"tag-j-b-bickerstaff","14":"tag-jalen-duren","15":"tag-kevin-huerter","16":"tag-little-caesars-arena","17":"tag-magic","18":"tag-michigan-wolverines","19":"tag-nba","20":"tag-orlando","21":"tag-orlando-magic","22":"tag-orlandomagic","23":"tag-tobias-harris"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116447619566331185","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=715738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715738\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/715739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=715738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=715738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=715738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}