{"id":716019,"date":"2026-04-22T17:30:32","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T17:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/716019\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T17:30:32","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T17:30:32","slug":"tristan-da-silva-helps-orlando-magic-in-nba-playoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/716019\/","title":{"rendered":"Tristan da Silva helps Orlando Magic in NBA playoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"

DETROIT \u2014 A year ago at this time, Tristan da Silva<\/a> hardly saw the floor during Orlando<\/a>\u2018s first-round playoff series against the Celtics.<\/p>\n

This postseason, however, the second-year forward is not only part of the Magic\u2019s rotation against the top-seeded Pistons<\/a> but also contributed in a major way during Game 1 over the weekend.<\/p>\n

After Pistons star Cade Cunningham<\/a> made a pair of free throws to cut Detroit<\/a>\u2018s deficit to four points with 6:48 left in the contest, da Silva sunk a 3-pointer from the right corner to put Orlando ahead by seven points roughly halfway through the final frame.<\/p>\n

The Pistons never got within four points of the Magic against after da Silva\u2019s shot late in Game 1. He remained humble about the moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, I wasn\u2019t really aware of the time and score that much to feel like that was a big shot or whatever,\u201d da Silva told the Orlando Sentinel<\/a> after shootaround Wednesday ahead of Game 2 at Little Caesars Arena<\/a>. \u201cIf I get an open shot, I take it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fourth-quarter play was made possible by Wendell Carter Jr.<\/a>, who moments earlier set a screen for Jalen Suggs on the left side of the wing. As Carter caught the ball around the free-throw line and made it appear as though he was heading toward the basket, Detroit\u2019s Duncan Robinson (da Silva\u2019s defender at the time) shifted toward the paint to help defend.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when Carter kicked the ball out to da Silva for the open 3-pointer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew Tristan was open in that corner, and I trust Tristan 100 times out of 100 to make that shot,\u201d Carter said. \u201cSo that\u2019s another layer of it, just the trust factor that we have for one another to make the right play. Whether the ball goes in or not, it\u2019s just trusting each other to do what\u2019s best for the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

The shot represented da Silva\u2019s only 3-pointer from Game 1, which he finished with seven points and four rebounds in 21 minutes of action.<\/p>\n

Against the Celtics last year, he averaged 2.5 minutes per game in just two limited appearances.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven being really up close last year and being able to see the level of focus, the level of preparation that goes into it and the level of play that\u2019s at hand (and now) being able to experience that firsthand and playing, it\u2019s a fun experience,\u201d\u00a0 da Silva said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the highest level of basketball, so everybody\u2019s playing hard,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Game 3 between the Magic and Pistons is set for Saturday at 1 p.m. inside Kia Center. The Magic said they are encouraging fans to wear black for Game 3 and blue for Monday\u2019s Game 4.<\/p>\n

Dallas on display<\/p>\n

As the Magic and Pistons battle in the first round of the NBA playoffs, Anthony Black is facing off against former high school teammate Ron Holland II.<\/p>\n

Black and Holland played together at Duncanville, which is located roughly 15 miles south of Dallas, and guided the Texas school to a state championship in 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just something we always talked about \u2014 playing against each other or together in the league,\u201d Black told the Sentinel. \u201cSo, it\u2019s cool that we get to do that in the playoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Black and Holland aren\u2019t the only names from the area in the series either. Although Cunningham finished his high school campaign at Montverde Academy in Central Florida, he started it at Bowie in his hometown of Arlington, Texas. There\u2019s also Pistons guard Daniss Jenkins, who attended Hillcrest in Dallas.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere in the East playoffs, there\u2019s Sixers star Tyrese Maxey, who\u2019s from Dallas and attended high school at South Garland. The list goes on.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel like we\u2019ve got one of the best groups of hoopers in the league,\u201d Black said of the Texas natives. \u201cYou look all around these playoffs, it\u2019s just a lot of dudes from Dallas playing real, impactful basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Up next \u2026<\/p>\n

Magic vs. Pistons, Game 3<\/p>\n

When: 1 p.m., Saturday, Kia Center<\/p>\n

TV: Peacock\/NBC Sports Network<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DETROIT \u2014 A year ago at this time, Tristan da Silva hardly saw the floor during Orlando\u2018s first-round…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":716020,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3779],"tags":[7,165,48,6,47,76,3883,1412,80939,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-716019","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando-magic","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-latest-headlines","10":"tag-magic","11":"tag-nba","12":"tag-orlando","13":"tag-orlando-magic","14":"tag-orlandomagic","15":"tag-social","16":"tag-social-sports","17":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116449550310318514","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716019","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=716019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716019\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/716020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=716019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=716019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=716019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}