How 8 minutes gave Detroit Pistons their edge back vs Magic in Game 2

They held the Magic to 1-for-9 shooting and forced six turnovers during the 30-3 run, which expanded their lead to 76-49 with 4:34 left in the third. Cade Cunningham, who led the Pistons with 27 points and 11 assists, led an 11-0 run to open the half. Orlando answered with a 3-pointer from Bane with 8:54 left. Then the onslaught resumed, with the Pistons going on a 19-0 run before the next Magic score –a a free throw from Goga Bitadze – with 4:20 left .

The Pistons won the third quarter, 38-16, shooting 60.9% (14-for-23) while holding Orlando to 29.4% (5-for-17) with six turnovers.

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“We just embraced the environment and, truthfully, just took advantage of the moment,” said Tobias Harris, who had a 16-point, 11-rebound double-double with two blocks and two steals. “We knew that first half wasn’t to our standard of playing. We had to figure out defensively how we were going to impact the game. I thought we came out with the type of energy and the type of effort that we needed on the defensive end and I thought offensively we were able to find the gaps in the defense we needed to make the right plays.”

In Sunday’s 112-101 loss, the Pistons looked unready. They struggled to match Orlando’s physicality and will early, falling behind 18-3 and never taking the lead. The Magic were fired up after defeating the Charlotte Hornets in the play-in tournament finale. Detroit, coming off of a week of practice and no games, looked rusty.

Their first half on Wednesday was better, but only marginally. Defensively, they were sharp from the jump, holding the Magic to 26.9% shooting, thanks to seven blocked shots. The effort both individually and collectively, compared to Game 1, ranked among their best of the season.

Yet, they couldn't sustain a lead. The Pistons committed 11 turnovers, gave up 11 offensive rebounds and missed five of eight first-half free throws. A foul disparity favored the Magic, who had 21 free throws (though they made only 14).

A halftime speech from Bickerstaff helped the team refocus after halftime.

“He really got on us in the locker room,” Harris said. “There’s no more ‘My bads.’ They’re out there hustling, getting offensive boards on us and there’s too many of them. For us as a group, we know that’s not our standard, so he was on us. But we obviously felt it as a group, we needed to be better for each other.”

The Pistons still turned the ball over too much in the second half, with 10. But their best defensive quarter of the night more than made up for it. They also cleaned up other areas, grabbing six offensive rebounds to Orlando’s two and attempting more free throws, 16-11.

Detroit Pistons center Jalen Duren (0) dunks against Orlando Magic guard Jalen Suggs (4) during the second half of Game 2 of the first round of the NBA playoffs at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Wednesday, April 22, 2026.

Their performance revealed nothing new. Rather, it reaffirmed what they showed through 82 games – an ability to bounce back and to physically overwhelm opposing teams.

After six rough quarters to open the series, the margin for error is tight moving forward. Game 3 will be in Orlando, Florida, on Saturday (1 p.m., Peacock). To prevail, the Pistons will have to lean on the lessons learned and habits formed during their regular season.

“There’s nothing to get flustered about,” Cunningham said. “We knew it was going to be a tough series coming in. We dropped Game 1. Obviously we wanted to play better. But it was a lot to learn from and a lot to get better at and I think today was a good step forward in the right direction for us. We feel good, man. It’s the same. It’s going to be a long series, this one doesn't change anything. We’ve got to keep going.”

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Contact Omari Sankofa II at osankofa@freepress.com. Follow him on X and/or Bluesky.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Pistons needed 8 minutes to find their edge, destroy Magic