Pistons’ stunning Game 1 defeat wasn’t Magic pulling rabbit out of hat

So, if we put on our deductive reasoning caps, such opening losses for the top dog are usually a sign that something is missing.

In the Pistons' case, it's that they clearly don't have enough firepower.

What happens when Cade Cunningham is the only one who can get a bucket when Detroit needs it? What happens when you don't have enough perimeter shooting to unclog the paint against a playoff-caliber defense? What happens when a similarly offensively-challenged team can match your physicality and size in a way few other active playoff contenders are even capable of? What happens when the opposing teams can dictate the terms of engagement because, at your core, you're pretty one-dimensional when it comes to putting the ball through the net?

You lose Game 1 at home, convincingly, with the Pistons' faithful still waiting to see their first home playoff win since (checks notes) 2008? Woof.

I don't think the Pistons are going to lose this series to Orlando. In fact, I would be shocked. Perhaps the Magic are riding some sort of unexpected postseason wave, but I'm willing to bet they will eventually fall back to Earth and play like the inconsistent middling team they were for most of the regular season.

Even still, I'm concerned. To me, Game 1 was a warning sign about what this version of the Pistons is really capable of. If they couldn't keep up with the plodding, shaky Magic, I can't imagine they could do much better against Donovan Mitchell and James Harden, or Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, or Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. You get the idea.

On paper, Orlando is supposed to be a warm-up for the East's real heavyweights, not a daunting test of Detroit's mettle. It's not supposed to be in a dogfight just yet. And if it loses Game 2 at home to fall down 0-2? That's full-on crisis territory for a young core that has yet to win a playoff series.

We're about to learn a lot about the Pistons over the next week or so. Something tells me we've already seen enough to know these Pistons, with glaring red flags, don't have the chops to make it to June the way they think they might.

Shootaround

• Trail Blazers owner Tom Dundon shouldn't have bought the team if he was going to pinch pennies in the silliest ways.
• My guy Prince Grimes says LeBron James really should have an Irish goodbye to the NBA.
• Victor Wembanyama is the first-ever unanimous Defensive Player of the Year ... in Year 3. He doesn't need seemingly made-up stats to make him look more impressive.
• Speaking of the Spurs, their Game 1 arena color coordination looked incredible.

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This article originally appeared on For The Win: Pistons show alarming red flags in concerning Game 1 loss to Magic