Pistons vs Magic Game 4 prediction, 2 questions that need answers

ORLANDO – The Detroit Pistons, once again, are facing an uphill battle.

They will look to bounce back against the Orlando Magic in Game 4 on Monday (8 p.m., Peacock), after dropping Game 3, 113-105. A 26-8 rally in the fourth quarter erased a 17-point deficit and gave the Pistons the lead, 105-104, with 2:52 to play.

But they went scoreless the rest of the way, and the Magic used a 9-0 run to take a 2-1 series lead.

"It’s one game at a time, and that’s what playoff series are," coach J.B. Bickerstaff said postgame. "We come down here, we win on Monday, we take homecourt advantage back. Today’s game, we’ll learn from it. But it’s over with and it gives us more opportunities, more film to watch, more time to prepare, to get ready for Monday.

"But you can’t hang onto it and our guys have been consistent all year, that we’ve been able to move on from the next. I trust our guys that we’ll focus on it, we’ll learn from it, we’ll study it, we’ll get better at it and then Monday we’ll be ready to go."

Here are two questions the Pistons will have to answer in Game 4, plus a Magic vs. Pistons prediction.

ONE BIG PLAN: Pistons' biggest enemy in playoffs is obvious so far

Will Cade Cunningham bounce back in Game 4?

Saturday comfortably was Cunningham's worst game in the series – 27 points (on 8-for-23 shooting), nine assists, five rebounds and nine turnovers. He settled down in the fourth quarter, leading their 18-point run with 12 points, four assists and one turnover, and hit the tying pull-up 3-pointer and split a trip at the foul line to briefly take the lead.

"It’s a possession game in the playoffs in general," Cunningham said postgame. "That’s why I say a lot of this falls on my shoulders where I have to be better and make sure that I’m doing a good job of getting the ball out to my guys and making sure that they can make plays out of it and just making sure we have shots on the rim. Too many times we’re having empty possessions giving the ball back to them."

Orlando scored 24 points off 16 Pistons turnovers, seven of which were committed in the first quarter. Four of those were by Cunningham. He's coming off his best season as a playmaker, averaging more assists than last season (9.9, from 9.1) while reducing his turnovers (3.7, from 4.4). They can't afford much slippage from him moving forward.