Detroit Pistons beat Orlando Magic 93-79 on the road on Friday, May 1, after falling far behind. The Pistons were down 22 at one quarter break and still finished 14 ahead.
The game, quarter by quarter
The Pistons struck first, taking the opening quarter 26-25 and a 1-point lead after one. The Magic moved in front with a 35-12 second quarter, carrying a 22-point lead into halftime.
The Pistons won the third 24-11 to stay in front, taking a 9-point lead into the fourth. The Pistons took the fourth 31-8; the Pistons completed the comeback for a 93-79 regulation win.
What flipped it
The Pistons grabbed 31.8% of their own misses, while the Magic recovered 17.4%. The Pistons got more from their shots, finishing at 45.6% effective field-goal shooting compared with 40.4% for the Magic. The second chances kept adding up.
At roughly 88 possessions per team, the Pistons produced 105.3 points per 100 possessions to 89.4 for the Magic.
Who carried the comeback
Cade Cunningham was the game's biggest individual force for DET: 32 pts, 10 reb, 3 ast, 4 stl on 10-23 shooting. His Game Score of 24.1 led everyone. His team was +7 with him on the floor.
Paolo Banchero led the Magic with 17 pts, 10 reb, 6 ast on 4-20 shooting, good for a 10.8 Game Score.
Paolo Banchero (17 pts, 10 reb, 6 ast), Tobias Harris (22 pts, 10 reb, 0 ast), and Cade Cunningham (32 pts, 10 reb, 3 ast) each recorded a double-double.
What it means
The pre-game Win Meter had it close to a coin flip, at about 48% for the Pistons.
Across the last 12 meetings in our records, Orlando Magic lead 7-5.
Written automatically by Tip Off Live software from box score data. Ratings and probabilities are our own model estimates.