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Detroit Pistons photo
The Detroit Pistons, after initially looking like a team that didn't belong in the playoffs, bounced back in spectacular fashion, beating the Orlando Magic 116–94 on Sunday to win the best-of-seven series.
The Pistons came back from a 3–1 deficit in the series to win three in a row and win their first playoff series in 18 years.
The team now moves on to the second round of the playoffs, where the more confident Pistons will face off against Dan Gilbert's Cleveland Cavaliers, who won Game 7 against Toronto Sunday night, 114–102.
Gilbert is based in Metro Detroit, as his Rocket Companies. But he also has a big footprint in Cleveland.
The Pistons are favored to win the series. Then again they were clear favorites to beat Orlando, until they suddenly became underdogs.
The first game is Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Little Caesars Arena.
The Pistons finished first in the Eastern Conference with a 60–22 record, and Cleveland finished fourth at 52–30.
Here's what some sports writers had to say.
They’ll wait you out. They’ll wear you out. And then, when the moment is right and the tension is ripe, they’ll rip your soul out.
It took a while and required unexpected heavy lifting against the upstart Magic, but the Pistons rediscovered who they are at just the right time. From shaky to smothering, the Pistons touched every level in the opening round, showing how dominant they can be, and how intense they must remain.
Game 7 at Little Caesars Arena became a formality once the Pistons started rolling. They completed a rare rally from a 3-1 series deficit to oust the Magic with a 116-94 pummeling Sunday in Little Caesars Arena. It was the franchise’s first playoff series victory since 2008, and as the crowd spent the second half standing and roaring, you could squeeze your eyes shut and conjure the echoes of postseasons past.
Mitch Albom, Detroit Free Press:
In the end, they climbed all the way out of the giant hole, then pushed the Orlando Magic into it. The clock was ticking down, the crowd at Little Caesars Arena was roaring the chorus of “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye." And it was indeed, finally, blissfully, goodbye.
Goodbye to all that Orlando crunching. Goodbye to Paulo Banchero muscling in and Desmond Bane banging 3-pointers. Goodbye to the idea that these Detroit Pistons, in struggling with a No. 8 seed, were some kind of mirage, a No. 1 seed that didn’t deserve their ranking, destined to make the wrong kind of history.
Goodbye to all that. Down three games to one? Overcome. Down 24 points in the second half of Game 6? Overcome. Never faced a Game 7 together before? Overcome. Like a patient climber, hand over hand, grip over grip, these Pistons pulled themselves from a near-disastrous exit to a level not seen in Detroit in nearly two decades: a playoff series victory, with another round to go.
Mike Bianchi, Orlando Sentinel:
You didn’t need to see Game 7 to know how this series was going to end.
You just needed to watch Game 6 on Friday night at Kia Center.
That was the night the lights went out in Orlando; the night everything changed – the series, the confidence level and perhaps even the future of the head coach and the front office. Up 3-1. Up 24 points in the second half. One win away from ending 16 years of playoff irrelevance. The Orlando Magic weren’t just in control of this series against the top-seeded Detroit Pistons; they were on the brink of something transformative.
And then, in a collapse that will live in franchise infamy, it all slipped away.
Eric Koreen, Hunter Patterson, Josh Robbins and Joe Vardon, The Athletic:
Cleveland Cavaliers fans breathed a collective sigh of relief after their team (finally) dispatched the pesky Toronto Raptors Sunday night.
Who’s next? Just the No. 1 Detroit Pistons, who clawed their way out of a 3-1 hole to defeat the Orlando Magic in their own Sunday Game 7. Despite winning 60 games in the regular season, the Pistons could be considered underdogs against the Cavs… if the Cavs had played the way a team with Donovan Mitchell, James Harden, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen was supposed to play against the Raptors (who were without their starting point guard Immanuel Quickley for the entire series and lost All-Star forward Brandon Ingram in Game 5).
Instead, Cleveland was unable to win a road game and looked like a team scared to lose rather than one that wanted to win. That attitude, the disjointed offense, turnovers and inconsistent defense won’t play well against the Pistons, who are rapidly gaining confidence and playoff experience. The teams split the season series 2-2, if you think there’s anything worth gleaning from games played months ago (there isn’t, really).
Cade Cunningham had 32 points and 12 assists, Tobias Harris added 30 points and the Detroit Pistons beat the Orlando Magic 116-94 in Game 7 on Sunday to win a playoff series for the first time in 18 years.
Cunningham averaged 32.4 points for Detroit, which last won a postseason series by beating Orlando in the second round in 2008. The Pistons advance to play the Cleveland Cavaliers, who beat the Toronto Raptors on Sunday night. Game 1 will be Tuesday at Little Caesars Arena.
“We were pushed to the limit,” Cunningham said. “And it made us really reflect on how we were playing, what got us to this position and what made us win as many games as we won in the regular season. And it got us back to playing the basketball that we knew we were capable of.”
