Pistons open playoffs with a flop as East's top seed, losing to 8th-seeded Magic
The Detroit Pistons opened the NBA playoffs with a flop. Detroit went into the postseason as the top-seeded team in the Eastern Conference, openly talking about exceeding modest expectations and winning the franchise's fourth championship. If the Pistons don't play better than they did in a 112-101 loss to Orlando on Sunday night in Game 1, they might get knocked out in the first round again.
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Pistons opened the NBA playoffs with a flop. Detroit went into the postseason as the top-seeded team in the Eastern Conference, openly talking about exceeding modest expectations and winning the franchise's fourth championship. If the Pistons don't play better than they did in a 112-101 loss to Orlando on Sunday night in Game 1, they might get knocked out in the first round again.
“We’re sick about losing this one,” Cade Cunningham said after scoring a playoff career-high 39 points and not getting much help from his teammates. “It's a long series. ” Detroit, which has lost an NBA-record 11 straight home postseason games, hosts the Magic again on Wednesday night.
The Pistons have not won a home playoff game since 2008, which is also the last year they advanced in the playoffs. They were sluggish early against the Magic and had a built-in excuse, playing for the first time in a week. “We didn’t come out with the right energy,” Cunningham said.
They were flat early in the third quarter, too, and that's tougher to explain. “We were chasing them all night,” coach J. B.