Niyo: Shell-shocked Pistons digging their own playoff grave
Orlando — Trajan Langdon, the Pistons’ team president, stood leaning against a railing near the visitors’ tunnel at the Kia Center late Monday night. His arms were folded, his face expressionless. But he wasn’t alone, watching in disbelief as Orlando pushed the No.
1 seed in the Eastern Conference to the brink of playoff elimination barely a week into the postseason. On the court in front of Langdon, everyone could see what was wrong: The Pistons couldn’t score to save their season. They went without a field goal for the final 5:24 of Game 4, save for a meaningless putback from Isaiah Stewart in the waning seconds.
In Game 3 here, it was a similar story, as Cunningham’s three-pointer with 3:15 left — tying that contest after a furious fourth-quarter rally — proved to be the Pistons’ final basket. The only difference was, when the final horn sounded Monday, it was no longer an alarm bell. This time it might as well have been a funeral dirge.
The Pistons aren’t ready to go there, obviously. And after this 94-88 loss to the Magic put them in a 3-1 hole heading back to Detroit, they said all things you’d expect. They talked about their backs being against the wall and vowed there’s “still fight in us.
” But when asked how shocking it is that they find themselves in this spot, Cunningham couldn’t hide his disappointment. “I mean, going into it? Shocked,” he admitted.
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