Inside the numbers: How Detroit escaped elimination in Orlando with a stunning comeback
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Orlando forward Paolo Banchero, when asked to explain what went wrong for the Magic in the second half against the Detroit Pistons on Friday night , had a very succinct answer. “They went on a pretty big run there,” Banchero said.
“And we didn't score. ” It truly might have been that simple. The Pistons — facing elimination and down by 24 points, on the road, in the second half, and about to join an ignominious club of No.
1 seeds who were ousted from the playoffs by No. 8 seeds — pulled off a comeback for the ages in Game 6 of their Eastern Conference first-round series against the Magic. The final score: Pistons 93, Magic 79.
“We weren't going to lay down,” Pistons guard Cade Cunningham said. “For anything. ” A breakdown of how the comeback — or the collapse, depending on one’s perspective — happened: The basic numbers — The score over the first 25 minutes: Magic 62, Pistons 38.
— The score over the final 23 minutes: Pistons 55, Magic 17. — The score in the fourth quarter: Pistons 31, Magic 8. — Orlando's shooting percentage in the fourth quarter: 5%.