Magic, tested all season, find a way in final moments to beat Pistons for 2-1 series lead

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The Orlando Magic tend not to do things the easy way.

They lost seven consecutive games in March to put their playoff chances in peril. They needed to survive a play-in tournament elimination game — one that many thought they would lose — just to get into the playoffs. And on Saturday, they wasted a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter and found themselves trailing the Detroit Pistons.

In response, they simply did what they do best.

“Fight,” center Wendell Carter Jr. said.

Fight, they did, and the Magic found a way. They outscored Detroit 9-0 in the final 2:51, getting the last punch and the last word in what became a 113-105 win that gave eighth-seeded Orlando a 2-1 lead over the top-seeded Pistons in their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.

“We did a good job of staying poised … not getting rattled,” said Magic forward Paolo Banchero, who finished on the cusp of a triple-double with 25 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists. “Very composed from the team, and we got the job done.”

Banchero had the game-sealing shot, too — a 3-pointer that hit the rim, bounced a couple stories into the air, then dropped through the net with the softest of swishes with about 40 seconds left.

“The basketball gods don’t reward hesitation,” Banchero said. “That one, I didn’t hesitate and they blessed me with that make. A funny shot, but a big shot.”

Detroit probably had one of those coming.

The Pistons, who trailed for most of the game, went on a 26-8 run in about six minutes to turn a 96-79 deficit into a 105-104 lead on a free throw by Cade Cunningham — who led all scorers with 27 points. Cunningham and Tobias Harris combined for 22 points in that spurt, one where Detroit shot 9-for-11 from the floor.

“For parts of the game, we did some good things,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “But down the stretch, they made some tough shots that made it hard for us to finish it out.”

He’s half-right. The other half was this — Detroit made no more shots.

When the 26-8 run ended, all nine of the game’s remaining points were scored by the Magic. A team that seems to love being in the basketball pressure-cooker found a way, once again.

A 2-1 series lead going into another home game on Monday is Orlando’s reward, with the No. 8 seed now two wins away from an upset.

“There’s a lot to clean up as well,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said.

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