Magic survive Pistons' late drought

Orlando beat Detroit 94-88 on Monday night, taking a 3-1 lead and pushing the East’s No. 1 seed to the brink. (espn.com) Desmond Bane scored 22 points, Franz Wagner had 19 before leaving late in the third quarter with right calf soreness, and Paolo Banchero added 18. (espn.com) Detroit tied the game at 85 with 5:24 left, then did not score again until the final 29 seconds. Orlando closed on a 9-3 run. (foxsports.com) The numbers were ugly on both sides. Orlando shot 32.6% from the field, but Detroit turned it over 20 times while the Magic gave it away 12 times. (espn.com) Cade Cunningham finished with 25 points and Tobias Harris scored 20, but Cunningham also had eight turnovers in Detroit’s third loss of the series. (espn.com) Isaiah Stewart gave Detroit interior resistance with eight points, eight blocked shots and a plus-5 in 17:15, but the Pistons still could not generate enough late offense. (nba.com) The result flipped the pressure in the matchup. Detroit won 60 regular-season games and entered the playoffs as the East’s top seed, while Orlando came through the play-in as the No. 8 seed. (espn.com) (nba.com) If Orlando finishes the series, it would be the franchise’s first playoff series win in 16 years and just the seventh 8-seed-over-1-seed series win in league history, according to ESPN. (espn.com) Game 5 is set for Wednesday, April 29, at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, with a 7 p.m. Eastern time tip and streaming on Prime Video. (nba.com) (primevideo.com)