Pistons reach second round after 3-1 comeback
- Detroit beat Orlando 116-94 in Game 7 on May 3, finishing a 3-1 comeback and reaching the East semifinals for the first time since 2008. (espn.com) - The swing point came two nights earlier, when Cade Cunningham’s 32-point night fueled a 24-point comeback in Game 6 to force Sunday’s decider. (nba.com) - Now the reward is Cleveland, which beat Toronto 114-102 in its own Game 7, setting up a bruising Central Division second-round series. (nba.com)
Detroit finally broke through — and did it the hard way. The Pistons were down 3-1 to Orlando, then down 24 points in Game 6, and still found a way (espn.com)matters is that this is Detroit’s first playoff series win since 2008, so this isn’t just a nice first-round escape — it changes what this season means. (espn.com) ### What actually happened? Detroit closed the series on May 3 with a 116-94 Ga(nba.com)atchup 4-3 after trailing 3-1. The official playoff bracket now has the Pistons in the Eastern Conference semifinals against Cleveland, and Detroit already stole Game 1 of that series. (espn.com) ### Why does the 3-1 part matter? Because teams usually don’t come back from that. This was one of the rare NBA playoff rever(espn.com)bility of becoming a first-round upset victim. Instead, the Pistons flipped the whole story in three games. (nytimes.com) ### Where did the series really turn? Game 6. Detroit looked cooked in Orlando, trailing 6(espn.com)st the thread — they missed 23 straight shots, Detroit ripped off a 35-5 run, and Cade Cunningham finished with 32 points in a 93-79 win that forced Game 7. Basically, the comeback started before the comeback officially counted. (nba.com) ### Who carried Detroit in Game 7? Cunningham again, p(nytimes.com)ing Orlando into a half-court grind. That part matters because the Pistons didn’t survive with some random hot shooting night — they won with their stars and their identity. (usatoday.com) ### What went wrong for Orlando? The offense dried up outside of(nba.com)t down the turnovers and second-chance chances that had been feeding Orlando earlier in the series, which meant the Magic had to create clean looks in the half court. They mostly couldn’t. Once that happened, the series got much harder for Orlando to control. (nytimes.com) 7 by a 114-102 score behind 22 points from Jarrett Allen, 19 rebounds, and another 22 from Donovan Mitchell. The regular-season meetings between Cleveland and Detroit were split 2-2, which is another way of saying this second-round matchup doesn’t come with an obvious favorite just because of the seed line. (nba.com) ### Why is Det(nytimes.com)ion pressure, and lean on Cunningham when the offense gets sticky. A young team usually has to learn that in public by losing first. The Pistons just skipped that step. That doesn’t guarantee anything against Cleveland — but it does make Detroit feel a lot more real than a typical top seed with no recent playoff history. (nba.com) ### Bottom line The Piston(nba.com)on — from nice regular-season story to real playoff threat. And after coming back from 3-1, nobody in Cleveland gets to treat them like a soft draw. (espn.com)
