Pistons force Game 2 split
- The Detroit Pistons evened their first‑round series with Orlando, winning Game 2 to make it 1–1. (x.com) - Cade Cunningham finished with 27 points, 6 rebounds and 11 assists in that game. (x.com) - Detroit enters the postseason as the East’s No. 1 seed, a storyline shaping expectations for the series. ( )
Detroit answered its Game 1 loss with a 98-83 win over Orlando on Wednesday, tying the first-round series at 1-1. (nba.com) Cade Cunningham led Detroit with 27 points, 11 assists and six rebounds in 37 minutes at Little Caesars Arena. The Pistons won the third quarter 38-16 after the game was tied 46-46 at halftime. (espn.com) The result also ended Detroit’s home playoff losing streak, which the Associated Press described as the longest in NBA postseason history. Game 3 is scheduled for Saturday, April 25, at Kia Center in Orlando. (nba.com, usatoday.com) Detroit entered the playoffs as the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed after a 60-22 regular season, while Orlando arrived as the No. 8 seed at 45-37. That made the Magic’s 112-101 win in Game 1 on April 19 an early jolt in the matchup. (cbssports.com, espn.com) In that opener, Cunningham scored 39 points, but Orlando still controlled the fourth quarter and took home-court advantage away from Detroit. Paolo Banchero scored 23 points for the Magic in that game. (espn.com, espn.com) Game 2 flipped the script by restoring the bracket logic around the series without settling it. Detroit protected its home floor once, and Orlando now takes a split back to Florida with the next two games set there. (cbssports.com, usatoday.com) So the series that opened with an upset is now a best-of-five, with Cunningham already posting 39 points in Game 1 and 27 points with 11 assists in Game 2. The next shift comes Saturday in Orlando. (espn.com, nba.com)
