Pistons complete comeback against Magic to win their first NBA playoff series in 18 years | NBA
Cade Cunningham had 32 points and 12 assists, Tobias Harris added 30 points and the Detroit Pistons beat the Orlando Magic 116-94 in Game 7 Sunday to win a playoff series for the first time in 18 years.
Cunningham averaged 32.4 points during the series for Detroit, which last won a playoff series by beating Orlando in the second round in 2008.
The Pistons became the 15th team in NBA history to overcome a 3-1 deficit and the second in the last two nights, after the Philadelphia 76ers came back to eliminate Boston.
Detroit, the top seed in the East, trailed by 24 points in Game 6 in Orlando before rallying to win the series at home. Orlando scored just 113 points over the final six quarters of the series, an average of 18.8 per period.
Cunningham and Harris became the first Pistons teammates to score 30 points in the same playoff game since Bob Lanier (33) and Howard Porter (30) against the Golden State Warriors in April 1977. Paolo Banchero scored 38 for the Magic.
Each team needed a second scoring option in Game 7. Cunningham had carried the Pistons while Banchero was Orlando’s only weapon after Franz Wagner was injured in Game 4. Harris filled that role for Detroit, but Orlando had only one other player reach double figures in the first three quarters, as Desmond Bane had 10.
The Pistons also got a big game from All-Star center Jalen Duren. He was dominated by Wendell Carter Jr in the first six games, but had his first double-double of the series with 15 points and 15 rebounds.
Harris scored 17 points in the second quarter as the Pistons ended the half on a 9-2 run to take a 60-49 lead. The Pistons’ surge continued in the second half, as they opened the third quarter with an 11-2 run to go up 71-51. Nine of the points came from Cunningham and Harris.
The Magic finished the third quarter with 15 points – the third time in their last five periods that they couldn’t reach 20 points. Daniss Jenkins made a three-pointer to give Detroit an 83-64 lead heading into the fourth, and the Magic never threatened down the stretch.
