After the Orlando Magic took Game 1 against the Detroit Pistons on Sunday and remained tied midway through Game 2, even holding Detroit to just 14 points in the fourth quarter, a disastrous third period ultimately shifted the outcome.
The Pistons erupted with a 30-3 run to start the quarter and went on to outscore Orlando 38-16, denying the Magic a chance to take a 2-0 series lead as the matchup moved back to Orlando.
“You can’t just flush it and act like nothing happened,” Magic forward Paolo Banchero said after Wednesday’s loss, via Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel.
“You’ve got to go back and watch it, see what went wrong, both sides of the rock and learn from it, for sure. We know what type of series it’s going to be. It’s going to be an ugly, gritty series, and you just can’t let your guard down and let them go on runs like that.”
Despite the rough stretch, Orlando took some confidence from splitting the first two games on the road and headed home aiming for a 2-1 advantage in Game 3.
As noted by Beede, Franz Wagner emphasized the team’s comfort level at the Kia Center, where they posted a 25-15 regular season record.
Meanwhile, Desmond Bane pointed to key areas needing improvement, including three-point shooting (8-of-32 in Game 2) and second-chance opportunities (0-for-11).
“We had good opportunities – multiple chances of put-backs, multiple chances of dagger threes – and some nights you just don’t make shots,” Bane said. “I anticipate us making more shots throughout the series.”
The Magic are moving forward after their Game 2 loss, but they can’t just pretend that second half didn’t happen. Story: https://t.co/pYJf58iw07
— Hoops Rumors (@HoopsRumors) April 25, 2026
