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Paolo Banchero reflected after the Orlando Magic’s 93-79 Game 6 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Friday, May 1, at Kia Center, where a 24-point lead vanished as Detroit forced a decisive Game 7 in the Eastern Conference first round.
Banchero said: “I think they just turned up their defensive pressure and we just got caught on our heels. Game pressure builds and they went on a pretty big run there and we didn’t score.”
Orlando endured a major offensive collapse, including a stretch of 24 consecutive misses as Detroit flipped control of the game. When asked about repeated scoring droughts this season, Banchero responded: “I don’t know. I’m not really thinking about it. At this point, it’s just all about game seven.”
He avoided overanalyzing the offensive struggles, emphasizing the immediate focus on the series decider rather than the late-game breakdown.
On leadership heading into Game 7, Banchero said: “Yeah, just keep everybody together. Series ain’t over. They’ve clawed their way to tie it up 3-3. We won a game there to start the series and we just got to go do it again. Can’t hang our heads. Got to go to sleep and wake up and get on the plane with a clear mind and do whatever we got to do to get the win.”
He also addressed the importance of resetting mentally after the defeat. “I just said we won the first game there. You can’t hang your head about this. Obviously it’s a bad loss. Got to chalk it up, but there’s nothing we can go and do about it at this point.”
On stopping momentum swings during Detroit’s run, he said: “I think you just got to find a way to get a basket. Whether it’s me, whether it’s Dez, whoever, trying to figure out a way for us to get a good shot. It’s on the five guys on the court to stop the bleeding and just find a way to get a basket, which we weren’t able to do tonight. But like I said, game seven, we can go in there and win. That’s got to be the mindset.”
Reflecting on Orlando’s second-half offense, Banchero said: “Yeah, it’s the playoffs and this series has been a slugfest. I wish I had some complex answer as to what action or ball movement, but sometimes the game just goes that way. Unfortunately, we had a very bad drought tonight and you just got to wipe it off and get ready for game seven.”
He pointed to the team’s defensive base despite the collapse. “I think our toughness, our defense. We only held them to 93 points tonight, which is another great defensive game. We just came up short offensively. I think our defense and togetherness and toughness is what we’re going to have to lean on in game seven. I think shots are going to fall.”
On Detroit’s primary engine Cade Cunningham, Banchero added: “Yeah, he’s their engine. He does a lot of their scoring and facilitating. We got to make it hard on him. Try to make others beat us. Just do whatever we can to win the game. It’s one game. All that matters is this one game. We just got to do whatever it takes.”
Looking back on previous elimination scenarios, he said: “I remember going up big early and losing the lead in the second half. Learning from that is you got to play the full game. You got to stay locked in for 48 minutes. You can’t get comfortable at any point, especially on the road. It’s going to be a hell of a challenge for this team.”
