The Detroit Pistons stepped up with a haymaker in their biggest game of the season, on Wednesday, April 22, for a 98-83 victory.
The Pistons, facing a 1-0 NBA playoff series deficit on their home floor, used a wild 30-3 run to turn a a 46-all slugfest at halftime that looked like a “Bad Boys”/”Goin’ to Work” throwback into a 76-49 party against the Orlando Magic in Game 2 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
It’s the first-ever playoff win in the 10-year-old arena’s history, and stopped an NBA-record 11-game home playoff losing streak.
The Pistons dominated what they do best offensively, points in the paint, 54-34, after getting bruised by that same margin in the pivotal statistic in a stunning Game 1 loss here Sunday night.
Here’s the winners and losers from the Pistons’ blowout win.
Pistons vs Magic winners in Game 2
Cade Cunningham, Pistons PG
Cunningham was the lone Piston to show up offensively in Game 1 with 39 points, and it was the same story in the first half of Game 2.
He was the only Piston in double figures at the half with 15 points, calmly getting to his spots and making shots.
Then in the third quarter, the team’s defensive stops allowed Cunningham to direct a suddenly potent offense. He picked up seven assists in the quarter as Jalen Duren, Tobias Harris and Duncan Robinson all got going.
Cunningham finished with a team-best 27 points on 11-for-19 shooting, including going 1-for-6 from 3, and just 4-for-8 at the free-throw line. More importantly, he dished 11 assists after producing four in Game 1. He averaged 9.9 during the regular season, second in the league only to Nikola Jokić’s 10.7.
Ausar Thompson, Pistons F
A big storyline in Game 1 was Thompson’s lack of minutes – specifically just three in the fourth quarter as coach J.B. Bickerstaff tried to inject more spacing with Daniss Jenkins.
Thompson was his own enemy early in Game 2, picking up his third foul early in the second quarter on a moving screen.
When he returned to start the third quarter with the game tied, his defense helped spark a total shutdown of Orlando, leading to the deciding 30-3 run. He had two steals as part of the Magic’s six giveaways, and Thompson second’s dunk of the quarter off a strip for a 69-49 lead only further hyped a crowd foaming for more.
He finished with 11 points (5-for-9 shooting), eight rebounds and two steals in 28 minutes.
Javonte Green, Pistons G/F
Green didn’t make a basket in Game 2. But it didn’t matter.
He played in Europe for his first five professional seasons from 2015-19 and made his NBA debut at age 26 with the Boston Celtics in the 2019-20 season. After bouncing around in recent years, he was an afterthought signing in mid-August on a one-year, $2.9 million contract.
Green, 32, epitomizes hard work as an overachiever, the kind of story Detroiters love in their basketball team.
Now on his fifth NBA team, Green has been consistent all season with the Pistons and has played in all 84 games.
He entered as the third wing off the bench after Caris LeVert and Kevin Huerter in the first quarter, and immediately brought the defensive hustle, just as he did during a Game 1 second-quarter run. He collected two blocks and a steal in his first stint of Game 2 in the first quarter.
His consistent defense leading to transition play and 3-point shooting (career-best 38.1%) won the trust of Bickerstaff early in the season, and he rewarded that once again with a stellar showing as arguably the Pistons’ best two-way wing option off the bench.
Green finished with two points (on 0-for-1 shooting), five rebounds and three blocks in 23 minutes, easily the most of any Pistons reserve.
Pistons vs Magic losers in Game 2
Orlando Magic “Big 3”
The Magic’s three best players – Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Desmond Bane – stunk it up on offense.
Banchero, who wrecked the Pistons in the first half of Game 1 with 17 points and started solidly in the first half of Game 2 with 11 points, was 0-for-5 in the pivotal third quarter. He finished with 18 points on 7-for-17 shooting with eight assists to four turnovers. Orlando committed 17 giveaways.
Wagner, the Michigan alumnus, played just 34 games this season due to a persistent ankle injury. He came up large in the fourth quarter of Game 1, but had little impact offensively in Game 2 as Orlando’s chances slipped away. He finished 4-for-11 for 12 points.
Bane followed up a poor Game 1 with another poor shooting display in Game 2 despite several good looks from 3-point range, a handful off offensive rebounds. He was just 2-for-11 shooting and had two turnovers in the third quarter.
Bane is an efficient scorer, but he has had three straight poor offensive games since pouring in 34 points against the Philadelphia 76ers a week ago in the Magic’s first play-in game. He’s 13-for-45 combined in the play-in final vs. Charlotte and these first two playoff games. The Pistons must key in on him in Game 3 in Orlando.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Pistons vs Magic winners/losers: Ausar Thompson, Javonte Green unsung heroes
Reporting by Marlowe Alter, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
