Cade Cunningham set a franchise record for points in the NBA playoffs to help the Detroit Pistons stave off elimination.
Cunningham bounced back from two rough outings on the road to score Pistons playoff record 45 points, Ausar Thompson stuffed the stat sheet and the Pistons held off the Orlando Magic for the 116-109 victory in Game 5 on Wednesday, April 29, in the 2026 NBA playoffs at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
Paolo Banchero scored a playoff career-high 45 points and scorched the Pistons in the fourth quarter, knocking down four 3-pointers en route to an 18-point push. The fourth 3 came during a late Magic run that whittled a 15-point deficit to 112-109 with 1:09 remaining. The lead was as much as 17 for the Pistons.
Thompson dove on the floor to control a key offensive rebound after a Tobias Harris miss, and Cunningham drilled a pull-up 2-pointer for a 114-109 lead with 31.3 seconds left.
The Pistons got the ball back immediately after an offensive foul on a screen by Wendell Carter Jr., and two free throws from Harris helped clinch the win.
The Pistons trail the first-round series, 3-2, but took advantage of the Magic playing without second-leading scorer Franz Wagner (right calf strain) in Game 5.
Game 6 will be Friday night in Orlando (Prime Video), where the Magic won twice already in this best-of-seven matchup.
The Magic are trying to become the seventh 8-seed to knock out a 1-seed in NBA history, but went just 16-for-30 at the foul line (53.3%) in Game 5, with Banchero going just 5-for-12. Meanwhile, the Pistons went 28-for-35 on free throws (80%).
Cunningham shot 13-for-23 overall, went 5-for-8 on 3s and made all 14 of his free throws. He scored 27 in the first half.
Harris added 23 points and Jalen Duren had 12 points, nine rebounds (five on offense) and two blocks.
The Pistons got off to a strong start, winning the first quarter, 38-26. They grabbed seven offensive rebounds and built an early 12-5 lead in second-chance points. The lead reached a game-high 17 at 48-31, with 8:21 to play until halftime after a Javonte Green corner 3-pointer.
A sloppy stretch to close the half allowed Orlando to reduce the lead to single digits, however.
The Pistons led 66-53 with 1:21 on the clock before the Magic went on a 7-0 run, fueled by two errors by Isaiah Stewart. He committed defensive goaltending to give Jalen Suggs a layup and and-1 opportunity, and then had an offensive foul on Carter after Suggs missed the free throw.
Carter hit both of his free throws, and Anthony Black (19 points off the bench) added a 3-pointer to cut it to 66-60 at halftime.
The Pistons were strong defensively in the third, holding the Magic to a game-low 19 points int he quarter. An 8-2 run to open the fourth, capped with a foot-on-the-line long 2 from Green and a 3 from Duncan Robinson (12 points), extended the lead to 96-81 with 10:18 remaining.
But Orlando never went away, hitting 17-for-38 on 3s (44.7%).
Thompson twisted his ankle early in the third quarter and missed nearly five minutes, but returned with an extra verve, gobbling rebounds, leading a fastbreak for a Harris dunk and getting three steals in the quarter. Thompson finished with six points, 15 rebounds, six assists, five steals and two blocks in 36 minutes (he had five turnovers).
The Magic started Pontiac native Jamal Cain in Wagner’s place.
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Kevin Huerter (left adductor strain) sat out for the Pistons.
Here are two more takeaways from Game 5:
Cade Cunningham and Paolo Banchero go shot for shot
It was a showdown between two No. 1 picks. Cunningham and Banchero led their respective teams with 27 and 22 points, respectively, in the first half. Cunningham scored 20 in the second quarter, putting the Pistons’ fate in his hands.
He came out firing, knocking down a midrange jumper and then a fastbreak 3-pointer following a block from Stewart to expand their lead to 43-29. Cunningham went shot-for-shot with the Magic through the quarter, answering with midrange jumpers or trips to the foul line whenever Orlando cut it to single digits.
A pull-up 3 with under two minutes remaining extended the lead to 65-53, before Orlando’s run to finish the second quarter. Cunningham shot 5-for-9 in the period and 8-for-14 in the half, with four rebounds and just one assist. Banchero scored 12 in the second quarter for the Magic.
The points kept coming for Cunningham in the second half. A pair of free throws, followed by a 3-pointer, pushed the lead back to 11 with under three minutes left in the third. He exited the quarter with 37 points after Goga Bitadze goaltended a layup attempt with 36.7 for a 89-78 Pistons edge.
And finally, Cunningham’s midrange jumper with 31.3 seconds helped secure at least one more game in this series.
Tobias Harris steps up big in Game 5
The veteran forward entered Game 5 averaging 19 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. Outside of his poor outside shooting − he’s just 4-for-24 from 3 in this series (16.7%) − he has reliably hit shots in moments of need. Including on Wednesday.
He was the Pistons’ second-leading scorer with 23 points and hit big shots in the second half as the Magic denied them the ability to run away with the game. His free throws with 22.9 seconds left iced the game.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Cade Cunningham saves Pistons season vs Paolo Banchero, Magic in Game 5
Reporting by Omari Sankofa II, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
