ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Those 60 wins in the regular season and that No. 1 seed don’t mean much for the Detroit Pistons right now.
They’re one loss away from a rare elimination.
Only six No. 8 seeds have defeated a No. 1 in a playoff series in NBA history. It’s happened only four times since the postseason was expanded to a best-of-seven series for all rounds in 2003.
But the Pistons were sloppy with the ball and careless overall in a 94-88 loss to the Orlando
Magic on Monday night, falling behind 3-1 in their first-round Eastern Conference series.
“We have to take care of the basketball. We have to win the rebound battle. We just have to be in the moment of what this is. This is playoff basketball,” said Tobias Harris, who scored 20 points. “We have to be more ready to just go out and there and scrap up. We are a little too casual. Everyone knows that in our locker room. We have to be better every single guy. All of us have to be better. We have to look ourselves in the mirror and be better.”
Harsh words from a veteran leader.
Cade Cunningham led the Pistons with 25 points but had eight of the team’s 20 turnovers. Meanwhile, the Magic turned it over just 12 times.
“We did so many positive things but 20 turnovers and give up 16 offensive rebounds. That’s hard to overcome and that’s what it comes down to,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “They’re sending a lot of bodies to (Cunningham). We have to help him by giving him more space so he has room to operate, set screens, be more physical, get the guys off of him but, again, we have to do a better job taking care of it.”
The Pistons haven’t advanced to the second round since losing in the East finals in 2008. They had five straight losing seasons before Bickerstaff came in last season and led them to 44 wins before losing to the Knicks in six games.
This is no ordinary 1-vs.-8 series. The Magic played well before faltering down the stretch and had to win an elimination game in the play-in tournament.
The Pistons, meanwhile, rose to the top of the conference while the second-seeded Boston Celtics didn’t have Jayson Tatum for the first several months.
Detroit has struggled in this series not only with turnovers but with finding scoring options beyond Cunningham and Harris. The Pistons shot 6 of 30 (20%) from 3-point range in Game 4 and 31 of 82 (37.8%) overall.
“Back’s against the wall. Whatcha gonna do? You’re gonna fight,” Pistons forward Isaiah Stewart said. “You have to fight until the end so let’s get back to the crib, protect the crib and take it one game at a time. The series is not over. We’re gonna keep fighting.”
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