Детройт Пистонс баг Орландо Мажикийг талбайдаа хүлээн авч, 98-83-ын харьцаатайгаар ялалт байгуулснаар плей-оффын эхний шатны цувралыг 1-1 болгон тэнцүүллээ. Энэхүү ялалт нь Пистонс багийн хувьд 2008 оны Зүүн бүсийн аваргын төлөөх тулаанаас хойш талбайдаа байгуулж буй анхны плей-оффын ялалт бөгөөд НБА-гийн түүхэн дэх талбайдаа дараалан хожигдсон хамгийн урт цувралыг (11 тоглолт) ийнхүү зогсоож байна.
Тоглолтын эхний хагас тэнцүүхэн өрнөж, хоёр баг 46-46-аар тэнцсэн байдалтай хувцас солих өрөө рүү орсон юм. Гэвч гуравдугаар үед Зүүн бүсийн тэргүүн баг болох Пистонс өөрийн жинхэнэ хамгаалалтын чансааг харуулж, үеийн эхний хагаст 30-3 гэсэн гайхалтай гүйцэтгэл үзүүлснээр тоглолтын хувь заяаг шийдсэн. Энэ үед Исайя Стюарт Орландогийн довтолгоог хааж (багаараа 11 блок хийсэн), Кэйд Каннингхам довтолгоог удирдан чиглүүлж байлаа.
Тоглолтын гол үзүүлэлтүүд:
- Кэйд Каннингхам: 27 оноо, 11 дамжуулалт, 6 самбар (шидэлт 11/19)
- Тобиас Харрис: 16 оноо, 11 самбар
- Жален Дюрен: 11 оноо, 13 самбар
- Исайя Стюарт: 10 оноо, 4 блок
Орландо Мажикийн хувьд довтолгоо нь тун тааруу байж, нийт шидэлтийнхээ ердөө 33 хувийг л байнд нь тусгасан нь тэдний энэ улирлын хамгийн муу үзүүлэлт болов. Паоло Банчеро (18 оноо) болон Жален Суггс (19 оноо) нар багаа тэргүүлсэн ч хамтдаа 35 шидэлтийн 21-ийг нь алдсан байна. Ялангуяа гуравдугаар үед тэд ердөө 16 оноо авч, 7 бөмбөг алдсан нь Пистонст онооны зөрүүг холдуулах боломж олгосон юм.
Цуврал одоо Орландо руу шилжиж, гуравдугаар тоглолт 4-р сарын 25-ны бямба гарагт “Kia Center”-т болох хуваарьтай байна.
Эх сурвалж: NBA Sports Data and Associated Press 2026.
Дэлгэрэнгүй эх сурвалжийг харах
Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
The Detroit Pistons used a dominant third quarter to pull away from the Orlando Magic before cruising to a 98-83 home win in Game 2 of their first-round series Wednesday night. The series is now tied at 1-1 as it shifts to Orlando for Games 3 and 4.
Cade Cunningham led six Pistons in double-figure scoring with a game-high 27 points and 11 assists. Tobias Harris added 16 points and 11 rebounds for Detroit. The Pistons turned a halftime tie into a blowout behind a 30-3 run to start the third quarter. Detroit outscored Orlando 38-16 in the period, hounding the Magic into seven turnovers while holding them to 5-of-17 shooting. Eight Pistons players scored in the third quarter.
Orlando shot just 33 percent for the game. It was the Magic’s worst shooting performance in any game this season.
Here are some takeaways with Game 3 set for Saturday afternoon in Orlando.
Pistons showed their top-seed credentials in the third quarter
The Pistons went on a 30-3 run to start the third quarter, a statement loud enough to be heard around an 8-mile radius with Little Caesars Arena as the epicenter: “This is why we’re the No. 1 seed, and you’re the No. 8 seed.”
They dismantled the Magic for the entire third quarter, shooting 60.9 percent from the field, 50 percent from 3 and scoring 9 points off seven turnovers. The Pistons rotated on defense like their postseason lives depended on it, because going back to Orlando trailing two games to none wasn’t an option. Detroit got paint touches at will during its run, which either resulted in points, free throws or high-quality looks.
The Pistons sustained their double-digit lead for the remainder of the game and cruised to a decisive Game 2 win to even the series as it heads back to Kia Center. It was a collective effort that felt long overdue for a Detroit team that carried itself with the confidence between games like it had no doubt it was the better team, and the Pistons backed it up for each of the final 24 minutes of the game.
Detroit will now need to bottle its effort from Wednesday, pack its checked bags for the charter and fly down to Orlando with this sense of urgency, confidence and physicality to take Game 3 and a series lead in the process. — Hunter Patterson
Three problems doomed the Magic
No one thought this series would be easy for the Magic, and Game 2 proved how difficult it will be. Problem No. 1 is the Pistons’ suffocating defense. Problem No. 2 is Cunningham. Problem No. 3 is the Magic’s customary below-average shooting.
Still, as disappointing as the Game 2 loss was for Orlando, as inept as its offense was, as great as Cunningham is, Orlando still possesses home-court advantage. The Magic are in far better shape compared to where they’ve been entering Game 3 in their last two first-round playoff series. All they need to do is win every remaining home game at Kia Center.
The phrase “all they need to do” makes it sound too simple. Again, it will be anything but simple. Detroit remains the series’ favorite.
This Orlando nucleus has proven it can control its home court in the postseason. Remember, the Magic won all three of their home games in their 2024 first-round playoff series against the Cleveland Cavaliers, won their Play-In Tournament game last spring against the Atlanta Hawks and split their two home first-round playoff games last spring against the Boston Celtics. Last week, the Magic also routed the Charlotte Hornets in a loser-go-home Play-In game.
That’s a combined 6-1 postseason home record since 2024.
The Pistons utterly dominated and humiliated the Magic in Wednesday’s third quarter, 38-16. But from the Magic’s perspective, the series is not lost. One game is only one game, and the next two games are where the Magic need them to be. — Josh Robbins
Cunningham is special and it’s time people notice
During the early afternoon hours on Wednesday, the talk around the NBA centered on multiple topics. There was commissioner Adam Silver’s defense of the Blazers’ new owner, Tom Dundon, and the growing perception that Dundon has a frugal streak the length of the Mississippi. There was the commissioner’s contention that he’d like to see the Grizzlies play a few games in the coming years in Nashville — which went over gangbusters with the Memphis Chamber of Commerce, one reckons. And there was Charles Barkley, a Hall of Famer and, still, the biggest TV voice in the game, ripping tanking teams, along with Warriors coach Steve Kerr’s contention that the league needs to shorten its 82-game schedule.
At night, there was Cunningham.
The NBA needs to lean more into its nights, when the greatest players in the world shine.
Wednesday night was a reminder of how captivating an NBA superstar can be. Cunningham completely took over what had been a 46-all tie at halftime, leading Detroit on an epic 30-3 third-quarter run that blew the game wide open. His handle is dynamic, his ability to be square up to the basket at release impeccable, his court vision amazing, as he found open teammate after open teammate for easy 3s or layups or dunks. Behind his 27 points, 11 assists and six rebounds, Detroit went on to a Game 2 romp that evened this first-round series at a game apiece. The series heads to Orlando for Game 3 on Saturday.
LeBron James and Stephen Curry, rightly, have been the faces of the league for a generation. Now the league needs to expand its massive PR apparatus to feature more guys like Cunningham, the first pick of the 2021 draft.
Can you imagine Cunningham still being ineligible for the league’s MVP award, or not being able to make an All-NBA team, if the NBA hadn’t correctly overridden its well-meaning but deeply flawed 65-game rule, and determined that Cunningham was ineligible because he finished a game short of the 65 games played minimum after suffering a collapsed lung in the final weeks of the regular season?
The above also applies to Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards, who has been a beast for the Wolves in the first two games of their series with the Nuggets, despite playing on a balky knee, which kept him out of enough games at the end of the regular season to make him ineligible for all the awards Cunningham is now eligible to receive. — David Aldridge
