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NBANEWS
Scores
Orlando Magic
45-37
109 - 116
Final
Q1
26
38
Q2
34
28
Q3
19
23
Q4
30
27
T
109
116
Detroit Pistons
60-22
Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, MI · Attendance: 20,062
Thu, Apr 30, 9:00 AM GMT+10

Cade Cunningham scores 45, Pistons beat Magic 116-109 in Game 5 to stave off elimination

Wednesday 29 April 202611:00 pmLittle Caesars Arena

DETROIT -- — Cade Cunningham scored a franchise playoff-record 45 points, including a step-back jumper with 32 seconds left, and the top-seeded Detroit Pistons beat the eighth-seeded Orlando Magic 116-109 on Wednesday night in Game 5 of their first-round series to stave off elimination.

Orlando leads the series 3-2 and will get a second chance to advance at home on Friday night.

The Magic fell to 0-10 in franchise history on the road in a Game 5.

Detroit never trailed and went ahead by 15 early in the final quarter. The Magic made one more run, pulling within three points on Paolo Banchero's sixth 3-pointer with 1:09 left. Banchero matched Cunningham with 45 points, also a playoff career high — but he missed 7 of 12 free throws.

The Pistons are hoping to bounce back from the brink of elimination as they did against the Magic two-plus decades ago.

Detroit’s comeback in 2003 as a No. 1 seed against eighth-seeded Orlando was the first of seven times NBA teams have come back from a 3-1 deficit this century. The Denver Nuggets were the last team to pull off the feat in 2020, when they became the first franchise in the league to do it twice in one postseason.

Magic forward Franz Wagner was sidelined with a strained right calf. He had 19 points in two-plus quarters before he departed late in the third quarter on Monday night and averaged nearly 17 points and 5.5 rebounds over the first four games of the series.

Cunningham was 13 of 23 from the field, making a playoff career-high five 3-pointers, and was 14 of 14 at the line in what proved to be the difference in a duel with Banchero, also a former No. 1 overall pick.

Tobias Harris scored 23 points for the Pistons, All-Star center Jalen Duren snapped out of a slump with 12 points and nine rebounds, and Duncan Robinson also scored 12.

Anthony Black had a playoff career-high 19 points, Desmond Bane scored 18 points and Jalen Suggs added 10 for the Magic.

The Pistons played with a sense of urgency at the start after being rusty or flat early in previous games.

Detroit led by 17 in the second quarter, but the Magic cut the deficit to six points by halftime. Orlando pulled within two points early in the third and Cunningham’s fifth 3-pointer late in the quarter helped the Pistons take an 89-79 lead into the fourth.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba

Game Momentum

Line above centre = home team favoured. Line below = away team favoured. Closer to centre = tighter game.

DET
ORL
Q1Q2Q3Q4
Little Caesars Arena
Venue
Little Caesars Arena
Detroit, MI
Attendance: 20,062
Injury Report
Orlando Magic
Jonathan IsaacOut
Franz WagnerOut