Enter Tobias Harris. The Pistons’ veteran wing was solid this season (13.3 points per game), but improved in the playoffs, averaging 20.2 points per night. In the seventh game on Sunday he found another level. He scored 19 points in the first half, including 11 straight in the final 2:30 of the first half as Detroit took over the game. I would score 30.
“No one can tell me shit about Tobias,” Pistons coach JB Bickerstaff said of a player who has heard a lot of criticism over the years. “He’s dependable, trustworthy and ready for the moment. He’s a leader, he’s a great teammate, he’s a great human being.Advertisement
In the third quarter, Cade Cunningham took control and made sure Detroit finished the job, quickly turning an 11-point halftime lead into 20, and Game 7 was never in doubt after that.
Detroit cruised to a 116-94 victory, and with that, the No. 1 seed Pistons came back from 3-1 down to win a much tougher-than-expected series against the Orlando Magic, who brought them to the brink.
Detroit now advances to the second round for the first time since 2008 and will face the winner of Game 7 between Toronto and Cleveland later Sunday (on NBC). Orlando heads into an offseason in which they will face questions about how well their stars fit together, whether they have the right coach and whether they should make radical changes or back off.
Paolo Banchero did everything he could for the Magic, finishing with a game-high 38 points, including four 3-pointers. The problem is that all the other Magic combined to shoot 34% in the game and 6 of 23 (26.1%) from beyond the arc. It just wasn’t enough.
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Especially with Cunningham making plays en route to 32 points and 12 assists on the night.
Jalen Duren had his best game of the series with 15 points and 15 rebounds, and Daniss Jenkins scored 16 off the bench for the Pistons. For the Magic, Desmond Bade added 16 points.
This game looked like a Game 7 at first, with both teams a little tight in the first quarter, except for Banchero, who scored Orlando’s first 11 points, including 3-of-3 from beyond the arc. Despite that, the Magic were 8-for-21 (38.1%) in the first, but that was good enough for a 22-20 lead over a Pistons team that was 7-for-20 (35%), including Duncan Robinson starting 1-for-7 from 3-point range, and most of those were quality shots.
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In the second quarter that changed, especially for Detroit, which shot 56.5% as a team, made five 3-pointers and scored 40 in the frame. The Pistons were on a roll: Detroit scored 12 points off Orlando turnovers in the second quarter, which was helped by Ausar Thompson’s three steals.
The Pistons broke the game open when they closed the first half on a 20-6 run, which included 11 straight points from Harris (he had 19 at the half), and Detroit led 60-49 at halftime despite Banchero’s 23.
Cunningham looked like an All-NBA player in the third quarter and that was it. Game over.
Even if the Pistons had to sweat the first round a lot more than they expected.