Pistons rout Magic in Game 7, complete comeback from 3-1 deficit

Cade Cunningham’s 32 points powered Detroit into a one-sided Game 7 finish, and the top-seeded Pistons turned a series that had looked out of reach into a statement about resilience, depth and control. Detroit routed the Orlando Magic on Sunday to complete a comeback from a 3-1 deficit, the franchise’s first playoff series victory in 18 years.

The turnaround changed the tone of the matchup. Orlando had led 3-1 and was one win from its first playoff series win since 2010, but Detroit survived the pressure of elimination, then flipped the series in a matter of days. The Pistons’ Game 6 escape in Orlando set the stage, when they erased a 24-point deficit and won 93-79 at the Kia Center on May 1 to force Game 7. That comeback made Detroit only the 13th team in NBA history to rally from 3-1 down and win a playoff series.

Game 7 brought a different kind of verdict. Detroit played with the force of a team that had already broken Orlando’s hold on the series, while the Magic could not recover from the emotional and tactical swing of the previous game. Cunningham, who had scored 195 points through the first six games and 77 in the previous two, carried the offensive burden again when the Pistons needed a closer to finish the job. The series also underscored how narrow Orlando’s margin for error had become after it failed to close out a lead that once seemed secure.

For Detroit, the win does more than end an 18-year drought. It gives the Pistons a case for real postseason legitimacy as a top seed, not just regular-season standing. The comeback showed a team capable of adjusting under pressure, recovering from big deficits and sustaining belief after a near-collapse had threatened to end the series. That matters in May, when the best teams are measured less by record than by whether they can absorb a punch and answer it.

Detroit now moves on to the Eastern Conference semifinals against Cleveland, carrying the kind of playoff credential that cannot be built in the regular season. Orlando leaves with another missed chance and a series that began with control and ended with a rout.