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The Orlando Magic became the first team in these playoffs to earn a road victory, storming into Detroit and upsetting the Eastern Conference’s No. 1-seeded Pistons 112-101 in Game 1 of their first-round series Sunday.

Paolo Banchero led five Magic starters in double figures with a team-high 23 points to go with nine rebounds and four assists. Franz Wagner scored 11 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter while adding five rebounds and four assists. Wendell Carter Jr. and Desmond Bane each finished with 17 points, six rebounds and five assists.

Detroit got a game-high 39 points from Cade Cunningham, but Tobias Harris, with 17 points, was the only other Pistons player to score in double figures. Orlando held Detroit to 40 percent shooting.

Game 2 is Wednesday in Detroit.

Cunningham needs some help

Many Pistons fans’ worst fear heading into the postseason became a reality in Game 1. Cade Cunningham held up his end of the bargain, but with the exception of Tobias Harris’ 17 points on 15 shots, Detroit simply couldn’t generate any source of quality offense. Cunningham finished with a game-high 39 points, five rebounds, four assists and three turnovers on 48/38/91 shooting splits.

Jalen Duren, who looked to be Detroit’s second scoring option during the regular season and is a Most Improved Player Finalist, only managed eight points and seven rebounds on 3-of-4 from the field. That’s simply not a recipe for winning against an Orlando team with five double-figure scorers.

The Magic were the more physical, more composed team from start to finish as the Pistons failed to lead at any point in the evening. Orlando had the advantage in paint points and offensive rebounds, and were even in bench points. At times, Game 1 looked reminiscent of last postseason when the New York Knicks dared anyone other than Cunningham to produce offense. And, unfortunately for Detroit, it simply couldn’t. Additionally, it didn’t help that the Pistons were 27 of 36 from the free-throw line.

Detroit will now have two days in between games to find some sort of sufficient offense to aid Cunningham’s scoring attack. As things stand, the Magic will likely dare anyone other than Cunningham to beat them. The Pistons haven’t yet shown they’re capable of meeting the moment in that capacity.

Magic trio finally win a road playoff game

The Orlando Magic finally got over the hump that bedeviled them the last two springs.

They won a road playoff game. And, in a sign that they can repeat that feat, they won by keeping their composure. They did not let a loud crowd inside Little Caesars Arena disrupt them. They limited their turnovers and hit enough of their open shots.

Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs had gone 0-7 on the road in their playoff careers: four losses in 2024 in Cleveland and three losses last spring in Boston. (Suggs did not play in last year’s postseason because he was recovering from knee surgery.)

As the lower-seeded team in this series, they knew they had to win at least one road game to advance. It’s been on their minds. Banchero even mentioned that hurdle on Friday, after the Magic’s dominant Play-In Tournament victory at home over the Charlotte Hornets.

The 2024 first-round series against the Cavaliers probably remains painful for the Magic. With that series tied at two games apiece, they lost Game 5 104-103. Then, in the winner-take-all Game 7, they held an 18-point lead midway through the second quarter but lost 106-94.

This series still can take many twists and turns.

But winning Game 1 is a huge boost for Orlando.

Since 2003, when the league shifted to a best-of-7 format, teams that won Game 1 of a first-round series won the series 76.1 percent of the time (140 wins in 184 completed series).

History is on the Magic’s side now. And it’s on their side because they ended unpleasant history on the road.

Pistons can’t give away games, especially at home

Jeff Van Gundy used to say this all the time, both as a coach and TV analyst: You can’t give away playoff games. The easy, reflexive thing for the Pistons to do, after going 32-9 at Little Caesar’s Arena this season — but losing Game 1 of their series with the Magic Sunday night at home — would be to say: “It’s just Game 1. A lot of series left.” But there isn’t. Not in the postseason.

The Pistons came home last year tied 1-1 with the Knicks after beating New York in Madison Square Garden in Game 2, and proceeded to get beat three straight times on their home court. Orlando out-toughed Detroit all night, throwing the first (metaphorical) punch, in a game they never trailed. Now, the top seed in the East has a desperate Magic team that was a loss away from not even making the tournament, which almost certainly would have resulted in their head coach being cashiered — and which plays its best when it’s physical and disruptive defensively, too — snarling in its face. What will the Pistons’ response be in Game 2?

This article originally appeared in .

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