The Detroit Pistons, who topped the Eastern Conference as their No. 1 seed this season, unfortunately lost 101-112 to the Orlando Magic (eighth seed) in Game 1 of their first-round series in the 2026 NBA playoffs.
Cade Cunningham, the Pistons’ star player, on a night where he was snubbed from the MVP race, ended up with 39 points, five rebounds, and four assists while shooting 13-27 from the field (48.1 FG%) and 3-8 from beyond the arc (37.5 3P%).
Following the loss, Cunningham spoke to the members of the media at the postgame press conference, where he addressed several factors that were like a punch to the mouth in today’s loss to the Magic.
“Yeah, just I think we came out a little too, I don’t know, tight, lax, whatever the word is, maybe both for some of us, but just didn’t come out with the right energy.”
“Gave them life early on, and then we had to deal with that for the rest of the game. We were better in stints, but we can’t dig a hole like that. Something we’ve said a lot this year,” said Cunningham in his initial remarks on what allowed the Magic to lead by as many as 13 points in the first quarter itself.
“I mean, probably the same. Got to be better. Will be better. I’m still very excited about this series and where it’s going to push this team to. So it’s a lot of things that we can learn from this game, and we’ll move forward and be better,” Cunningham further added on what went wrong in the second half.
“I mean, just hitting the open man. We got, you know, talent up and down his roster. I got to do a better job of making sure that I’m getting clean pickups and hitting guys in their spot. Giving them clean passes so that they can make plays out of it,” said Cunningham on what he felt he could do better.
“Yeah, just give him space. Make sure that we’re giving him good passes in there. There were a couple of times where I felt like I had them didn’t give him clean passes. Same with Stew,” said Cunningham on how he could share the ball more efficiently.
“You know, that’s what they do; pack the paint. So, just making sure that we’re spacing properly and making crisp passes, and also if they’re packing the paint, you know, making plays on the back side of it.”
“I know that they feel great about this game. It was a big win for them. They came in, they handled their business, and stole one on the road. That’s what you want to do in a playoff series. So, you know, I’m sure that they feel great about that,” the Pistons guard added on what the Magic took away from this game.
“Obviously, we’re sick about, you know, losing this one. It’s a long series, though. There’s no confidence dropped from us. We know that team, they know us. Um, so it’ll be a long, fun series,” Cunningham concluded optimistically.
Detroit is now one step behind in a series where they had the home-court advantage. This loss turns the momentum in Orlando’s favor as a near 40-point night from Cunningham goes to waste.
The Magic will remain on the road for Game 2, which is scheduled to be held on Wednesday night, April 22. The Pistons’ primary MVP candidate would have probably found out after the game that he and Luka Doncic did not make it to the finalists of the MVP race despite having a strong case for it.
Will this news for Cunningham fuel a stronger bounce-back from the Pistons? Or will we see the Magic take a resounding 2-0 lead in this series in Game 2? Let us know what you think in the comments section.
