Banchero dissects the Magic's offensive disarray and crucial third-quarter breakdown, revealing how the Pistons seized momentum.
Paolo Banchero:
On the third-quarter offensive struggles:
"I think we just got a little disorganized offensively. They started to try to speed us up with ball pressure and not letting us get into what we was trying to get into. But I think it was more so us not being on the same page to start the quarter and they just took full advantage."
On whether a communication breakdown led to the run:
"Yeah, I think we just tried to get into some things that they blew up. Then, defensively, we gave up some buckets. They got a couple turnovers and you just can't let runs like that happen on the road in the playoffs. But it is what it is."
On what could have been done to stop the snowball effect:
"It was an ugly game in the first half—pretty slow game. I think trying to just slow it down offensively, be real intentional with what we want to do, and not allow them to get out and run off miss shots and turnovers. But you got to give credit to them for rallying like that."
On finding confidence against Detroit’s interior defense:
"You got to give them credit. I thought we had some good looks in the first half; they met us at the rim a few times and they brought the intensity on defense. But we got good looks and nobody really had a great night shooting the ball. It’s not a game that you'd expect to win after looking at the stat sheet, but it’s nothing that’s discouraging."
On the takeaways from the road split:
"I think we did our job getting one here on the road. Our defense has been really solid. The one thing to take away back home is just that we can't go through droughts like that and we can't let them go on runs like that unanswered. We'll learn from it."
On whether to "flush" the third quarter or study it:
"Oh, no. You can't just flush it and act like nothing happened. You got to go back and watch it, see what went wrong on both sides of the rock, and learn from it for sure. We know what type of series it's going to be—an ugly, gritty series—and you just can't let your guard down and let them go on runs like that."
On using past playoff experience to bounce back in Game 3:
"First two years, we were down 2-0 in both of those series and we responded very well at home. I'm expecting nothing different. I'm excited to get home and play in front of the home crowd. First two years we weren't able to win on the road, so like I said, we stole a game. We were tied up in the first half and let it slip away in the third quarter, but we just got to learn from it and get ready for Saturday."
On his role as a "calming presence" during a run:
"It starts with us all being on the same page on the court. For me, it’s about getting us good looks—whether it's a shot from me or a teammate—and continuing to be aggressive and put pressure on the defense. I thought I could have been better tonight just getting the ball in better spots, but it's one game. They went on a great run and we're going to learn from it."
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