The Orlando Magic seized a commanding 3-1 series lead Monday night, defeating the Detroit Pistons 94-88 at the Kia Center. The historic performance places the Eastern Conference's top seed on the verge of elimination as Orlando aims to become the seventh No. 8 seed to upset a No. 1 seed in NBA history.

The victory garnered significant national attention, notably from ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, who characterized the Pistons as a disappointment as Smith criticized Detroit's offensive depth and commended the Magic for peaking at the ideal time.

“Almost nothing to do with JB Bickerstaff,” Smith said. “There's but so much you can do. You coach, you did this, but so much you can do. I'm watching them put these brothers in position. They can hit the backside of Broadway on an empty on a Sunday morning, they can't shoot that's the problem with the Detroit business. Why they look against the New York Knicks? I don't know what the hell is going in the magic shot 33% from three point range still won the game. Why? Because Detroit shot 20% 20% six for 30 from three, six for 30. They are the worst three point shooting teams in the playoffs, shooting 27 and a half percent from three point range, they can't shoot and by the way, we like Jalen Duren put up on screen because I want to see him.”

Smith also took a moment to pour it on Jalen Duren after Jamal Cain's monster poster.

“I like Jalen during a lot,” Smith added. “I wish the Knicks had him, my brother, my brother. I hope you're okay. I saw that dunk that Cain put on them last Lord have mercy. I mean, that's one of them things right there where you got to go back to your hotel room, or, thank God you going home to Detroit. You need your bed, your sauna. You need, you need. You need your chef. You need your nutritionist. Damn it. Imma say it. You need your woman. You got to go home and just get a massage and, you know, she got to hug you and say, baby, it's going to be alright, because that dump that that man put on dirt, it's like, Damn I mean to put it on them, you know, oh, Lord, Lord. I mean, it was that bad. It was that bad. I didn't expect that at all. Okay, props to Cain and the crew.”

For Smith it all comes down to the Magic outplaying the Pistons all over the court.

“Wendell Carter is out playing Detroit's big men,” Smith said. “Cade Cunningham is a stud, but he turned the ball over 24 times in the last three games. NBA record. It's the NBA record. So you're looking at it from that standpoint. And on top of it all, you can't shoot. We're shoot. What did we lament about Detroit against anybody but the Knicks, because they had something special for the Knicks. But anybody but the Knicks? What did we lament about them? We said, Where's your secondary scorer? Where's that dude? And we don't see that right now. That is the problem. Kay Cunningham can ball, but he's trying to do too much, because in his heart, he knows offensively, he don't have the help that he needs to come off. Franz Wagner is balling. They can't stop him off the dribble. Paolo Banchero is a stud. He's balling. And the bigs are big.”

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