Bickerstaff: Detroit Pistons Will Need To Keep Orlando Magic Off Free Throw Line

For the Detroit Pistons, the challenge of preparing for the playoffs without knowing the identity of their first round opponent until 48 hours before tip-off is not a valid excuse for head coach J.B. Bickerstaff. 

During the 82-game regular season, the Pistons faced off against the Orlando Magic four times and split the series with two victories apiece, but that mark fails to convey just how different each game was. In late October, Cade Cunningham put up 30 points to help Detroit claim a 19-point win, then the All-Star had a 39-point triple-double as the Pistons were knocked out of the NBA Cup by the Magic in late November. 

The two Eastern Conference squads did not meet again until March 1, and both teams had grown considerably by that time. With the Pistons mostly healthy at that juncture, Cunningham pushed Detroit to a comfortable double-digit win with a 29-point double-double of his own, but the fifth-year floor general missed the final stanza in the series two weeks ago, which was a 123-107 victory for Orlando.

“Obviously, we were down bodies, which makes a huge difference for us, but I think in that fourth quarter, to start the fourth quarter you could see some things that we were capable of to get us back into that game," Bickerstaff said on Saturday. "We cut the lead to four to get back into that game, so we study it all, pay attention to the details from it all, but I’m not going to share too much of that.”

What that means is that the Pistons have a lot of tape on the Magic to study, and they’re going to use that familiarity to the best of their ability later tonight with Motown playing host at Little Caesars Arena for a 6:30 tip-off. 

“Obviously their want to attack the painted area, get to the free throw line, the individual guys that they have that can create offense, the physicality that they play with on that end of the floor are all things we have to prepare for,” Bickerstaff said. 

By this point, the book on the Magic is out– they get to the free throw line more often than any team in the NBA, and they convert foul shots at the eighth-highest rate. So, a large part of Orlando’s game plan is to trap their opponents into foul trouble while maintaining an efficient performance from the charity stripe, which could be a concern for a notably physical Pistons squad. 

“If we’re playing our style of basketball, if we’re putting our chest on people, we’re using our body, the ones that get you are the ones when you start using with your hands and those types of things, but we can’t change,” Bickerstaff said. “We’ve got to continue to be who we are but understand how much, I think they’ve averaged like 36 free throws against us throughout the season, so we’ve got to do a much better job of keeping them off the line.”

Since Bickerstaff is predicting a physical, overtly competitive matchup from the Magic in the first round, the Pistons will need to focus on winning their one-on-one battles. Fortunately, Detroit has excelled in that area all year as the No. 1 team in terms of tracking down loose balls while defending the paint at a high clip, so the Pistons will be prepared for any extra-curriculars that may develop.

“It’s going to come down to who does it more, who does it nastier and who does it longer,” Bickerstaff said. “You’re spot on with the similarities, but it’s going to come down to a war of attrition. Who’s mentally tough enough? Who’s physically tough enough to do it for 48 minutes and see what that looks like possibly seven times in a row.”

After bowing out of the postseason after the first round last season, the Pistons have been committed to making a deeper playoff run from the day training camp opened back in September. Now, Bickerstaff and his team will finally have an opportunity to leave an imprint on the 2026 playoff picture, and their journey starts tonight in the Motor City. 

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