The Detroit Pistons will turn their attention toward the Orlando Magic in the opening round of the postseason
Entering Friday night, the Detroit Pistons were still very much in the inopportune position where they did not know the identity of their playoff opponent about 48 hours ahead of tip-off. The NBA’s play-in round comes with a brand of unpredictability, and the Pistons certainly experienced just that as the one seed in the East, but now their foe has a name– the Orlando Magic.
Last night, the Magic and the Charlotte Hornets squared off for the right to officially enter the postseason as the eighth team in the Eastern Conference, but the game was only competitive for the first five minutes before the Magic raced out to a double-digit lead and never looked back.
Advancing to the playoffs with a 121-90 victory, the Magic are now set for a collision course with the Pistons that will tip-off tomorrow night in the Motor City at 6:30 pm. And while the Magic have been battling for their right to continue their season, the Pistons have been fine-tuning their operation that was good enough for the third-best record in the NBA.
“Today was great for it,” Pistons forward Ausar Thompson said after practice on Thursday. “Today we went after it. A lot of hard work, a lot of getting ourselves right because obviously we don’t know the team we are playing, but just sharpening up on the little details and stuff, so it was fun.”
At the time, Thompson was still in the dark about the Pistons’ opponent, but now the third-year ace defender can hone in on the Orlando Magic as a whole before the two teams meet in the first round.
During the regular season, the Pistons and Magic squared off four times with each side walking away with a pair of victories. Early in the year, Cade Cunningham had a particularly successful experience against the Magic with a 39-point performance preceding another 30-point triple-double in his first two games against the Magic this season, but Orlando was able to knock the Pistons out of the NBA Cup back in November before defeating the Motown squad once more before the regular season ended, though Cunningham was not available for that final meeting.
From a stylistic standpoint, the Magic spend a lot of time at the free throw line, and that reality could become a factor considering how many fouls the Pistons commit on defense. Based on the 82-game regular season, the Magic shoot more free throws per game than any other team in the league, and they also convert their foul shots at the eighth-highest rate, so they generally make their opportunities count.
The Pistons, on the other hand, play a physical, turnover-heavy brand of defense that can put opposing playmakers into a blender, and that’s where Thompson enters the picture. As one of the NBA’s top on-ball defenders, Thompson will undoubtedly make an impact against the Magic based on his speed, athleticism and playmaking instinct alone. Thompson is one of the rare players in the league who can single-handedly blow up an entire team’s gameplan with his pressure, and the Pistons will look to force Paulo Banchero into unfavorable positions for the Duke product to think his way through.
Against the Hornets, Banchero put up 25 points, five rebounds and six assists in their 31-point win, but the former No. 1 pick will have the dynamic duo of Isaiah Stewart and Jalen Duren to battle against during the playoffs. Of course, Stewart will do his best to swat any shot that is hoisted in his direction, while Duren is one of the most difficult big men to slow down in the post on offense, so the Magic front court has a big challenge waiting in the first round.
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