DETROIT (AP) 鈥� The opened the playoffs with a flop.
Detroit went into the postseason as the top-seeded team in the Eastern Conference, openly talking about exceeding modest expectations and winning the franchise’s fourth championship.
If the Pistons don’t play better than they did in a to Orlando on Sunday night in Game 1, they might get knocked out in the first round again.
鈥淲e鈥檙e sick about losing this one,鈥� Cade Cunningham said after scoring a playoff career-high 39 points and not getting much help from his teammates. 鈥淚t’s a long series.鈥�
Detroit, which has lost an NBA-record 11 straight home postseason games, hosts the Magic again on Wednesday night.
The Pistons have not won a home playoff game since 2008, which is also the last year they advanced in the playoffs.
They were sluggish early against the Magic and had a built-in excuse, playing for the first time in a week.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 come out with the right energy,鈥� Cunningham said.
They were flat early in the third quarter, too, and that’s tougher to explain.
鈥淲e were chasing them all night,鈥� coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. 鈥淲e made some runs to get ourselves back in the ballgame.鈥�
The Magic, meanwhile, looked ready to play just two nights after in an elimination game to earn a spot in the playoffs.
鈥淭hey鈥檝e been off and we鈥檝e found a little bit of a rhythm,鈥� Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. 鈥淭hat always plays a part in it.鈥�
Detroit never had the lead.
Cunningham made a 3-pointer to pull the Pistons into a tie midway through the third quarter, but they wasted the opportunity by giving up 14 of the next 17 points and couldn’t recover.
Detroit finished with a season-low 31 baskets, connecting on just 40% of its shots. Tobias Harris scored 17 points as the only double-digit scorer other than Cunningham, but he missed 10 of 15 shots.
All-Star Jalen Duren, who averaged nearly 20 points in the regular season, was limited to four shots and eight points.
鈥淭hey packed the paint,鈥� Bickerstaff said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e going to put a bunch of bodies in the paint to try to make it difficult on him.鈥�
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