DETROIT — The Orlando Magic now face the ultimate test.
Not because of Franz Wagner’s calf injury. Not because of Cade Cunningham’s excellence. And not even because of the Detroit Pistons’ uncanny ability to protect the basket.
All those factors are major problems to overcome, but before the Magic can address any of them, they’ll first need to flush the taste of Wednesday’s Game 5 loss, a 116-109 defeat marked as much by self-inflicted errors as by Cunningham’s 45-point performance.
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Orlando made only 16 of its 30 free-throw attempts and allowed Detroit to collect 16 offensive rebounds, costing it an opportunity to end the series. Now the Magic’s lead is down to 3-2, with crucial Game 6 looming Friday at the Kia Center.
“We felt like we beat ourselves tonight, wasn’t ourselves,” guard Desmond Bane said. “Too much fouling. Too many offensive rebounds. (If) we control those things, we have a good chance to win.”
For an indication of what happened Wednesday night, look at the first 2 minutes, 4 seconds of the game.
Orlando committed four shooting fouls in that short span alone. Even if the officiating was unusually strict for such a rugged series — an opinion the Magic have — there’s still no excuse for allowing the Pistons to collect offensive rebounds off missed free throws. That happened twice, when Jalen Duren corralled a loose ball off a Tobias Harris miss 42 seconds into the game and when Ausar Thompson gathered a rebound off his own miss a short while later.
“They played really hard, but that’s how they always play,” Magic forward Paolo Banchero said. “In front of their home crowd, they brought their energy, they attacked the boards, gave themselves second-chance points. Yeah, we didn’t expect them to lay down, and they didn’t lay down, and we gave ourselves a chance. But they did just a little more on some of the little things.”
Banchero had one of the best games of his life, a 45-point outburst on 17-of-31 shooting, along with nine rebounds and seven assists. Banchero produced the second-greatest scoring night in Magic playoff history, trailing only the 46 points scored by Tracy McGrady on April 23, 2003, against the Pistons, a total matched by Dwight Howard on April 16, 2011, against the Atlanta Hawks.
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But even Banchero wasn’t immune from his team’s foibles at the foul line, making only five of his 12 attempts.
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After five games, this can be said without doubt: The Magic and Pistons are mirror images of each other. These are two rugged, defense-first squads that struggle to shoot from long range and can’t afford to waste possessions. In Game 4 in Orlando, for instance, the Pistons turned the ball over 20 times, leading to 23 Magic points, and allowed the Magic to collect 16 offensive rebounds, leading to 16 second-chance points for the Magic. The Pistons lost that game 94-88.
It’s a series that may be decided by effort, and the Magic’s was good Wednesday. But the Pistons, a No. 1 seed facing elimination, were the more desperate team, and they won the physicality battle.
Magic players felt like the game was officiated differently than the prior four.
“They’re human,” guard Jalen Suggs said, referring to the officials. “So as frustrating as it is, if I was reffing this series, I’d have a hard time … and I would struggle making a couple of calls. And I give them grace. They did the best they could, and like I said, it wasn’t the reason we lost. You can point out plenty of other things.”
The self-inflicted errors were so costly in part because Wagner was out with a right-calf strain. Wagner is the Magic’s most dependable all-around player, and coach Jamahl Mosley had been deploying him as the primary defender on Cunningham.
Kevin Durant suffered a calf strain while playing for the Golden State Warriors in the 2019 playoffs, which led to an Achilles tear in the NBA Finals approximately one month later. He missed the entire 2019-20 season. Indiana Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton was diagnosed with a calf strain after Game 5 of last year’s finals, played in Game 6 and then suffered an Achilles tear in Game 7. It forced him to miss the entire 2025-26 season.
Those injuries provide the subtext surrounding how cautious an approach the Magic will take with Wagner. It is difficult to envision him playing again in this series.
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“I hate to miss any game, especially in this situation, but I think there are things that are really important,” Wagner said before tipoff, with his right foot in a walking boot. “Obviously, we know the history of other guys that have gotten hurt. So like I said, you’ve got to be careful with this kind of injury.”
With Wagner out, Mosley employed an eight-man rotation. Jamal Cain, who started in Wagner’s place, was a non-factor on offense. The only bench player who made a clearly positive impact was third-year guard Anthony Black, who scored 19 points, grabbed five rebounds and dished out three assists.
Making up for Wagner’s absence Friday in Game 6 will be a difficult task, even at home. Under Mosley, the Magic have compiled an 8-1 postseason record at Kia Center, and the Magic will need every ounce of that home-court advantage they can muster.
“It’s a must-win,” center Wendell Carter Jr. said. “Just how desperate they were (tonight), we should be just as desperate, if not more. We don’t want to come back here.”
In 2024, the Magic lost 104-103 on the road in Game 5 of their first-round series with the Cleveland Cavaliers. It was a heartbreaker that put the Magic down 3-2. Facing elimination in Game 6 at home, the Magic won.
Now they’re in a similar spot: coming off a disappointing Game 5 road loss and returning home.
This time, though, they have a chance to end the series. It will be their best chance.
“We’re going to be in front of our home crowd on Friday, so it’s our turn to protect home,” Banchero said. “We’ve done a great job at that. Obviously, they’re going to be desperate. We’re going to be desperate. So it’s going to be another war. We’ve just got to be ready for it.”