NBA Matchups: April 22

ORL @ DET | PHX @ OKC

Orlando Magic at Detroit Pistons

Team Totals: Magic 104.5, Pistons 113.5

Injury Report: Jonathan Isaac (D, knee)

Magic projected starters: Jalen Suggs, Desmond Bane, Franz Wagner, Paolo Banchero, Wendell Carter Jr.

Pistons projected starters: Cade Cunningham, Duncan Robinson, Ausar Thompson, Tobias Harris, Jalen Duren

Offensive Ranks: Magic 18th (17th halfcourt), Pistons 10th (16th halfcourt)

Defensive Ranks: Magic 14th (19th halfcourt), Pistons second (second halfcourt)

Season Series: 2-2

Noteworthy Missed Games: Paolo Banchero (1), Franz Wagner (2), Cade Cunningham (1), Tobias Harris (1), Caris LeVert (1)

Mosley quotes: Said they were able to battle through the runs from the Pistons, said they defended really well with physicality, said the regular season doesn’t matter, said Paolo dominated and had a great approach to the game, said winning the possession game will be important, said they knew it was going to be a physical game and they have to be smarter with keeping the fouls down, said Bane “is a warrior” and he will play through anything.

Bickerstaff quotes: Said they were “chasing them all night” to come back from the first quarter, said the Magic made them pay and the Pistons weren’t ready for “NBA speed,” said the Magic packed the paint to make it tough on Duren, said they need to create better space for Duren, said they had moments where they found what they needed to do and have to do it more often, said Cade can take over games for them. 

Stats and notes:

*The biggest stat of the weekend may have been the Magic winning points in the paint 54-34 in Game 1. Detroit averaged 57.6 paint points per game (Pels first at 57.7), while the Magic averaged 51.2. On the other end, the Pistons allowed a fourth-ranked 43.8 paint points to Orlando’s 50.3. It was all about efficiency in the paint with the Pistons shooting just 17-of-39 (43.6%), which just doesn’t even make sense when they were only blocked six times. Detroit also shot just 5-of-19 on their jumpers, and it was a disaster on offense. The Pistons had just five putback points per 100 misses, which is nowhere near their second-ranked 27.1 per 100 during the season. It was just not the same Detroit team. The Pistons were able to get an edge on transition points, 30-26, and they left a lot of meat on the bone at just 1.03 PPP on a weekend-high 29 possessions. The Pistons should be able to dominate this one.

*Cade Cunningham had arguably the best role of the weekend with 26 drives, 8.6 minutes of touch time, and 17 potential assists. As usual, the Magic were not helping off, with Franz Wagner and Anthony Black taking on that matchup. Cunningham lived in PNR with 18 possessions on that play and couldn’t convert at just 0.78. I’d expect Cade to have a monster role again, which could lead to a huge line.