Magic Rolls Over Pistons At Home, Keeps Play-In Odds Alive
ORLANDO - The Orlando Magic's hopes of making the Play-In tournament survive another day.
Needing a win over the Detroit Pistons to widen the gap between them and the 10th seed Chicago Bulls, Orlando responded - defeating Detroit 128-102 in its largest win of the season.
After falling to an early 20-8 deficit six minutes into the first quarter, the Pistons would close the gap to trail 34-29 heading into the second.
But a dominant defensive quarter from Orlando limited Detroit to just 15 points to go into halftime with a comfortable 63-44 lead.
A big part of Orlando's offensive clinic was its ability to share the basketball for easy looks from beyond the arc.
Totaling 30 assists on 43 made field goals, this translated directly from downtown - tying a season-high 17 threes on 52 percent shooting.
"It's so important for guys to continue to trust each other and to trust the pass," head coach Jamahl Mosley said. "Share the basketball, but when you're open to be able to step in and knock shots down. I think that's big, just continue that level of confidence in one another."
Despite a balanced offensive attack for Orlando, with eight players cracking double digit-points, Jalen Suggs (18), Cole Anthony (17) and Franz Wagner (16) led the way scoring-wise.
For Detroit, Killian Hayes (20), Eugene Omoruyi (19) and Jaden Ivey (14) led the scoring department.
With an attendance of 19,431 the crowd for Sunday's game marks the fourth-highest in Magic franchise history.
"We feel the urge and the buzz," Suggs said. "To see people when you go to eat and just around town, everyone's just saying how excited they are, how they love what we're doing, keep it up, you know, things like that are refreshing to hear that because we're giving it all for everybody in this city every night."
Following this game, the Magic needs a lot of luck to make its way into the postseason, needing to win out over its remaining four games, along with requiring the Bulls to drop their final four as well.
The Magic is back in action on Tuesday against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
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