3 things to watch in Pistons-Magic Game 3

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We’re still waiting for this series to live up to its billing: Two big, physical and talented teams more evenly matched than their 1 vs. 8 seeding would suggest. They wound up in this showdown because Detroit enjoyed a laudably consistent season, while Orlando had anything but.

Through two games, there have been some similarities. Scoring has been tight and down – Detroit a combined 199, Orlando 195. Neither team has looked title-worthy from the 3-point line (27.6% accuracy by the Pistons, 27.3% by the Magic).

But neither team is happy with the 1-1 deadlock heading into Game 3 at Orlando’s Kia Center (1 ET, Peacock/NBC). The Pistons consider the opener Sunday a sub-par performance in which rust from a week’s layoff hurt them against a rolling opponent.

That opponent, meanwhile, looked terrific in Game 1 and competent enough for 24 minutes of a grimy Game 2. Then the bottom dropped out for the Magic in the second half, putting the foes on decidedly different paths for the next meeting.

Here are three things to watch for in Game 3 on Saturday:

1. Residue from 30-3?

If there were such a thing as post-traumatic run syndrome, Orlando’s players, coaches and fans might actually be suffering from it. That’s how profound the Magic’s collapse was in the third quarter Wednesday.

Imagine driving cross-country, only to get side-swiped by an 18-wheeler, spun into oncoming traffic, plunged into a ravine and coming to rest next to den of wolverines somewhere in Missouri. Odds are, that memory would stick with you for a while.

Orlando’s version was the eight-minute stretch in Game 2 in which it got outscored 30-3, falling behind by 27 points and unable to threaten from there. The Pistons, responding to a confrontational harangue from coach J.B. Bickerstaff, played and sounded from there as if it was motivating enough to carry them to carry them to the conference finals.

“He really got on us in the locker room,” said forward Tobias Harris. “There’s no more ‘My bads.’ They’re out there hustling, getting offensive boards on us and there’s too many of them. For us as a group, we know that’s not our standard, so he was on us. But we obviously felt it as a group, we needed to be better for each other.”

The Magic consoled themselves by focusing on the split they got of the opening games at Little Caesars Arena and on the scenery shift to their building. But they might have had two, and they have to wonder if they’ve awakened the superior team.

2. Slow Cunningham or suffer consequences

Detroit’s offensive engine is their point guard, looking through two performances like a future MVP finalist. It isn’t a matter of “how Cade Cunningham goes, so go the Pistons” but rather, can Cunningham get a lot out of his teammates while he’s providing a lot on his own?

In Game 1, the fourth-year playmaker scored 39 points but couldn’t unlock enough of his teammates. That went better in Game 2, with all five Detroit starters scoring in double figures while Cunningham scored 27 to go along with 11 assists.

Center Isaiah Stewart spoke afterward of the guard’s impact once he’s rolling:

“For us, it uplifts us, makes us go with him. For the other team, it’s just a problem for them that they have to figure out. [The Pistons] changed their coverages and stuff, which helped free us up and allowed us to make plays.”

It wasn’t that long ago, just a month, that he, they and we wondered if everyone would be cheated of this. That’s when Cunningham suffered a collapsed lung – not a familiar basketball injury – in an on-court collision at Washington. He missed 11 games, returning in time to qualify (with an appeal) under the 65-game rule for awards and honors, and to do a whole lot of what he’s currently doing.

“I’m just grateful to be here, grateful to be back, feeling the way I feel right now, whenever my team needs me,” Cunningham said. “So all glory to God, for sure. I just want to continue to go and represent.”

3. Rays of sunshine for the Magic?

Orlando wasn’t exactly dominant at the Kia Center this season, winning seven more games there (26-16) than they did on the road. Its shooting numbers were slightly worse, too.

But going home frequently has a broader benefit in the playoffs. The truism is that role players typically play better in more comfortable, less pressurized surroundings. And the Magic have a few – Anthony Black, Tristan da Silva, Jevon Carter if called upon – who could raise their games a notch.

Maybe center Wendell Carter Jr. will get back on track. He arguably was Orlando’s best performer in Game 1 (17 points, seven rebounds, five assists, 8-9 FGs) but spent Game 2 in foul trouble, making just one of his six shots. He finished with three points and a minus-29. With Detroit’s bigs perking up, the Magic can’t afford for Carter to perk down.

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Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.