Beede’s Breakdown: Magic secure East Group B with gutsy road win at Pistons

Before Friday’s matchup between the Magic and the Pistons inside Little Caesars Arena, Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley was asked whether or not the contest felt similar to a playoff setting due to the stakes of the NBA Cup.

“A little bit,” Mosley said at the time.

He wasn’t far off when the Magic and the Pistons battled back and forth all night in downtown Detroit until the closing moments when Orlando was able to escape with a 112-109 victory and secure their spot in the Cup quarterfinals.

Desmond Bane scored a season-high 37 points, Franz Wagner had 21 and Anthony Black added 16 off the bench in the 3-point win. Black blocked Detroit sharpshooter Duncan Robinson’s 3-point attempt with less than a second left in the game.

The Magic were able to overcome a game-high 39 points scored by Pistons star Cade Cunningham, a Montverde Academy product, who recorded a triple-double with 13 rebounds and 11 assists in 40 minutes.

Orlando scored 29 points off 24 Detroit turnovers despite shooting 5 for 30 from beyond the arc.

With the win, the Magic finish 4-0 in Cup group play to win East Group B. Orlando will host a Cup quarterfinals game against Miami at Kia Center either Dec. 9 or 10.

Before then, the Magic (12-8) return to Kia Center when they open a three-game homestand against the Bulls on Monday.

The Magic entered Friday’s contest 7-2 when Bane notched 19-or-more points, and the Orlando newcomer had 21 in the first half alone.

Scoring seven straight at one point late in the first quarter, Bane shot 6-for-9 from the floor with 7 made free throws on 8 trips to the free throw line before the break. He powered a 15-0 Magic run across the end of the first frame and start of the second.

And he didn’t slow down after halftime, scoring 16 in the final two quarters. Bane scored at least 30 points for the first time in a Magic uniform and the 30th time in his career.

While Bane got off to a fast start on offense, Jalen Suggs did not.

The Orlando guard missed his first nine shots from the field, including six 3-pointers, for just 2 points in the first half. But that didn’t bother him in the second half when he continued to pull up with confidence.

After the Pistons cut their deficit to 5 points with 7 minutes left, Suggs hit a long 2-point jumper, recorded a steal on the other end and hit his second triple of the second half to put Orlando ahead by 10. Detroit immediately responded with a 10-0 run to tie the game at 100 with just over 4 minutes left in the game.

Suggs recorded 4 steals but he also turned the ball over twice. He ended with just 14 points in 34 minutes.

Heading into Friday’s matchup, the Pistons averaged a league-high 58.1 points in the paint. Orlando wasn’t far behind at 53.8 paint points, which was tied for fifth in the NBA.

Orlando, however, was far more efficient in the paint when it shot 56.3% for 62 points.

On the other end, Detroit shot just 47.9% in the paint for just 46 paint points.

Jason Beede can be reached at [email protected]