From the start of these playoffs, Detroit has looked like a different team altogether. It is as if every player forgot his job. Again last night, Orlando took another step forward with a 94-88 win over Detroit. The series stands at 3-1. One more victory now and the Magic are on the brink of one of the biggest upsets in recent years.
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Desmond Bane, poise and precision
In a tight, scrappy game where every basket felt more expensive than usual, Desmond Bane made the difference when it mattered. The player to watch in yesterday’s preview finished with 22 points, timely shot-making, and, crucially, that banked three-pointer with just over a minute left. It was an almost unreal shot, but it fit the rhythm of the game perfectly. The one that finally broke Detroit’s spirit.
Desmond Bane clutch bank three off the Wendell Carter Jr screen pic.twitter.com/VUt2bP3zYf
— The Magic Way (@MagicFilmRoom) April 28, 2026
This wasn’t a blowout. It was something else. A constant presence, sure, but above all a knack for stepping up at every key moment. And that’s exactly why Orlando brought him in.
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Win ugly, win anyway
What makes this win even more significant is how Orlando got it done. The shooting wasn’t great, nowhere near it, and it has been that way for much of the series. They finished at 32.6% from the field, Paolo Banchero went 4 for 18, and Jalen Suggs opened 0 for 8.
On paper, it shouldn’t work. Yet it does. Much like the Raptors last Sunday, the Magic are winning somewhere else entirely. Fewer turnovers, better control of possessions. A collective discipline that covers a lot of flaws. Detroit coughed it up 20 times; Orlando stayed composed, focused, almost ruthless in how it handled the game.
Franz Wagner sets the tone, then hands it off
Franz Wagner was huge before leaving the floor with a calf issue. He scored 19 points in three quarters, stayed involved throughout, and gave Orlando a proper anchor on offense.
And when he went out, the team didn’t fold. Quite the opposite.
JAMAL CAIN ON JALEN DUREN pic.twitter.com/3Doge4XjDz
— Underdog NBA (@UnderdogNBA) April 28, 2026
Jamal Cain had a brilliant outing, putting up 8 points at 50% shooting and bringing energy from the second he stepped on the court. Fed by that same edge, he then erupted with a vicious dunk on Jalen Duren, probably the play of these playoffs so far. Those are the moments that do more than add two points. They lift the whole building. Orlando feeds off its crowd, and you can feel it.
Detroit wears down and falls apart
At the other end, it’s the same story as the first three games. Cade Cunningham did what he could, scoring 25 points with effort and leadership. But he also had eight turnovers and a brutal shooting night by his standards, going 7/23 from the field and 3/11 from three. Tobias Harris added 20 points, but couldn’t steady anything around him. Jalen Duren finished with 12 points but was not involved enough on either end, leaving Detroit searching for answers it simply doesn’t have.
To his credit, Isaiah Stewart took over from Duren defensively in the third quarter and finished with 8 blocks by the end of the night. But the problem runs deeper than one stint. Detroit no longer controls the tempo. Possessions drag, decisions get shaky, and every mistake gets punished. This team, which owned the regular season, is now chasing the game. More than that, it’s chasing itself.
A game of runs, a finish on a knife edge
For long stretches this was an unstable contest, even if Detroit seemed to have its hands on it at plenty of points. Orlando answered hard and even took control at times. The lead swung back and forth. Nothing ever really settled.
Then came the closing stretch. Suggs finally found his range. Detroit fought back and Ausar Thompson tied it up. And then, in that drifting moment, Cain popped up again, before Bane buried the decisive shot. A short sequence, but enough to flip the game.
One win from history
Orlando has not clinched anything yet, apart from the mental battle. The locker room knows it, the staff keep saying it, but the reality is clear. One more win, and the Magic will join a tiny club of No. 8 seeds to knock out a No. 1 over a full series.
Voici les equipes #1 de saison reguliere qui ont perdu au premier tour des Playoffs contre un #8 :
🔸 Sonics 1994 (vs Nuggets)
🔸 Heat 1999 (vs Knicks)
🔸 Mavs 2007 (vs Warriors)
🔸 Spurs 2011 (vs Grizzlies)
🔸 Bulls 2012 (vs Sixers)
🔸 Bucks 2023 (vs Heat)Les Pistons 2026 (60… pic.twitter.com/H84rXwmo2o
— TrashTalk (@TrashTalk_fr) April 28, 2026
That is no small thing. It is rare. Very rare.
Game 5 heads to Detroit. Cunningham and company are back against the wall at home, and they can still punch back. But this time the pressure feels different. Orlando now owns the series. And, crucially, the Magic are playing with something Detroit seems to have lost: belief.
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