Jalen Suggs headline: Pistons rally from 24 down to win Game 6
jalen suggs and the Orlando Magic watched a 24-point lead disappear in Game 6 on Friday night in Orlando, Fla., as the Detroit Pistons rallied for a win after trailing by 24 points in the second half. Detroit survived an opening stretch that left it down 62-38 after 25 minutes and closed with a 55-17 run over the final 23 minutes.
Detroit’s 55-17 finish
The Pistons flipped the game with a 31-8 fourth quarter, turning a second-half hole into the result they needed in the Eastern Conference first-round series. Cade Cunningham set the tone afterward with a simple line on the response: “We weren’t going to lay down,” followed by “For anything.”
That finish mattered because Orlando’s offense stopped almost entirely. The Magic shot 5% in the fourth quarter, finished 1 for 20 in the period and missed 23 consecutive shots from the field while Detroit kept scoring enough to keep the pressure on.
Banchero on Orlando’s drought
Paolo Banchero described the collapse in plain terms after the game. “They went on a pretty big run there,” he said, “And we didn’t score.”
His words matched the box score. Eight Magic players missed a shot during the drought, Banchero and Desmond Bane were both 0 for 6, and 13 of the 23 misses came on 3-point attempts. Orlando’s fourth-quarter line also stood out historically, with the 5% shooting rate matching the worst by any team in any quarter since Washington shot 5% in the fourth quarter against Charlotte on Nov. 25, 2015.
Game 6 swings Orlando’s series
The comeback came in Game 6 of an Eastern Conference first-round playoff series, the kind of game that leaves one team out and the other still alive. Detroit’s closing surge, built on the 55-17 edge over the final 23 minutes, is the number that defines the night more than the early 62-38 deficit ever did.
For Orlando, the task was not just losing a lead but losing control of the final quarter on both ends. For Detroit, the win came by staying in range long enough for the shot margin to turn, then finishing the job with a fourth quarter that never let the Magic recover.
