The Detroit Pistons are in deep trouble against the Orlando Magic after losing an intense Game 3 at Kia Center in Orland0, 113-105.
They rallied from 17 down late in the fourth quarter, only to give up the game's final nine points and now trail the Magic, 2-1, in the series.
Teams winning Game 3 of a best-of-seven series tied at 1 win the series 73.7% of the time in NBA history.
The NBA rarely sees 8-seeds beat 1-seeds in the playoffs, but it's not unprecedented.
The 1-seed Pistons went 60-22 in the regular season (the 8-seed Magic were 45-37). Only two teams to have won at least 60 games and lost their first-round series are the 2007 Dallas Mavericks (who lost to the "We Believe" Golden State Warriors) and the 2011 San Antonio Spurs (who lost to the Memphis Grizzlies).
The Pistons started the fourth with a Daniss Jenkins-Duncan Robinson-Ausar Thompson-Javonte Green-Isaiah Stewart lineup − one that apparently played eight total minutes in the regular season − and the Magic immediately went on a 7-0 run to lead by 15.
SHAWN WINDSOR: Pistons have no one to blame but themselves for lack of focus
The Pistons responded late, led by scoring from Cade Cunningham and Tobias Harris, but ultimately, their poor play for much of the game was too much to overcome.
Here's how fans and media reacted to Game 3 of Pistons-Magic, with much of the criticism centered on Jalen Duren (eight points, 3-for-10 shooting) and begging president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon to be more aggressive in his third offseason this summer.
No, the season is not over yet, but there were emotional reactions as expected.
What an absolute choke job. End this series so my GM is forced to make actual changes.
Down 2-1 as the 1 seed to a team whose coach lost the locker room
Bad News- Down 2-1- Cade just had his worst game of the series- WCJ dominating the center minutes as Duren continues to struggle- #Magic have mostly been better team outside of like 13(???) total minutesGood News #Pistons- Win on Monday and it's a Best of 3 series
— Motor City Hoops (@MotorCityHoops) April 25, 2026
The Pistons are in no way out of this series But every loss is a reminder of why we were begging Trajan to get this team another creator/scorer
— PistonsThoughts (@PistonsThoughts) April 25, 2026
Franz two big time shots I ain’t got nothing to say
If you are going to press up and double Black as he brings the ball up the court, someone has to stunt at or just full on rotate to Paolo after the screen. That is too much ground for Cade to recover to. pic.twitter.com/JjNxcQYhlK
If the Pistons get eliminated first round I’m expecting some sort or change. This is inexcusable
It’s very tough to play guys that can’t shoot in the playoffs. Teams just go full “he’s with us mode” and load up on everyone else.