The surging Orlando Magic seek their eighth win in the last nine games on Saturday when they host the visiting Detroit Pistons.
Orlando is returning home from a three-game Western swing in which it went 2-1, rebounding from a 104-93 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday with a 119-118 defeat of the Lakers on Thursday.
The Magic weathered a combined 70 points from Lakers stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis, thanks to Franz Wagner’s 37 points and 11 assists. Orlando also got 23 points from Jalen Suggs and 19 off the bench courtesy of Moritz Wagner.
Franz Wagner notched 15 of his team-high in the fourth quarter, the final three of which came on a step-back jumper from beyond the arc with 3.3 seconds remaining. The game-winner put an emphatic cap on his fourth 30-plus-point performance in the last six outings.
He is averaging a career-best 23.2 points per game through the initial stretch of this season and shooting 35 percent on a career-high 6.1 3-point attempts per game. The outside shooting consistency is a significant improvement from 2023-24 when Franz Wagner shot just 28.1 percent from beyond the arc.
“A lot of this stuff is mental for us players,” Franz Wagner said. “So for me to get over that hump a little bit over the summer and carry that over into the season means a lot.”
After the two games in Los Angeles and a 109-99 win in Phoenix on Monday, Orlando returns home where it is undefeated this season. The Magic held opponents to 94 points or fewer in all five games of a homestand from Nov. 8-15, buoying the NBA’s lowest scoring yield of 103.2 points per game.
Detroit comes in on a run scoring 120 points or more in four of its last six games, though three of those went to overtime. The most recent of the Pistons’ trio of extra-frame contests came on Thursday in a 123-121 loss at the Charlotte Hornets.
Cade Cunningham scored 27 points and dished 10 assists for his ninth double-double of the season and fifth in a row. Over the ongoing stretch, Cunningham also produced a 21-point, 10-rebound, 10-assist triple-double in a 124-104 win over Washington on Sunday.
Cunningham is averaging 23.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per game heading into Saturday’s matchup, and his 8.9 assists per game are fourth-most in the NBA.
Against Charlotte, however, the Pistons could not withstand a barrage of 38 points from Brandon Miller and 35 from LaMelo Ball — or a 20-point deficit in the third quarter.
“We can’t have those type of starts, especially on the road, giving teams confidence,” Tobias Harris said of Detroit digging a deep hole early. “Games like this are important, though. There’s so many teachable moments of how every possession matters and counts coming down into the fourth quarter and overtime.”
In terms of team growth, the Pistons have made huge strides from a season ago when they endured the longest single-season losing streak in NBA history at 28 games. With seven wins through the initial stretch of 2024-25, this season’s Pistons are halfway to matching the team’s win total of a season ago.
Harris, an offseason acquisition, has contributed to the turnaround with 14.2 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.
–Field Level Media
