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ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Paolo Banchero and Desmond Bane each scored 25 points, and the Orlando Magic blew a 17-point fourth-quarter lead before rallying to beat the Detroit Pistons 113-105 on Saturday for a 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference first-round series.
Banchero had 12 rebounds and nine assists. Franz Wagner scored 17 points for Orlando, which got 15 from Jalen Suggs and a 14-point, 17-rebound game from Wendell Carter Jr.
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Cade Cunningham scored 27 for Detroit, which trailed 96-79 with 8:34 left — then outscored the Magic 26-8 over the next six minutes to grab the lead. But the Pistons, who got 23 points from Tobias Harris, couldn’t hold on.
Game 4 is Monday night in Orlando.
It’s the 13th time since 1984, when the NBA went to the 16-team format, that a No. 8 seed has taken a 2-1 lead in a first-round series over a No. 1 seed.
Of the previous 12, five finished off the upset. Those teams: Miami in 2023, Philadelphia in 2012, Memphis in 2011, Golden State in 2007 and New York in 1999. And that doesn’t include Denver’s upset of Seattle in 1994, the first 8-over-1 series win in NBA history.
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The Magic — who had to win an elimination game at home just over a week ago to escape the play-in tournament — are trying to be the next name on that list.
THUNDER 121, SUNS 109
PHOENIX (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 42 points in a brilliant shooting performance, Ajay Mitchell added 15 in place of the injured Jalen Williams and Oklahoma City beat Phoenix to take a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference first-round series.
Gilgeous-Alexander — the league’s reigning MVP — hit 15 of 18 shots on a variety of tough looks, frustrating a Suns defense that actually played decently for much of the game. Alex Caruso added 13 points off the bench while Chet Holmgren had 10 points, seven rebounds and two blocks.
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The defending champion Thunder will go for the sweep in Game 4 on Monday in Phoenix.
Dillon Brooks led the Suns with 33 points on 11-of-21 shooting while Jalen Green added 26.
Oklahoma City took an 87-79 lead after three quarters and never trailed in the fourth….
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/magic-survive-collapse-rally-past-035201546.html
Author : The Associated Press
Publish date : 2026-04-26 03:52:00
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