Cade Cunningham scores 45, Pistons beat Magic 116-109 in Game 5 to stave
off elimination
[April 30, 2026]
By LARRY LAGE
DETROIT (AP) — Cade Cunningham scored a franchise
playoff-record 45 points, including a step-back jumper with 32 seconds
left, and the top-seeded Detroit Pistons beat the eighth-seeded Orlando
Magic 116-109 on Wednesday night in Game 5 of their first-round series
to stave off elimination.
Orlando leads the series 3-2 and will get a second chance to advance at
home on Friday night. |
Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (2) drives against Orlando Magic
center Wendell Carter Jr. (34) during the first half in Game 5 of a
first-round NBA basketball playoffs series Wednesday, April 29, 2026, in
Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson) |
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The Magic fell to 0-10 in franchise history on the road in a
Game 5.
Detroit never trailed and went ahead by 15 early in the final
quarter. The Magic made one more run, pulling within three
points on Paolo Banchero's sixth 3-pointer with 1:09 left.
Banchero matched Cunningham with 45 points, also a playoff
career high — but he missed 7 of 12 free throws.
The Pistons are hoping to bounce back from the brink of
elimination as they did against the Magic two-plus decades ago.
Detroit’s comeback in 2003 as a No. 1 seed against eighth-seeded
Orlando was the first of seven times NBA teams have come back
from a 3-1 deficit this century. The Denver Nuggets were the
last team to pull off the feat in 2020, when they became the
first franchise in the league to do it twice in one postseason.
Magic forward Franz Wagner was sidelined with a strained right
calf. He had 19 points in two-plus quarters before he departed
late in the third quarter on Monday night and averaged nearly 17
points and 5.5 rebounds over the first four games of the series.
Cunningham was 13 of 23 from the field, making a playoff
career-high five 3-pointers, and was 14 of 14 at the line in
what proved to be the difference in a duel with Banchero, also a
former No. 1 overall pick.
Tobias Harris scored 23 points for the Pistons, All-Star center
Jalen Duren snapped out of a slump with 12 points and nine
rebounds, and Duncan Robinson also scored 12.
Anthony Black had a playoff career-high 19 points, Desmond Bane
scored 18 points and Jalen Suggs added 10 for the Magic.
The Pistons played with a sense of urgency at the start after
being rusty or flat early in previous games.
Detroit led by 17 in the second quarter, but the Magic cut the
deficit to six points by halftime. Orlando pulled within two
points early in the third and Cunningham’s fifth 3-pointer late
in the quarter helped the Pistons take an 89-79 lead into the
fourth.
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