Orlando, FL— Bring out the brooms, the Orlando Magic have officially swept the season series on the Detroit Pistons for the first time since the 1998-99 season with a 113-91 victory.
“He’s [Cade Cunningham] playing at an unbelievable clip right now.” Jamahl Mosley before tonight’s matchup when asked about slowing down Detroit’s Cade Cunningham. “I think he’s at 27 per game at this moment right now over this last stretch. So our ability to control him and the way he dictates their offense is gonna be very huge for us.”
The Magic did just that evening, limiting Cade Cunningham to just nine points, and seven assists, and he only shot 4-12 from the field. Jalen Suggs was tasked with guarding Cade tonight and Jamahl Molsey talked about the job he did on the defensive side of the ball this evening in the post-game,
“You know, he’s the head of the snake for us. When he is locked in defensively, which he has been, it’s hard to score on him. We wanted to get the ball out of his hands and make it tough on him but I’m gonna keep going back to the game plan that our coaches put in place. They do such a tremendous job of getting these guys prepared—and understanding what the game plan is from the beginning to the end.”
In front of a sold-out crowd tonight (19,459) the Magic put together a dominating performance and put together a very solid first half. Wendell Carter Jr and Markelle Fultz shined for the Magic, especially in that opening period. Wendell came out the gates with nine quick points, including a corner three for the first basket of the game, and a big-time block on Jaden Ivey coming down the lane.
Markelle Fultz, who has now come off the bench for the fourth game in a row, put together in 16 minutes a season-high 16 points, on a perfect 8 of 8 shooting from the floor. Markelle was aggressive and assertive all night from the moment he checked into the game. Fultz was getting downhill and doing a great job of finishing at the rim, he had a few nice jump shots that were in rhythm and fluid, and most importantly he looked fully confident and healthy.
“I feel good obviously, man, anytime you can go without missing a shot but just [going] out there and playing hard.” Markelle Fultz on how he felt after making all his shots tonight. “I’m not really worried about makes or misses. There’s other areas that I wish I could’ve been better at tonight, especially with that second unit—All I care about is a win, so I’m happy that we got the win.”
Orlando would lead the Pistons going into the halftime locker room 59-50. To begin the third period Orlando blew the game open as they led by as many as 27 points, before it dwindled back to 13. Orlando opened up the second half on a 24-6 run in the first nine minutes as they led 83-56 with 2:57 left in the third quarter.
Going into the fourth quarter Detroit kept that momentum from late in the third and responded with a run of their own. The Pistons late rally featured threes by both Evan Fournier and Simone Fontecchio as they cut Orlando’s lead to 93-80 with 9:07 left in the game. Orlando wouldn’t allow the Pistons to get any closer as they bounced back with a quick 9-0 run to push the lead back to 22 points, and they never looked back.
“For everyone to be healthy and just keep building that chemistry going into the playoffs is gonna be huge.” Markelle Fultz when asked about the final stretch of the season. “It’s gonna be huge, you know, because in the playoffs, every possession matters— So, for us, just continue to take it one game at a time, continue to build, continue to get better, and I think the sky’s the limit.”
It was an all-around great effort by the Magic but specifically with the starters tonight. Paolo Banchero led all scorers tonight with 29 points, on 10-16 shooting from the field, and he chipped in eight rebounds and five assists as well. Wendell Carter Jr had 19 points on 5-7 shooting and he did a great job of getting to the line as he was 7-7 from the charity stripe. Lastly, Franz Wagner quietly put together a solid night with 13 points and eight rebounds, and he had two blocks defensively.
“Just having that trust in, you know, throughout the whole team.” Paolo Banchero when asked about his poise when it comes down to the late game. “Whether it’s the starting group, the bench group. You know, we all trust each other and trust that. We can all go out there and win the game for this team.”
Winning cures everything in the NBA, and with their 35th win on the season the Magic now have more wins this season than they did all of last season and they still have 21 games remaining. Orlando will now be going up the East Coast for a three-game road trip at Charlotte, Washington, and they will finish up at New York before their next home game on March 10 versus the Indiana Pacers.