DETROIT — Paolo Banchero had 23 points, nine rebounds and four assists to lead the eighth-seeded Orlando Magic to a 112-101 win over the top-seeded Detroit Pistons on Sunday night in Game 1 of their first-round series, extending the longest home playoff losing streak in NBA history.
Detroit has dropped 11 straight home games in the postseason, a drought that dates to 2008.
The Pistons will get another chance against Orlando on Wednesday night in Game 2.
Detroit’s Cade Cunningham scored a playoff career-high 39 points and Tobias Harris added 17 for the Pistons, but the rest of their teammates were quiet offensively.
“We’re sick about losing this one,” Cunningham said after the loss. “It’s a long series.”
“We didn’t come out with the right energy,” he added.
Franz Wagner scored 11 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter to help seal the victory for the Magic, who never trailed. Orlando’s Desmond Bane and Wendell Carter scored 17 points each and Jalen Suggs had 16.
The Pistons haven’t advanced beyond the first round in the postseason in 18 years and the Magic haven’t since 2010.
Orlando looked ready and Detroit looked rusty early.
The Magic, coming off a rout of Charlotte in a play-in game on Friday, led 18-5 midway through the first quarter after holding the Pistons to 1-of-6 shooting with four turnovers in their first game in a week.
Detroit rallied to pull within two before Orlando closed with six straight points to lead 35-27 after Banchero and Suggs combined to score 20 points.
The Magic led 55-51 at halftime.
The Pistons came out flat in the second half and Orlando took advantage, scoring eight of the first nine points and prompting Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff to call a timeout.
“We were chasing them all night,” Bickerstaff said. “We made some runs to get ourselves back in the ballgame.”
Detroit scored 10 straight points and 13 of 15 to pull into a 65-all tie on Cunningham’s 3-pointer.
Banchero answered with a long jumper over Jalen Duren and Bane followed with a 3-pointer over Cunningham, leading to the Magic restoring a double-digit lead. Orlando led 81-74 going into the fourth quarter.
“They’ve been off and we’ve found a little bit of a rhythm,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “That always plays a part in it.”
