Magic send message to open playoffs vs. Pistons, but ‘One game doesn't win the series'
DETROIT - “Act like we’ve been there before.”
That was the message Magic coach Jamahl Mosley shared with his group after eighth-seeded Orlando walked off the court inside Little Caesars Arena after shocking the top-seeded Pistons 112-101 on Sunday night to take a 1-0 series lead to open the first round of the NBA playoffs.
Except they hadn’t been there before.
Before Sunday, the Magic under Mosley had yet to win on the road in the postseason, previously falling eight times in three years, and as recently as Wednesday at Philadelphia in a play-in game that would’ve sent them to No. 2 Boston had they beaten the 76ers instead.
And yet, it was Orlando who looked like the cool, calm and collected team Sunday. Not the Pistons, who had a week off since ending the regular season with 60 wins - the most the franchise won in 20 years - and only lost nine contests at home this year.
“You can be happy that you got the win. That’s fine,” Mosley said. “And that’s part of this game. This is a seven-game series for a reason. But you don’t want to act surprised like it’s not something you’re capable of doing.
“Everything that we’re doing in this moment from here on out is about the mindset,” he added. “If you act surprised then when you get hit in the face, you’re not going to know how to respond back. And our guys need to keep remembering that this is what we’re capable of doing.”
The reason Sunday felt like a surprise for those outside looking in is that Orlando fell to a Boston squad that only had eight players available in the regular-season finale just one week earlier. The Magic then lost on the road Wednesday in the play-in to a Sixers team that dropped Game 1 of its first-round series to the Celtics on Sunday by 32 points at TD Garden.
In fact, the Magic were the only road team to win Game 1 of the first round across the entire playoffs.
Home teams went 7-1 in Game 1 of the first round and won by an average of 17.7 points. The West’s No. 1 seed, defending champion Thunder, took down the No. 8 seed Suns by 35 points also on Sunday.
“It's a completely different feeling,” Magic guard Jalen Suggs said about Orlando’s first road playoff win since 2019. “Winning at home, you've got a lot of juice. The crowd is lit on your runs. It feels … I wouldn't say a bit easier but you just have that auto-momentum built in. Here, it's got to come from the 15 (players) and the coaching staff. I think (Sunday) we did an amazing job from the get go, coming out throwing the first punch and then sustaining that energy, not letting it drop off. In the moments when they went on runs, we were really intentional in our timeouts about coming out, (ending) the momentum and getting back on our flow.
“So, I think it says a lot about everybody, about our growth and how far we've come,” he added. “This feels better than all the other ones, to be honest."
A prime example of Orlando’s growth was its ability to not get rattled by Detroit’s push in the third quarter Sunday. Trailing the Magic 63-52 three minutes into the second half, the Pistons used a 13-2 run to tie the game at 65.
Instead of folding, as the Magic had done at various points throughout the regular season when faced with on-court adversity, Orlando responded with a 14-3 run to recapture a double-digit lead with three minutes left in the third frame.
For the night, the Magic recorded more assists (26-19), grabbed more rebounds (45-39) and scored more points in the paint (54-34) on a night that they never trailed at Detroit.
“I think everybody knows we have a really talented team,” Magic forward Franz Wagner said. “Obviously, we didn't have the regular season that we wanted, but that's how it goes sometimes. I think we showed (Sunday) that we belong here and it has to be consistent though.
“One game doesn't win the series,” he added. “That's got to be our mindset going forward.”
The best-of-seven first-round series continues with Game 2 on Wednesday night at Little Caesar’s Arena on ESPN before it shifts to Orlando for a Saturday afternoon Game 3 tipoff at Kia Center.
The Magic are just going to keep acting like they’ve been there before.
Because now they have been.
“Whatever story you told yourself during the regular season, that story’s done,” Mosley said. “And now it’s the playoffs. So, it’s an entirely new season. How we come together, how we play with poise, how we defend at a high level, how we communicate with each other - that’s all part of this story, right now.
“And that’s all it is. It’s one game. Can we repeat that on Wednesday? It’s going to be even more difficult.”
Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com
Up next …
Magic at Pistons, Game 2
When: 7 p.m., Wednesday, Little Caesars Arena
TV: ESPN
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This story was originally published April 20, 2026 at 12:12 PM.