5 key numbers from the Magic's Game 6 meltdown vs. Pistons

Over 12 hours later, it's difficult to come up with words to describe the Orlando Magic's Game 6 collapse on their home floor against the Detroit Pistons. To help us, let's dive into a few of the numbers.

19 - Magic points scored in the second half

You could point to essentially every single Magic stat in the second half to highlight how historically bad their collapse was. Let's start with the amount of points they scored exiting halftime.

If you were explaining what happened to a casual fan, pointing out 19 points in a single quarter is very low, let alone an entire half. Their 23-straight misses -- over a span of nearly 14 minutes (45 real-life minutes) -- is the most in the play-by-play era, while their 19 points is the lowest in the shot-clock era (since 1954-55).

5.0 - Percent that Desmond Bane, Paolo Banchero shot over the aforementioned span

The Magic co-stars shot a combined 2-for-20 in the second half -- including 0-of-10 from distance. Neither played with any downhill aggression; they settled for too many ill-advised jumpers, especially when the pressure mounted. You couldn't have asked for a much worse performance -- literally -- with the series on the line.

35.5 - Percent Pistons shot in final three quarters

To put into more perspective how dreadful the Magic's offense was -- the Pistons shot 35.5 percent in the final three quarters. They didn't shoot that well, but it was masked by the Magic's incompetance.

In the final 36 minutes, Pistons players not named Cade Cunningham shot 13-of-42 (31.0 percent) and 4-of-19 (21.1 percent) from 3-point range, although three of those makes were from Duncan Robinson (on seven tries).

The Magic lost that game as much as the Pistons won it.

11 - turnovers Magic forced

The Magic's defense was been quite disruptive this series. Their defense forced at least 14 each of the first five games, averaging 18.0, including 11 live-ball takeaways. Though Cunningham and Co. did a much better job taking care of the rock in Game 6, coughing it up just 11 times, amounting to just six Magic points-off-turnovers.

Detroit's ability to hinder mistakes limited the amount of easy opportunities Orlando had on the break. And when the Pistons are allowed to set up their defense, it's #BadNewsBears™ for the team in blue.

14 - Rebound differential in Pistons' favor

I've harped on it all series, but winning the rebound battle and, thus, the possession battle, is critical for the Magic to win this series. This marks the second-straight game they have been outrebounded by 14 or more. And in games where the Magic finished with a minus-14 rebound differential or worse, they're 2-11.

Rebounds win championships; no rebounds, no rings, as the great Pat Riley said once upon a time. If the Magic want to squeak out Game 7, controlling the glass must be one of their foremost priorities.

Add us as a preferred source on Google