SI:AM | Sloppy Pistons Staring Down Elimination After Magic Take Advantage of Turnovers

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. It’s pretty bizarre to watch the slow, apparent death of LIV Golf, huh?

In today’s SI:AM:
🪄 Magic nearing big upset
🏇 Horse racing’s crossroads
⚾ What Cora should do next

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Pistons in big trouble

The Pistons’ dream season has gone off the rails in a hurry. Detroit, the No. 1 seed in the East, lost to the Magic on Monday night, 94–88, and is now behind in the series 3–1.

It’s no secret what went wrong for the Pistons in Game 4: They turned the ball over way too many times. Detroit had 20 turnovers in the game, including eight by star point guard Cade Cunningham. Seven of the Pistons’ turnovers came in the first four minutes of the game, during which time the Magic opened a quick 17–5 lead. And while the Pistons regained some control after that horrendous start to the game, it was still a sloppy showing—for both teams.

Neither Detroit nor Orlando could knock down shots with any consistency. The Pistons hit 37.8% of their field-goal attempts (20% from three), while the Magic made 32.6% (25.7% from three). Give credit to both teams for their defensive intensity, but they also failed to knock down open looks.

“The way we’ve been playing, that stuff’s not good enough to win games,” Cunningham told reporters. “They’re outrebounding us, turning me over. We haven’t hit enough shots, our defense hasn’t caught its foot. So, it’s not shocking we’re losing games playing like that.”

Issues with ball security are nothing new for the Pistons. They had the 10th-highest number of turnovers in the league this season (15.2 per game), but it was rarely a problem because the Pistons’ defense forced more turnovers than any team in the league (16.9 per game). Detroit was 19–10 this season when the turnover margin favored its opponent.

As Cunningham said, the Pistons haven’t been their usual self defensively in this series (aside from Game 3, when they allowed just 83 points). Orlando is winning the turnover battle 73–57, and all those extra possessions are killing the Pistons.

Regardless of whether the Pistons or Magic win the series, it’ll be a rare occurrence. Either Orlando will become the seventh No. 8 seed to win a first-round series, or Detroit will become the 14th team in NBA history to overcome a 3–1 series deficit.

In fact, the Magic have a chance to do something that only one other team in NBA history has done: win a seven-game first-round series as an eight-seed in just five games. Two of the previous victorious eight-seeds won five-game series. The 2007 Warriors, ’11 Grizzlies and ’12 76ers all won in six games. The ’23 Heat, who beat the Bucks, are the only team to win a series 4–1.

“We’ve put ourselves in position to try to get four [wins],” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “But right now, it means nothing. We have the advantage, and now we’ve just got to make sure we try to keep that advantage.”

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The top five…

… things I saw last night:
5. Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s reaction to his towering home run. Chisholm now has three homers in his last five games. He had a great bat drop after his homer on Friday, too.
4. This video of LeBron James playing golf. It’s heartening to see that there’s an athletic activity I can do better than the GOAT. (And I still stink at golf.)
3. Shea Theodore’s game-winning goal for the Golden Knights in the final minute of overtime to tie their series against the Mammoth at 2–2. (Vegas had an apparent winner waved off nine minutes earlier.)
2. Munetaka Murakami’s MLB-leading 12th homer of the season. He’s also tied for the AL lead in strikeouts and has yet to hit a double or triple. (I wrote last week about his weird player profile.)
1. Jamal Cain’s vicious dunk all over Jalen Duren. (Don’t sleep on the way the slam sent Duren sliding on the floor.)

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