The NBA playoffs on NBC continue Saturday afternoon with the Detroit Pistons playing the Orlando Magic in Game 3 of their first-round series. The game will be on Peacock.
Detroit tied the series at 1-1 on Wednesday, winning 98-83. The win ended an 11-game home playoff losing streak for the Pistons, dating back to 2008 — the longest home playoff losing streak in NBA history. The streak was so long that the win also marked the Pistons' first-ever postseason win at Little Caesars Arena, which opened ahead of the 2017-18 season.
Star guard Cade Cunningham had a game-high 27 points and game-high 11 assists in Game 2. It was Cunningham's second career playoff game recording 25+ points and 10+ assists.
This is the fifth playoff series between the Pistons and Magic and the first since 2008, which is also the last time the Pistons won a playoff series (2008 conference semifinals). You have to go back to the 1996 first round for the one and only time the Magic have won a playoff series over the Pistons.
See below for additional information on the Pistons-Magic game and how to watch the 2026 NBA Playoffs on NBC and Peacock.
Announcing team: Michael Grady, Austin Rivers, Robbie Hummel, Grant Liffmann
Oklahoma City Thunder at Phoenix Suns (Game 3), 3:30 p.m. on NBC & Peacock
New York Knicks at Atlanta Hawks (Game 4), 6 p.m. on NBC & Peacock
Orlando came out hot to start the series, upsetting Detroit 112-101 in Game 1 to take a 1-0 series lead as the only lower-seeded team to win their opening game of their respective first round series. Detroit won the second game, 98-83, to break the aforementioned 11-game home playoff losing streak that dated back to 2008.
Detroit's Cunningham and Orlando's Paolo Banchero — the No. 1 draft picks in 2021 and 2022, respectively — have been at the center of the two franchises' revivals. The Pistons and Magic finished as the bottom two teams in the Eastern Conference in the 2021-22 season. Just four years later, they are now playoff mainstays thanks to their star players.
This is a key turning point for this series. Teams that win Game 3 of a 1-1 best-of-seven series go on to win the series 73.7% of the time, according to NBC Sports research. To further drive home the significance of Saturday's game: Detroit is 15-2 all-time in best-of-seven series when it takes a 2-1 series lead, and Orlando is 5-1 in the same scenario.
Points in the paint is the stat to watch. In each of the first two games of this series, the winning team has dominated the other team in that area. The Magic outscored the Pistons 54-34 in the paint in Game 1, while Detroit outscored Orlando 54-34 in points in the paint in Game 2.
Both teams are looking to break first round droughts, with neither team reaching the second round of the playoffs since 2010.
NBC Sports will present up to 23 games in the first round and 11 games in the conference semifinals across either NBC and Peacock, or Peacock and NBCSN. Playoff programming concludes with exclusive coverage of the Western Conference Finals on NBC and Peacock.
Peacock’s NBA playoffs coverage spans multiple rounds, including the first round, the conference semifinals, and the Western Conference Finals, with coverage evolving as the postseason progresses.
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