Pistons-Magic takeaways: Detroit's problems are coming to a head as Orlando aims to dunk No. 1 seed

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Pistons-Magic takeaways: Detroit's problems are coming to a head as Orlando aims to dunk No. 1 seed

Let's dive into Orlando's big win Monday night as it tries to become the seventh No. 8 seed to knock off a No. 1 in NBA history.

Pistons-Magic takeaways: Detroit's problems are coming to a head as Orlando aims to dunk No. 1 seed

Let's dive into Orlando's big win Monday night as it tries to become the seventh No. 8 seed to knock off a No. 1 in NBA history.

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Morten Stig JensenNBA contributing writerTue, April 28, 2026 at 3:38 AM UTC·3 min readCan we just talk about Orlando Magic forward Jamal Cain's dunk on Detroit Pistons center Jalen Duren?

JAMAL CAIN ATTACKS THE RIM AND THROWS IT DOWN💥A BIG-TIME POSTER JAM IN GAME 4! pic.twitter.com/oGxTm1uRpb

Do we even care about the game? Like, who actually won? I genuinely don't remember.

That is one of the nastiest throw-downs ever and not just in a playoff context. Cain kept climbing and dunked on Duren, a man built like a Greek god, so hard the All-Star center backpeddled after coming down back to Earth.

(OK, the Magic took a commanding 3-1 series lead by winning 94-88, but that's definitely just a B-story to Cain's jam.)

In all seriousness, let's dive into Orlando's big win Monday night as it tries to become the seventh No. 8 seed to knock off a No. 1 in NBA history.

MagicORL8ORL lead 3-1Cade Cunningham's turnovers are a team issueAs Cunningham entered Game 4, he had totaled 19 turnovers in the the series.

By halftime, he was up to 25 after turning it over six times in the first half.

While Cunningham is ultimately responsible for hanging onto the ball, the Pistons' roster construction isn't doing him any favors.

With both Duren and Ausar Thompson being almost entirely non-threats from the outside, Orlando has the freedom to double- and even triple-team Cunningham, swarming him whenever his feet are inside the 3-point line.

While Tobias Harris has done a solid job of adding spacing and overall scoring, the bottom line is simple: It shouldn't be this difficult for the Pistons to generate offense through Cunningham, but they have no other creators on the roster.

Perhaps they should have made a play for someone at the trade deadline, instead of sitting still.

But here they are, shooting 37.8% from the floor and 20% from 3 in a crucial Game 4 as their season appears to be slipping away.

Throughout the regular season, it was never in doubt who, among Carter and Duren, had the best season. Duren was an All-Star, a double-double machine and one of the most exciting young players in the league.

Carter, who is far more of a role player than a featured star, apparently didn't get the memo.

During this series, the 6-foot-10 Carter has constantly outhustled, outworked and outdone Duren. It's not always reflected in his raw line (Carter had 12 points, and 11 rebounds in Game 4), but his effort has put a spotlight on Duren as he enters free agency this summer.

Duren has struggled mightily all series, scoring a grand total of 39 points over the course of the four games, finding it difficult to get up shots getting beat by Carter on backdoor lobs and overall having one heck of a troublesome series, which could cost him millions this July.

I may sound like a broken record here, but giving Banchero the ball high out on the floor and asking him to "do stuff" (which I'm guessing is his directive, because there doesn't seem to be anything close to a plan), is aching for punishment.

Banchero isn't a natural shooter, nor is he particularly effective as a spacer.

He is, however, ridiculously good near the rim, and when he ducks in for layups and dunks, he draws a ton of fouls and converts plays.

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