4/29/26 7:00PM RD1 GM5 Magic (3-1) @ Pistons (1-3)

[Tigeraholic1]

Little Caesars Arena - Detroit, MI

Watch: Prime

[Sports_Freak]

First turnover and the fans will be letting the Pistons have it. At least, I hope so. Being so casual with the ball, making lazy passes and missing free throws cost them all 3 games in this series. And possibly the whole series. Totally unacceptable.

[buddha]

I'm as doom and gloom about this team as anyone, but they could still win this series.

orlando isnt that good.  the pistons could get better shooting and/or a supercade game and win 3 straight against this team.

not likely, but not impossible.  ask tracy mcgrady.

[Betrayer]

22 minutes ago, buddha said:

I'm as doom and gloom about this team as anyone, but they could still win this series.

orlando isnt that good.  the pistons could get better shooting and/or a supercade game and win 3 straight against this team.

not likely, but not impossible.  ask tracy mcgrady.

As much as I'd love to see it, I can't buy it.

Unlike 2003 we don't have a Tayshuan Prince waiting in the wings to overtake Michael Curry and shut down TMac. Unless you think that's Ron...

That said, I'd actually love to see a lineup shakeup. What do we have to lose at this point?

We aren't scoring in the half-court with any lineup JB puts out there, so let's take back the paint and try to win the possession battle again. Give me a bunch of double-big with Stew alongside Duren and Reed to match their size and put a better defender on Paulo. Play Ron and more Javonte for disruption. Lean into our identity even harder and just try to impose our will on Orlando for once.

If we're gonna go out in the first round, let's go out embracing our identity.

[buddha]

14 minutes ago, Betrayer said:

As much as I'd love to see it, I can't buy it.

Unlike 2003 we don't have a Tayshuan Prince waiting in the wings to overtake Michael Curry and shut down TMac. Unless you think that's Ron...

That said, I'd actually love to see a lineup shakeup. What do we have to lose at this point?

We aren't scoring in the half-court with any lineup JB puts out there, so let's take back the paint and try to win the possession battle again. Give me a bunch of double-big with Stew alongside Duren and Reed to match their size and put a better defender on Paulo. Play Ron and more Javonte for disruption. Lean into our identity even harder and just try to impose our will on Orlando for once.

If we're gonna go out in the first round, let's go out embracing our identity.

i agree with all of this.  no more duncan.  play ron.

lean into the chaos that is ron holland!

[Hongbit]

 

[Deleterious]

Not sure if it matters much

 

[Deleterious]

I see a lot of wrong info posted about Duren and what his max contract could/will look like.  So here is the info

Coming off of his rookie deal he is eligible for a 25% max contract.  That means year 1 of the deal is 25% of next seasons salary cap.

If he makes all NBA this year he is then eligible for a 30% max contract.  Eligible is the key word here.  Being on the all NBA team does not make the 30% contract automatic.  It just means instead of being eligible for a contract between 1% and 25% he is eligible for a deal between 1% and 30%.

A team other than the Pistons can only offer him the 25% contract.  Coming off of your rookie deal you can only get the 30% from the team that drafted you.  

Raises.  The Pistons can offer 8% raises per year while other teams can only offer 5%.  A players raise amount is based off of the 1st year of his contract, it does not go up as the contract progresses.  

Here are the three max contracts Duren can sign (assuming he makes all NBA) based on the projected $165 million salary cap next season.  

[Deleterious]

Looked at ticket prices on Stubhub.  Pretty much every ticket in the 200 level is under $70 for tomorrow.  Both ends are mostly in the high $50's.  

[buddha]

pistons are +210 to win the series.  i thought it would be worse than that.  sixers are still +1000.

[Adullin]

Just win each quarter one by one 

[Shinzaki]

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTkq7XRHw/

Danhausen will save us

[DTroppens]

Today is that day that all of us (even if we don't want to admit it) go in our heads, "Well, if they win the home games, game six is the only huge hurdle." 🙂

Why does my mind do this every single time when this scenario comes up? 

The Pistons have won three straight games how many times this season? Plenty. The playoffs are a different monster though. But Orlando is without a big piece for at least tonight (probably). Any team can suddenly hit 45% from behind the arc - even the Pistons. It all starts with one game, and probably one quarter. The Pistons can't be down 8 to 12 points anytime quickly in this game. Mentally, that would be a tough pill to swallow, even for pros.
 

[buddha]

i still think they can win.  which says more about how low i rate the magic than how high i rate the pistons.

if cade plays smart and fast and is tighter with his handle, they can win at home.  stop forcing the ball to duren.  and duren needs to get angry and PLAY HARD.  rebounding is as much about effort as talent.  duren is standing around and getting boxed out by wendall carter.  sure, the pick and roll isnt working, but you can help the team other ways.  work hard!

 

[buddha]

every time i think about what they needed coming into this season it makes me mad: shooting, a shot creator other than cade, and a secondary ball handler.

what did we get?  a trade for ancient duncan robinson.  caris lavert at the FULL MLE.  and danniss jenkins on a two way contract.

structurally, that's why theyre losing.

[Betrayer]

1 hour ago, DTroppens said:

Today is that day that all of us (even if we don't want to admit it) go in our heads, "Well, if they win the home games, game six is the only huge hurdle." 🙂

Why does my mind do this every single time when this scenario comes up? 

The Pistons have won three straight games how many times this season? Plenty. The playoffs are a different monster though. But Orlando is without a big piece for at least tonight (probably). Any team can suddenly hit 45% from behind the arc - even the Pistons. It all starts with one game, and probably one quarter. The Pistons can't be down 8 to 12 points anytime quickly in this game. Mentally, that would be a tough pill to swallow, even for pros.
 

My brain keeps doing the same mental gymnastics as well. Then I remind myself that we've only won about 2 quarters in this series and I come back down to Earth.

[Deleterious]

Hard to predict a win when they lost to a team that shot 33% from the field.

[Deleterious]

Franz still questionable.  

I imagine they leave him with that status until tip where they rule him out.  Better to keep the Pistons guessing and make them prepare for him.

[buddha]

yesterday i put $5 on the pistons to win the series...

[Betrayer]

27 minutes ago, buddha said:

yesterday i put $5 on the pistons to win the series...

I like it. What's the payout?

[Shinzaki]

Starting to feel like Linus waiting for the Great Pumpkin...but this is the game Duren comes up BIG

[buddha]

38 minutes ago, Betrayer said:

I like it. What's the payout?

a whopping $15.50.  

about enough to go to mcdonalds.  🙂

[Deleterious]

Rumored for a few months now.  He played 4 years in the NBA and couldn't shoot.  Supposedly he shoots better now but I'm skeptical.  Plus defender though.

 

[Sports_Freak]

1 hour ago, buddha said:

i still think they can win.  which says more about how low i rate the magic than how high i rate the pistons.

if cade plays smart and fast and is tighter with his handle, they can win at home.  stop forcing the ball to duren.  and duren needs to get angry and PLAY HARD.  rebounding is as much about effort as talent.  duren is standing around and getting boxed out by wendall carter.  sure, the pick and roll isnt working, but you can help the team other ways.  work hard!

 

I can forgive the long rebounds when Orlando shoots and misses a 3 but this Piston teams weakness all season seems to be that we give up a lot of offensive rebounds. I don't know the stat and I hope I'm wrong but it seems like many teans get multiple offensive rebounds against us?

[Deleterious]

13 minutes ago, Sports_Freak said:

I can forgive the long rebounds when Orlando shoots and misses a 3 but this Piston teams weakness all season seems to be that we give up a lot of offensive rebounds. I don't know the stat and I hope I'm wrong but it seems like many teans get multiple offensive rebounds against us?

Of the 16 playoff teams, Detroit ranks 12th in opponents offensive rebounding.  So yeah, they are not doing a very good job.

Orlando ranks 6th, so Detroit isn't doing a good job on the other end either.