Orlando held off Detroit 113-105 Saturday at Kia Center, with Paolo Banchero scoring 25 and finishing the game with a steal off Cade Cunningham and an unnecessary stepback three with 38 seconds left. [1] The Magic, the East 8 seed, lead the 60-win Pistons 2-1 in the first round. Game 4 is Monday at 8 p.m. ET in Orlando on NBC and Peacock. [2] Saturday's paper called Game 3 a culture test for the Bickerstaff-restored Pistons; Orlando answered force with force.

The score before the close was 109-105 with 1:46 left. The Pistons did not score again. [1] Cunningham's last point came at 2:52; he finished 8-of-23 from the field with nine turnovers, several unforced, and Cunningham's free throw with 2:52 to play was the Pistons' final point of the night. [3] Orlando closed on a 9-0 run. Wendell Carter Jr. drew the Cunningham turnover Banchero converted into the dagger three. The Magic are 7-1 at Kia Center across the past three postseasons. [1]

Sunday's reading is structural: the 8 seed beat the 1 seed by closing better, not by playing better through forty-six minutes. Orlando led by 17 earlier in the game and saw Detroit cut it to a tie at 3:15 before locking in. The Pistons' Game 2 30-3 third-quarter run does not travel. Detroit will spend Sunday and Monday morning trying to figure out how to take homecourt back at Kia Center. The history file Orlando is now near: only twelve previous 8-seeds have led 2-1 in a 16-team playoff format. The Magic have not won a playoff series in nearly two decades. [3]

-- AMARA OKONKWO, Lagos