Cade Cunningham Saves Pistons Season as Fans React to Game 5 Win vs. Paolo Banchero, Magic

The Eastern Conference's top seed isn't done yet.

The Detroit Pistons defeated the Orlando Magic 116-109 in Wednesday's Game 5 of their first-round series at Little Caesars Arena. While the Pistons still trail the series 3-2, they have some momentum heading into Friday's Game 6 in Orlando.

Simply put, Cade Cunningham wasn't ready to go home.

Cunningham finished with 45 points and nine rebounds on 13-of-23 shooting from the field and 5-of-8 shooting from deep. It wasn't a solo effort, as Tobias Harris posted 23 points, but he was at the center of the season-saving effort and hit the biggest shot of the game in the final minute after Orlando cut the deficit to three.

Paolo Banchero did what he could to keep pace with 45 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and two steals for a Magic team that was without Franz Wagner because of a right calf strain, but it wasn't enough to overcome Cunningham's effort that drew plenty of reaction from social media:

There is historical precedent between these two franchises suggesting the Pistons can complete a 3-1 comeback. After all, Detroit remains the only No. 1 seed in NBA playoffs history to overcome a 3-1 deficit against a No. 8 seed from when it did so in 2003 against the Magic.

Repeating that effort required a victory Wednesday, and the home team came out with the expected urgency while building a double-digit lead before the first quarter even ended.

It seemed like the Pistons were going to remove any doubt before halftime even arrived with Cunningham darting his way through traffic, finishing in the lane, hitting from the outside and getting to the line.

However, to their credit, the Magic did not go away.

They trimmed the halftime deficit to just six points as Banchero took over for extended stretches and nearly matched Cunningham's production. Anthony Black also provided a spark off the bench, while Desmond Bane found his stroke from deep in the early going.

Yet even with Banchero's relentlessness attacking the basket, much of the game felt like the Magic simply attempting to stay within striking distance. When they scored, they had no answer for Cunningham. And then when they started playing better defense, they went cold themselves on the offensive side with just 19 points in the third quarter.

Detroit expanded the lead to double digits again heading to the fourth as a result, although the Magic had one more run as their theme of hanging around behind Banchero's brilliance continued.

The Orlando star drilled two three-pointers in the final four minutes to cut the deficit to three, but Cunningham had one more answer.