Beede’s Breakdown: Magic take commanding 3-1 series lead over No. 1 Pistons

{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","mainEntityOfPage":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/beede-breakdown-magic-commanding-3-025800507.html","headline":"Beede’s Breakdown: Magic take commanding 3-1 series lead over No. 1 Pistons","datePublished":"2026-04-28T02:58:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-28T02:58:00.000Z","keywords":["Franz Wagner","the Magic","Detroit","Desmond Bane","Magic","Jamahl Mosley","Orlando","Pistons","Paolo Banchero","Wendell Carter Jr.","Cade Cunningham","Jamal Cain","Tristan da Silva"],"description":"Composure. That’s the word Magic coach Jamahl Mosley shared with his team after Orlando took a 2-1 series lead over the top-seeded Pistons over the weekend. ...","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Yahoo Sports","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://s.yimg.com/cv/apiv2/default/icons/favicon_y112_112.png","width":112,"height":112},"url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/"},"author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Jason Beede, Orlando Sentinel","url":"","jobTitle":""},"creator":{"@type":"Person","name":"Jason Beede, Orlando Sentinel","url":"","jobTitle":""},"provider":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Orlando Sentinel","url":"https://www.orlandosentinel.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","width":479,"height":100,"url":"https://s.yimg.com/os/creatr-uploaded-images/2023-04/5924ee10-e2d4-11ed-bfef-60b54ccbceac"}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://s.yimg.com/cv/apiv2/sports/share/PD_010626-Social_Share_GENRIC_YAHOO_SPORTS-1200x630.jpg","width":1200,"height":630},"thumbnailUrl":"https://s.yimg.com/cv/apiv2/sports/share/PD_010626-Social_Share_GENRIC_YAHOO_SPORTS-1200x630.jpg"}Story byBeede’s Breakdown: Magic take commanding 3-1 series lead over No. 1 PistonsJason Beede, Orlando SentinelTue, April 28, 2026 at 2:58 AM UTC·4 min readComposure.That’s the word Magic coach Jamahl Mosley shared with his team after Orlando took a 2-1 series lead over the top-seeded Pistons over the weekend.Knowing the level of intensity that both sides would be playing with Monday night back inside Kia Center on NBC, Orlando knew it would need to play with even more composure than usual against a physical Detroit squad.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement#_R_c4iudcaanpfiv65bH1_ { display: none; } @media screen and (max-width: 767.95px) { #_R_c4iudcaanpfiv65bH1_ { display: flex; } iframe { max-width: 100vw; } }Behind a combined 59 points from Desmond Bane (22), Franz Wagner (19) and Paolo Banchero (18) in a low-scoring affair, the Magic played with composure down the stretch and finished on top 94-88 to take a commanding 3-1 series lead over Detroit.What does that mean to the Magic?“Nothing,” Mosley said, trying to downplay the significance of being ahead by two games. “We’ve put ourselves in position to try to get four (wins); but right now, it means nothing. We have the advantage and now we’ve just got to make sure we try to keep that advantage.”Teams that lead a best-of-seven series 3-1 go on to win the series 95.6% of the time (285-13).AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement#_R_c9iudcaanpfiv65bH1_ { display: none; } @media screen and (max-width: 767.95px) { #_R_c9iudcaanpfiv65bH1_ { display: flex; } iframe { max-width: 100vw; } }Eighth-seeded Orlando ended the game on a 9-4 run after the game was tied at 85-85 with 5:24 left in the fourth quarter. Detroit failed to take care of the ball when the Magic scored 23 points off 20 takeaways.With the Magic in the driver’s seat, the best-of-seven series shifts back to…

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