Ausar Thompson says the Detroit Pistons are not walking into Sunday night’s first-round series against the Orlando Magic just happy to be here. They are treating it like a stage for something bigger, with the wing saying the team believes it can come out of the East and win the NBA title.
“We believe not only can we come out of the East but win it all,” Thompson said as Detroit prepared to host the 8th-seeded Magic at home.
That confidence lands in a series that says as much about where both franchises have been as where they are going. Detroit has rebuilt itself in two years after one of the worst stretches in NBA history, and it is back in the postseason at home for the first time since 2008. The Pistons have a 10-game home postseason losing streak, the longest in league history, dating to a win over Boston in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals at The Palace of Auburn Hills on May 26, 2008.
The team has already taken one hard step forward. Last year, Detroit reached the playoffs for the first time since 2019 and snapped a league-record 15-game postseason losing streak before falling to the New York Knicks in Game 6. Cade Cunningham, the No. 1 overall pick Detroit drafted in 2021, now likely makes an All-NBA team for the second year in a row, a sign of how far the roster has come since the days when the Pistons led the league in losses for a second straight season two years ago.
Orlando arrives with its own recent scars. The Magic lost 109-97 at Philadelphia in a play-in game on Wednesday, then routed Charlotte 121-90 at home on Friday night to reach the playoffs. They have been eliminated in the first round two straight years and have now gone out there six times since reaching the 2010 Eastern Conference finals.
That history gives the matchup a familiar edge for both sides. Detroit wing Isaiah Stewart said the Pistons have long been treated like underdogs and are comfortable in that role, while Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley described the play-in path as a line between ending a season and beginning a new one. His team chose the latter, saying the group committed to each other and to the staff to keep playing basketball.
The first game will show whether Detroit’s new belief can survive the pressure of a home series the franchise has not opened since 2008. It is one thing to say the East is within reach. It is another to start proving it against a team that has already survived one elimination game this week.