Ask J.B. Bickerstaff after Sunday's Game 7 win over the Orlando Magic, and he would tell you he never lost faith that his Detroit Pistons would come back from 3-1 down to win the series.
It is a bit incredulous to believe that considering they trailed by 22 points at halftime on the road in an elimination Game 6. Their playoff lives were very much in the balance, and Detroit had to stare down its mortality very early in the postseason.
The Pistons came back to win that game on the road and force a Game 7. With how dominant their defense was and how inept the Magic's offense was, the Magic were understandably shellshocked going on the road, dropping Game 7 in the first blowout of the series.
The defeat sent the Magic home suddenly to evaluate their entire future. It sent the Detroit Pistons on to the next round for the first time since 2008 -- and a second-round win over the Orlando Magic -- to face the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Judging by how the first two games of that series have gone, it must feel like a weight has been lifted off their shoulders. It is like they were swinging a bat with a donut on it in the on-deck circle.
And the Pistons are openly thanking the Magic for pushing them in the first round.
"I think Orlando did a really good job of preparing us for this moment," Daniss Jenkins said after Game 2 against the Cavs. "They came out, and they hit us in the mouth. They showed us what the playoffs are about. Once we got that up under our belt, we're just rolling from there. We're back to playing Pistons basketball for 48 minutes like we're supposed to."
Now that they are up to the plate they are swinging freely.
Pistons passed a tougher challenge
The Detroit Pistons faced a much tougher challenge in the Orlando Magic as the 8-seed than a typical 1-seed might. They saw a team with playoff experience and who relished the opportunity to match the Pistons' trademark physicality.
Detroit, playing with less playoff experience on its roster together, looked a bit overwhelmed to find a team that would push them as the 1-seed. They needed to stare down their mortality and get tested to find themselves again.
It is a credit to the Pistons that they found themselves in time to save their season. It will make them better later in the Playoffs.
It is a demerit for the Magic that Franz Wagner's injury derailed their whole series. Orlando had Game 6 in its grasp and let it slip through.
Orlando can take the compliment and the recognition that their first round series did not feel like a first round series in its intensity or skill level. But that does not change the fact they are at home in early May for the third straight season rather than playing another two weeks.
The Pistons are just playing much better and playing a weaker defense has left them playing looser and freer.
Detroit scored only 107.5 points per 100 possessions in the seven-game series with Orlando. In the first two games against Cleveland, Detroit has been in full control with 117.8 points per 100 possessions (and a +10.8 net rating).
And the fact the Pistons emerged from that battle playing so much better to dominate a curious Cavs team only has the Magic thinking of what could have been.
Magic left thinking what could have been
Everyone acknowledged that even as an 8-seed, the Orlando Magic were good enough to reach the conference finals and win the second round series.
Would the Orlando Magic be up 2-0 on the Cleveland Cavaliers with two games on the road? Could they have won a series with the Cavs if they had advanced?
We will never truly know because the Magic lost their series with the Pistons. But even the team cannot help but think about what would have happened if they got a rematch with the Cavs.
"I think we went up 3-1 against the No. 1 team in the East. Had we stayed healthy, I'd like to imagine where we could have gone in this series and beyond," president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman said. "I think a lot of the way that we're built is designed to be successful in the Playoffs. We unfortunately did not see enough of that. But when healthy, we got a pretty good look at that. I don't see any reason why we couldn't compete with anyone else in the East if we could compete with the No.1 seed like that."
Orlando won only one of the four games against Cleveland this season. Only two of those games came with James Harden on the roster.
That included the rousing home win as part of the seven-game win streak in March. The loss in Cleveland saw Paolo Banchero score 36 points on the second night of a back-to-back -- after the devastating loss to the Indiana Pacers.
In none of those games did the Magic have their defense as tuned in as they did during the playoff series against the Detroit Pistons. And Franz Wagner did not play in any of the four games against the Cavaliers this season.
The Playoffs are all about matchups, and the matchup with Cleveland is very different than the one against Detroit -- and different than Detroit vs. Cleveland.
Orlando's guard defenders have struggled with Donovan Mitchell throughout his career -- he averaged 37.0 points per game in four games against Orlando this season. He has had only 23 and 31 points on 44.4 percent shooting against Detroit through two games.
But with the way the Magic were playing to take a 3-1 series lead, it would not have been impossible.
Instead, the story will go that the Magic gave the Pistons the sort of hardened playoff experience they needed to go to the next round and possibly go further. Orlando was simply a stepping stone this year.
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