For all the frustration blowing another third-quarter lead would bring, the Orlando Magic answered back to tie the game at 83 early in the fourth quarter.
After the Detroit Pistons scored two quick baskets, coach Jamahl Mosley called an early timeout to get Paolo Banchero and Wendell Carter back in. He was turning to his top players to try to close the game.
The Magic and the Pistons were supposed to be neck and neck. Two young teams growing up together and reaching their peaks at the same time. This was supposed to be some Playoff preview.
That is what everyone thought in the offseason.
The difference between the two teams came from what happened after the game was tied at 83.
The Pistons went on a 14-2 run, hitting shot after shot and taking advantage of repeated Magic miscues -- whether they were missed shots, turnovers or general frustration.
The difference between the two teams was not merely the 14 points on the scoreboard of a 106-92 Pistons victory at Kia Center. It was the differnece in how the teams attacked this moment of crisis.
Detroit calmly tore Orlando up with one decisive stop and shot after another. The Magic again crumbled trying to get back all that lost potential. It is why the Pistons are fighting at the top fo the standings and the Magic are trying to escape the Play-In.
These two teams are in very different places. Each by their own doing.
Orlando ultimately committed 19 turnovers for 26 Detroit points and 19 fast-break points. More than enough to make up the deficit and far too many easy points in a game when the Magic's defense put in a stellar showing.
"Twenty-six points of pain. That's what they do," coach Jamahl Mosley said after Sunday's loss. "They reach, they grab, they swipe at the ball. We were too loose with it. You have to give Detroit a ton of credit. That's the reason they are the No. 1 team in the East. They get after it physically and defensively. We have to do a much better job of valuing the possessions in a game like this."
The difference between a Pistons team eyeing the best record in the league and the Magic fighting to avoid the Play-In was not merely the growth of their young stars -- Cade Cunningham had 29 points, seven rebounds and 11 assists with five turnovers on 11-for-25 shooting while Paolo Banchero had 24 points, 11 rebounds and two assists on 5-for-10 shooting against nine turnovers -- but also in the way they executed under pressure.
Detroit seemed confident and unbothered, even trailing by seven at the half. Orlando seemed hurried and flustered as Detroit poured it on to send Orlando to yet another defeat.
The snowball again
The lesson should have been clear after Thursday's loss to the Houston Rockets. When things get difficult for this team, the Orlando Magic need to recommit to what is working and find a way to execute under pressure.
What the Magic are struggling with against these elite defenses, especially, is preventing the kind of mistakes that put their defense in a bind. The kind of mistakes that make them lose composure and compound.
The Magic are struggling to stick with what works under pressure and struggling to recognize how teams are adapting to their play.
This is a team still looking for answers.
"Just being more organized. Being able to communicate with each other what we're trying to do," Paolo Banchero said after Sunday's game. "Teams a lot of times adjust at halftime, and I think that's why we've struggled a lot in the second half. We don't really adjust to their adjustments. We need to see how they are playing us and clearly communicate to each other what we need to do, particularly offensively to fight those runs and continue to play good basketball."
Paolo Banchero committed nine turnovers as he had to carry the team's playmaking role with Desmond Bane bottled up by Ausar Thompson -- he still managed seven assists -- and Anthony Black out with a right quad contusion.
The Pistons were precise, even when they were trailing, and only increased their attention to detail and execution as the game went on.
The Magic were once again left in the postgame saying they needed to stick with what was working to build the lead and wondering how the team should adjust to a hounding defense bottling them up.
"We kind of had a flow in the first half, and I feel like maybe we thought the baskets that we could generate in the half court and in transition would come easy," Tristan da Silva said after Sunday's loss. "I feel like they are too good of a team and have proven that throughout the season so far that it's not easy to score on them."
Whoever is to blame for these repeated missteps, the Magic are not able to find the little things necessary to put these kinds of teams away. And that is the biggest thing missing.
The difference in details
The Orlando Magic ultimately scored only 35 points in the second half and posted their second-worst offensive rating of the season at 91.1 points per 100 possessions. Orlando simply could not score and as Detroit built its lead. There was nothing coming easy.
And as the Pistons built their lead, things only got worse.
"I think it's really our offense," Desmond Bane said in the locker room after Sunday's loss. "I think in those moments for sure, we have to be very diligent about touching the paint, who we're attacking in those moments, and not try to get it all back in one play. Just too frequent, we'll miss a shot or two and come down and turn the ball over or quick shot, and they capitalize."
This is the killer instinct and the precision that the Magic were missing on Thursday. Sunday's result was much the same.
Orlando has struggled to put everything together with its health and consistency. But this too is an area the Magic are struggling to find their footing.
That is the difference between a young team coming into its own as a title contender and another team that is trying to find itself on what it hopes is the rise up. The Pistons had all the details, calm and composure of a confident team.