DETROIT -- Throughout the entire season, the Detroit Pistons were the NBA's chief bullies.
They had a hard-driving Cade Cunningham who could stop on a dime for mid-range jumpers, but much preferred to put pressure on the rim. When you collapsed on him, he would find Jalen Duren near the basket, clearing space with a screen or flying for a dunk or offensive rebound.
That 1-2 combo terrorized the entire league all season long.
That does not even get to their defense. They subscribe to the theory that the officials cannot call everything. So they will hit and grab and disrupt everything.
The Pistons lead the league or are near the top of the league in almost every statistical metric that would indicate physicality.
The question with facing the Orlando Magic is whether they could take what they dish out.
Perhaps the rust of being off for a week played a factor. But from the jump, the Magic were ready to match the Pistons' physicality. If not, exceed it.
Detroit suddenly found itself on its back foot, trying to figure out how to handle a team that was not going to back down with a little punishment or pushing. They were going to push back.
The battle lines for this series are now drawn.
"Just not coming out ready to play," Ausar Thompson said after Sunday's Magic win. "They came out and they hit us first. So, we have to do a better job of coming out and hitting them first and executing our coverages better."
The Magic blitzed the Pistons for a 17-5 lead in the first five minutes of the game on their way to a 112-101 thrashing. They played with more downhill force, made some timely threes and took the fight to the Pistons.
This was not some pushover 8-seed happy to be here. The Magic truly believe they can win.
And one of the big reasons they believe they can win is because they can match the Pistons' physicality.
After Game 1, it is clear this Magic team will not back down.
Packing the Paint
There were really two keys to the way the Orlando Magic defeated the Detroit Pistons. Both had to do with the team's ability to win the typically physical battles in the paint.
Orlando was insistent on protecting the paint, often guarding Detroit the same way many teams guard Orlando. The Magic seemed content to let the Pistons shoot from three if that meant it was difficult for Cade Cunningham to get downhill or Jalen Duren to catch the ball near the rim.
The Pistons led the league with 57.9 points per game, ranked third in offensive rebound rate at 35.4 percent and finished fourth with 17.0 second-chance points per game.
Detroit finished with only 34 points in the paint, making a paltry 17 for 39 shots in the paint. The Pistons grabbed only six offensive rebounds, for a 24.5 percent offensive rebound rate. They still scored 16 second-chance points.
But all of that took the Pistons out of their game. They never found a consistent rhythm. Everything they relied on did not work.
The only thing that worked for Detroit was getting to the foul line, where the team took 19 of the team's 38 free throw attempts in the second half. Orlando had only five of 19 in the second half.
But that was the only area the Magic struggled defensively. Orlando responded to every push Detroit made throughout Game 1.
"I think it’s something we were just really harping on a couple of days before the game, just with what it was going to take in terms of our communication and how together we were coming in here on the road," Paolo Banchero said after Sunday's win. "I thought we did a great job just having huddles, talking in the timeouts and being on the same page. Whenever stuff started to go a little left, we just came together and got back on track."
Something to watch then will be the Pistons' 3-point shooting. If Orlando is going to crowd the paint and focus on stopping Detroit from being near the basket, there will be openings from three.
The Pistons went just 10 for 32 from three. That could be what loosens the paint. But the Magic unequivocally won the paint in Game 1.
Keeping Duren in check
One of the big advantages everyone thought the Detroit Pistons would have is from first-time All-Star Jalen Duren going against Wendell Carter.
Duren's emergence as a reliable scorer and playmaker was a big factor in the Pistons winning 60 games and earning the 1-seed. He was a big part of their success and part of why they could dominate the interior so thoroughly.
But Duren finished with just eight points and seven rebounds on 3-for-4 shooting. He also had three turnovers.
It was not merely that Duren was a non-factor on offense. He was not even particularly involved as the ball got stuck in Cunningham's hands.
"They packed the paint in," Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said after Sunday's game. "They’re going to put a bunch of bodies in the paint to try to make it difficult on him. Our pick-and-roll game, making sure we’re executing properly, [so] they can create space for him. It was a good opportunity for us to see, and then we’ll go prepare for the next one."
Cunningham carried the team and took over the game because there was not a lot of trust in anybody else. Cunningham scored 16 of his 39 points and 16 of the Pistons' 27 points in the fourth quarter. He took nine of Detroit's 16 shots in the quarter.
Duren did not take a shot in the final quarter and only split two free throws. That is not the kind of support that will lead to Pistons' wins.
The Magic's confidence now comes from the team's ability to match and surpass the Pistons' physicality.
That is the kind of attitude the Magic will need all series. Everyone is expecting Detroit to come back stronger and ready to hit back in Game 2.
"[We have] to be better," Cunningham said after Sunday's game. "We will be better. I’m still very excited about this series and where it’s going to push this team to. There’s a lot of things we can learn from this game. We’ll move forward and be better."
Orlando took round one. Who will answer the bell Wednesday?
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