Desmond Bane said it during both his halftime and postgame walk-off interview for FanDuel Sports Network: The Detroit Pistons "punked" the Orlando Magic in their first meeting.
To beat a physical team like the Pistons, it would mean not backing down. It would mean digging out loose balls and earning extra possessions. It would mean winning hustle plays and stealing possessions.
It would be about standing tall when the Pistons tried to push the team around. It would mean pushing back when the time called for it.
They had to grit and fight their way back to earn a 112-109 victory and secure the top seed in the NBA Cup knockout round.
But this team rose to the challenge. They did not back down and fought back.
"Last time we played them, we were still trying to figure ourselves out as a team," Bane said after Friday's win. "They were chirping and doing what they do. We wanted to make sure we were the ones setting the tone tonight."
Tied with four minutes to go after giving up a 10-0 run, the Magic needed to reach down and find themselves. This would be a test of their defensive acumen and their will to win.
They did it thanks to Desmond Bane's go-ahead fast-break and-1 for a two-point lead with two minutes to play and thanks to tracking back to knock the ball off of Cade Cunningham for a key turnover. They did it thanks to Bane grabbing two of the four offensive rebounds that secured the win on the team's final offensive possession, ending in two free throws for Jalen Suggs for a three-point lead.
They did it thanks to Anthony Black blocking Duncan Robinson's last three-point attempt to tie the game as the clock expired.
This is Magic basketball in all of its gritty, ugly glory. It was a character win. The Magic indeed did not get punked this time. They were the ones to push first and push back.
It starts on defense
Lately, the Orlando Magic have been scoring a ton of points and have staked their claim as one of the top offenses in the league. Their defense has lagged, sitting in the middle of the league.
Coach Jamahl Mosley would always say that the team's offensive success started with its defense and getting stops. That is how a team gets out in transition and powers the fast break that has created much of this offensive revival.
That was not the case Friday. Orlando needed its defense to lead. They needed to will themselves to victory.
"Just us having more will to win the game," Anthony Black said after Friday's win. "I think down the stretch we just had more will to win the game. We had more big plays, and we sealed the game."
The Magic made only 41.2 percent of their shots overall and a woeful 5 for 30 from three (16.7 percent). It was the Orlando Magic's worst 3-point field goal percentage in a win since going 1 for 16 against the Denver Nuggets in December 2015.
Wins in games like this do not come around often. Orlando needed to scrape every point it could get.
The Magic had to make up ground defensively. They posted a 104.8 defensive rating That is one of the best defensive showings of the season.
They forced 24 turnovers for 29 points off turnovers, helping the Magic take 13 more field goal attempts in the game. That helped make up the ground for their poor shooting.
Bane helped do that with 37 points on 13-for-25 shooting without making any of his five 3-point attempts. He was aggressive getting downhill and made plays on both ends that may not always show up on the box score to secure the victory.
"He found a way," coach Jamahl Mosley said after Friday's win. "He's a dog. He found a way to go get it. From the beginning of the game to the end of the game. It actually started for him basically before the jump ball at the beginning of the game. That's where he was locked in to set the tone right away."
Bane helped will the team to victory.
The physical toll
The Orlando Magic needed to frustrate and bully the Detroit Pistons. That is as much a part of the team's identity as anything else. The Magic are unafraid to knock anyone down and push back.
Cade Cunningham was typically brilliant with 39 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists. But he also had eight turnovers. He had three of those turnovers in the fourth quarter as the Magic started to wear him down with their size and the constant matchups they threw at him.
They wore him down because of how willing they were to hit him and make them feel them throughout the game. He constantly saw and felt bodies.
Cunningham got frustrated with the tight whistle at one point enough to get called for a technical foul. Isaiah Stewart was still talking to Magic players after the final whistle as both coaches tried to separate a horde of players.
The Magic seem to have that effect on the Pistons. They were the more mentally and physically tough team.
"We're tough," Black said after Friday's win. "We withstood their runs. They are a physical team, tough team. I thought we met them and brought that to them today. I think we did a good job combating that, staying the course, weathering the storm and making big plays down the stretch."
This is who the Magic are though. This is who the Magic want to be. They want to be the physical team that nobody wants to face. And right now, Orlando is starting to resemble that a lot more.
There will undoubtedly be nights like this where the offense does not flow as smoothly and shots do not fall, the real measure of this team will be whether they can gut out games like this one.
When the chips were down, the Magic did not back down. They got the stops and frustrated a strong Pistons team to secure a huge win.
That speaks volumes. And it is another sign the Magic are heading back in the right direction.
They were ready to hit back.