Anatomy of a comeback: How did Pistons pull off miracle win?
· Yahoo Sports
Orlando, Fla. — Duncan Robinson connected on a 3-point field goal at the 6:58 mark of the third quarter. His triple cut the Detroit Pistons' 22-point halftime deficit (60-38) in half. The Pistons looked up at the Jumbotron at Kia Center and knew they had the Orlando Magic right where they wanted them.
The 10-point deficit (54-44) was a target score the Pistons wanted by the middle of the third quarter. Their accomplishment gave them the confidence to believe they could complete a 24-point comeback to keep their season alive.
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The results led to a 93-79 Game 6 victory over the Magic Friday night. The Pistons have now forced a Game 7 with the series tied at 3-3. They will host the decisive Game 7 on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. at Little Caesars Arena.
"It was all energy, heart, determination and grit — our willingness to fight," Daniss Jenkins told The Detroit News. "We felt like we should not have been in that position. But, since we were already here, we had no other choice but to fight back."
The Pistons initiated their 24-point comeback by tightening their defense in the third quarter. They started the period by limiting Orlando to just 1-for-8 shooting. On the offensive side, the Pistons took advantage of their defensive stops, going on a 16-4 run during the first six minutes of the second half.
The momentum the Pistons built at the start of the third quarter became the foundation for one of the best defensive performances in franchise history. They limited the Magic to 19 second-half points on 4-of-37 shooting from the field, 2-of-18 from behind the arc. Orlando missed 23 consecutive shots, the highest by any playoff team in the play-by-play era since the 1997-98 season.
"We know our character. Our lives were on the line," Jenkins said. "We had no other choice but to fight back. We had a lot of time, and we knew we could come back.
The effort to overcome a 22-point deficit was fueled by a spirited and constructive halftime meeting in the visiting locker room. It started when Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart broke the silence by sharing a message of “keep fighting.”
This encouraged other players to join the conversation. As a result, a belief emerged that the Pistons had all the necessary qualities to not only fight back but also win the game.
The Pistons' mentality during their halftime meeting contrasted sharply with the disheartened emotions they displayed in the second quarter.
"It was staying present and staying in the moment. And we weren't going to get it all back at once, but we would have to make play after play, possession by possession, and think that's what we did," coach J.B. Bickerstaff said.
"We took each possession at a time, both offensively and defensively, and tried our best to execute on every single possession, every screening action, every rebound, all the small things. We went out and focused on that. And we put ourselves in position to win."
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This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Detroit Pistons staged one of the biggest comebacks in playoff history