ORLANDO, Fla. -- With the Detroit Pistons and Orlando Magic locked in a defensive duel, Desmond Bane came off a screen and launched a 3 from 29 feet with seven seconds left on the shot clock and less than 80 seconds left in Game 4 on Monday.
The ball banked high off the glass and in, giving Orlando a six-point lead. Bane immediately put both his hands together in prayer. The shot was the dagger Orlando needed to beat Detroit 94-88 and push the Pistons to the brink of elimination.
If Detroit is going to save its 60-win season, it'll need some divine help. The eighth-seeded Magic, who have suddenly turned around their season, are up 3-1 in this best-of-7 series and playing with a ton of confidence and physicality.
The Pistons have to win three straight, starting Wednesday at home in Game 5, to advance.
"Too many turnovers, bro," center Jalen Duren said of the Pistons' 20 turnovers that led to 23 Magic points. "They are scoring off of our mistakes. The whole series, we just been shooting ourselves in the foot. We got to clean that up, man.
"I still think we're the better team, top to bottom. But we just got to... we can't keep digging ourselves in the hole. Then, we are fighting ourselves, that team, the refs... we just got to be better."
The Pistons are the third team to win 60 games in the regular season but trail 3-1 in its opening series, according to ESPN Research. Each of the previous two teams -- the 2011 San Antonio Spurs and 2007 Dallas Mavericks -- extended its series but lost in six games.
60-Win Teams Trailing 3-1 in Opening Series
"We're going to come out punching," Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff said of the Pistons in Game 5. "That I promise you. We're not going to lay down for anybody. It's one game at home and that's what your focus is on, is you got to go home and win one game. And that's where our mindset is."
Pistons franchise point guard Cade Cunningham, who had 25 points, nine rebounds, six assists, two blocks but eight turnovers, was asked if he's shocked that Detroit is on the verge of elimination in the first round.
"I mean, going into [this series I'd be] shocked," said Cunningham, who has 24 turnovers combined in his past three games, the most in a three-game span in the playoffs since turnovers were first officially tracked in 1977-78. "But with the way that we've been playing, that stuff's not good enough to win games, and this league's too good.