Jalen Duren Gets Honest on Pistons Losing to the Magic in Playoffs
The Detroit Pistons were supposed to be the best team in the Eastern Conference, earning the No. 1 seed after winning 60 games this past season.
However, they looked far from it in their first-round playoff series against the No. 8 seed Orlando Magic, a team that had to fight its way into the postseason through the play-in tournament. The Magic shot only 33 percent in Game 5, but still did what they needed to at home to go up 3-1 in the series.
In Tuesday night’s loss, Cade Cunningham led the way with 25 points, nine rebounds, and six assists. Tobias Harris contributed 20 points, and Jalen Duren had 12 points to go with eight boards.
Four of Orlando’s starters finished with double-digits in scoring, including 22 points for Desmond Bane, 19 for Franz Wagner, and 18 for Paolo Banchero.
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And Detroit, the supposed beasts of the Eastern Conference this past season, now find themselves in danger of being eliminated in the first round by a No. 8 seed.
It won’t be surprising now if Orlando does it, as they’ve shown they can handle this Pistons squad. It also won’t be the first time a No. 8 seed has defeated a No. 1 seed in the first round of the postseason.
It’s occurred six times, and most recently in 2023 when the Miami Heat defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 4-1. Before that, it hadn’t happened since 2012 when the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Chicago Bulls, 4-2.
Following the Game 5 loss, the Pistons’ Duren spoke with reporters in the locker room and didn’t seem to have lost all hope or faith in his team’s chances of winning.
“We’ve yet to put a full game together, even a full half together of what we can look like. Everything was self-inflicted, top to bottom. We just have to be better, and we will,” Duren said, adding, “We’ll be better. I have faith in the guys in this locker room. I have faith in our coaching staff. I know what type of team we are.”
He also mentioned that he was looking for ways to “be effective elsewhere” since Orlando has done a good job of limiting his scoring chances in the paint. Duren averaged nearly 20 points this past season, but has yet to score more than 12 against the Magic.
“I think our sense of urgency definitely can be better in certain moments,” he admitted. “I think a lot of it is self-inflicted, bro. 20 turnovers tonight, you can’t win that way … It’s just hard to win when you give up so many turnovers.”
He and Cunningham accounted for over half of those, with Duren finishing with four turnovers and Cunningham, eight.
Duren said he still feels they remain the better team in the series and “just gotta be better,” especially with those turnovers leading to Orlando points.
Game 6 gives the Pistons a chance to play significantly better at home and stave off elimination on Wednesday night.
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This story was originally published April 28, 2026 at 11:20 AM.