The Detroit Pistons’ promising season has come to a screeching halt at the hands of the Orlando Magic defense.
These Magic vs. Pistons predictions and SGP picks put more faith into Orlando’s defense in Game 5 on Wednesday, April 29.
Our best Magic vs Pistons SGP for Game 5
SGP leg #1: Cade Cunningham Under 28.5 points
Cade Cunningham was having a season that would have made him an MVP finalist, at the least. And then the basketball gods struck at the Detroit Pistons.
Cunningham’s collapsed lung may be healed for him to play against the Orlando Magic in this first round, but missing three weeks of games clearly impacted the point guard’s fitness. That is rather understandable when remembering, ya know, he suffered a collapsed lung.
Cunningham is driving less than ever. Before his injury, he took only 30.8% of his field goal attempts from deep. An adequate long-range shooter, Cunningham is far more productive at the rim.
Getting to the rim is exhausting, however, especially against such a pestering defense, so Cunningham has taken 45.7% of his shots from beyond the arc in the last two games.
SGP leg #2: Cade Cunningham Over 1.5 threes
Taking so many 3-pointers naturally results in Cunningham hitting multiple, as he's done in three of the four games in this series despite shooting a woeful 28.6% from deep. This is not faith in Cunningham's shot; this is a bet on the volume approach he has resorted to in this series because of dead legs.
SGP leg #3: Magic +9.5
And when your best offensive player is resorting to an inefficient shot on a notable volume of possessions, suddenly your offense is so compromised that a defense-driven team like Orlando can hang around in every game.
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See our full Magic vs Pistons Game 5 preview
Get Douglas Farmer's full breakdown of this game, including his best bet, plus the latest NBA odds, injuries, and betting trends, in his Magic vs Pistons predictions for Game 5.
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