Why Cade Cunningham was ‘confident’ Pistons would force Game 7

It looked like the end was near for the Detroit Pistons on Friday night in Game 6 of their first-round matchup against the Orlando Magic. Trouble came for the Pistons when they went down 3-1 in their matchup against the eighth-seeded Magic, as it would be hard for them to live down a first-round exit as the Eastern Conference’s top seed. The end of their season looked closer than ever when they went down by 22 points, 60-38, in the first half of Game 6 on the road.

However, Cade Cunningham came alive for the Pistons, scoring 24 of his 32 points on the night in the second half to spark a historic comeback for Detroit. They managed to not just overturn a 22-point deficit, they also won by double digits in the end, 93-79, after they buckled down on defense and held the Magic to 4-37 (not a typo) shooting from the field, including 1-20 in the fourth quarter.

Now, the Pistons have evened up the series, and Game 7 is at home. Moreover, the Pistons have the mental advantage after demolishing the Magic in the second half on their home floor. And it’s not a surprise at all to hear Cunningham overflow with confidence after mounting such a comeback.

“We weren’t going to lay down for anything. We went into the locker room, obviously we had a big hill to climb. But it was still a lot of confidence in the room that we were going to do it together and we were going to find a way out,” Cunningham said, per Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press.

Cade: “We weren’t going to lay down for anything. We went into the locker room, obviously we had a big hill to climb. But it was still a lot of confidence in the room that we were going to do it together and we were going to find a way out.” pic.twitter.com/fv492x3mnG

— Omari Sankofa II (@omarisankofa) May 2, 2026

This Pistons team did not win 60 games in the regular season for nothing. They grew by leaps and bounds as a unit this past season, and even though many already counted them out after going down by 22 in the first half of Game 6, they displayed the kind of grit that is essential for building character moving forward.

Game 7 of the Pistons-Magic series will be on Sunday at 3:30 AM E.T.

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