There have been a total of 155 Game 7s in NBA playoff history. Four were played in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, at the Disney bubble, where home-court advantage was not a factor.
Excluding those bubble games, home teams have gone 113-38 in Game 7.
Traveling to Little Caesars Arena will be a major disadvantage for the Orlando Magic but not an insurmountable one. The Magic won Game 1 there 112-101 and lost a winnable Game 5, 116-109, after they went 16-for-30 on foul shots and allowed the Pistons to collect 16 offensive rebounds.
But this won’t be a typical Game 7. This will be a Game 7 after a monumental collapse by the Magic, who took a 24-point lead with 11:11 remaining in the third quarter. The rest of the third period was the worst quarter in Magic franchise history.
Until the fourth quarter, that is.
There may have been worse quarters statistically, but those two rank right up there because of the importance of this game. The Magic had a chance to close out a series at home. Even in the age of 3-pointers, this was a terrible collapse.
The Pistons ramped up their defense and the Magic lost control of their offense, going 3-for-17 from the field with five turnovers in the quarter. Orlando has been prone to opponents’ runs much of the season — remember the Raptors’ 31-0 run against them on March 29? — and this was no different, except for the importance of the situation.
The Magic missed their first 16 shot attempts of the fourth quarter. They only broke that string when Paolo Banchero scored on a dunk with 2:24 to play, cutting Detroit’s lead to 89-77.
