Desmond Bane scores 22, No. 8 seed Magic beat No. 1 seed Pistons 94-88 for a 3-1 series lead

ORLANDO, Fla. — (AP) — The Orlando Magic are one win away from knocking off a No. 1 seed and winning their first playoff series in 16 years.

They're not celebrating yet.

Desmond Bane scored 22 points, Franz Wagner had 19 in three quarters and the Magic beat the Detroit Pistons 94-88 Monday night to take a 3-1 series lead, putting the East’s No. 1 seed on the brink of elimination.

Game 5 is Wednesday night in Detroit.

“We put our ourselves in position to try to get four, but right now it means nothing,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “We have the advantage and now we have to try and make sure we keep that advantage.”

Orlando, which had to win an elimination game at home in the play-in tournament, is on the verge of becoming just the seventh No. 8 seed to defeat a No. 1 in a series in league history. It's happened only four times since the playoffs were expanded to a best-of-seven series for all rounds in 2003.

“This is a team that won 60 games. I’m sure they’re not blinking an eye about not being able to win three games in a row,” Bane said. “They did it multiple times throughout the regular season.”

Paolo Banchero scored 18 points for the Magic on 4-of-18 shooting. Orlando shot just 32.6%, with Jalen Suggs going 1 for 13, including 1 for 11 from 3-point range.

The Magic overcame their shooting woes by protecting the ball. They had only 12 turnovers to 20 for Detroit.

Cade Cunningham led the Pistons with 25 points and Tobias Harris had 20. Cunningham had eight turnovers.

“We went into the series saying we needed to win a possession game,” Harris said. “That came down to the rebounding battle and also taking care of the basketball and in all of our losses that’s what we haven’t been at our best at. Obviously, we need to limit them from going to the free-throw line. They’ve been able to get us in close-out situations and break us down, get to the lane.”

Wagner left with 1:34 left in the third quarter due to right calf soreness.

Jamal Cain replaced Wagner and electrified the crowd with a driving dunk over Jalen Duren early in the fourth quarter. He also had a one-handed tip-in dunk that made it 87-85 with 4:55 to go.

Suggs missed his first eight shots before nailing a 3-pointer from the corner for an 85-80 lead. But Ausar Thompson’s layup tied it before Cain’s putback.

With former Grizzlies teammates Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. cheering him on courtside, Bane banked in a 3-pointer to extend Orlando’s lead to 92-86 with 1:16 remaining.

“It’s special. Those are guys I spent five years with, started my career with, made a lot of memories with,” Bane said. “I’m super thankful that they came out to support. It’s a friendship that will last forever. Those are guys that mean a lot to me.”

The 45-win Magic haven’t won a playoff series since 2010, when they lost in the Eastern Conference finals. The 37-year-old franchise has never won an NBA title.

The Pistons, who won 60 games in the regular season, have an even longer series drought. They haven’t advanced to the second round since losing in the East finals in 2008

The teams traded double-digit leads in the first half and the Magic led 54-52 going into the third quarter.

Riding a wave of energy from a frenzied, blue-clad crowd, the Magic scored the first eight points and led 19-7 before missing 13 straight shots during a 20-5 run by Detroit.

The Pistons had a 40-30 lead midway through the second.

The Magic improved to 8-1 at home in the playoffs over the past three seasons.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba

Orlando Magic guard Desmond Bane (3) goes after a loose ball against Detroit Pistons guard Ausar Thompson during the second half in Game 4 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series, Monday, April 27, 2026, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Orlando Magic guard Desmond Bane (3) cheers with fans after a Detroit Pistons turnover during the second half in Game 4 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series, Monday, April 27, 2026, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero, center, goes to the basket between Detroit Pistons guard Kevin Huerter, left, and guard Cade Cunningham during the first half in Game 4 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series, Monday, April 27, 2026, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham, left, moves past Orlando Magic forward Jamal Cain during the first half in Game 4 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series, Monday, April 27, 2026, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Detroit Pistons guard Caris LeVert (8) passes the ball as Orlando Magic guard Anthony Black (0) defends during the first half in Game 4 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series, Monday, April 27, 2026, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Orlando Magic center Wendell Carter Jr. dives for a loose ball during the first half in Game 4 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series against the Detroit Pistons, Monday, April 27, 2026, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Orlando Magic guard Desmond Bane (3) points to teammates after sinking a 3-point shot against the Detroit Pistons during the first half in Game 4 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series, Monday, April 27, 2026, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Donald and Melania Trump both called for ABC to fire Jimmy Kimmel on Monday after a joke last week in which the late-night comic described the first lady as having “the glow of an expectant widow.”

The remark about the president's wife was part of a routine on Thursday's “Jimmy Kimmel Live” where the host pretended to deliver a comedy routine at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner. That event two nights later was cut short when a man armed with guns and knives tried to enter the Washington ballroom where the Trumps and much of the nation's political leadership had gathered.

“People like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate,” Melania Trump said in a social media post later echoed by her husband.

Kimmel described the joke during his Monday night monologue as a light roast about the first couple's age difference and “not, by any stretch of the definition, a call to assassination."

He said he was sorry that the president and everyone at the event went through that traumatic and scary experience.

“I agree that hateful and violent rhetoric is something we should reject," Kimmel said. "I do, and I think a great place to start to dial that back would be to have a conversation with your husband about it.”

There was no comment Monday from ABC.

Kimmel has long targeted the president in his comedy, and he doubled down after a run-in with the administration last fall. Kimmel was suspended by ABC and some of the network's affiliates said they would take him off the air following a comment made about assassinated conservative leader Charlie Kirk, moves encouraged by Trump's FCC chairman, Brendan Carr. ABC and the stations later brought Kimmel back.

Upon his return, Kimmel said that by saying that “many in MAGA land are working very hard to capitalize on the murder of Charlie Kirk,” he was not trying to make light of Kirk's killing and didn't want to leave that impression. He did not apologize, however, and he criticized station owners who took him off the air before later relenting.

Shortly after the incident, ABC signed Kimmel to a one-year contract extension that is due to keep him on the air until May 2027. His show has aired on the network since January 2003.

His late-night competitor Stephen Colbert — another frequent Trump critic — is seeing his CBS show end next month.

Dressed in a tux and standing behind a podium Thursday, Kimmel pretended to deliver a comic routine for the WHCA dinner. His speech had false “cutaways” to the Trumps and others, taken from video clips.

He noted Melania in the “audience,” saying, “Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.”

“I appreciate that so many people are incensed by Kimmel’s despicable call to violence, and normally would not be responsive to anything that he said but, this is something far beyond the pale,” the president said on his Truth Social platform. “Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired” by ABC and its parent Walt Disney Co., he said.

His wife said Kimmel's “hateful and violent rhetoric” is intended to divide the country. “A coward, Kimmel hides behind ABC because he knows the network will keep running cover to protect him," Melania Trump wrote. “Enough is enough. It is time for ABC to take a stand.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said it was part of a campaign of rhetoric from Democrats and some in the media that “has helped to legitimize this violence.”

“Who in their right mind says a wife would be glowing over the potential murder of her beloved husband?” Leavitt said. There was no indication that Kimmel was referring to violence.

The National Religious Broadcasters association filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission, asking the agency to investigate ABC.

“We're seeing a pattern of violence in this country that didn't appear overnight,” said Troy Miller, NRB's president and CEO. “When influential voices joke about death or treat political opponents as disposable, it contributes to a culture where violence feels thinkable to the already unstable.”

During his routine, Kimmel noted Melania Trump's birthday Sunday, saying, “She's planning to celebrate at home the same way she always does — looking out a window and whispering, ‘What have I done?’”

He also said: “Before we go any further, Melania, this is Donald. Donald, this is Melania. That was my impression of Jeffrey Epstein.”

Cole Tomas Allen, the California man arrested after attempting to rush into the correspondents' dinner on Saturday, was charged Monday with the attempted assassination of the president.

Associated Press correspondent Jesse Bedayn in Austin, Texas, and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed to this report. David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social.

President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House after a shooting incident outside the ballroom at at the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

FILE - First lady Melania Trump speaks to reporters April 9, 2026, in the Grand Foyer of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

FILE - In this June 16, 2017, file photo, Jimmy Kimmel attends the 30th annual Scleroderma Foundation Benefit at the Beverly Wilshire hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)