Here’s everything you need to know to watch Game 6 of the Magic vs. Pistons series, including the start time, TV channel and live stream information.

The Magic lock down the Hornets for a chance to tangle with the Pistons, who earned the Eastern Conference's top seed. John Schuhmann Paolo Banchero and the Magic face a tough task in challenging the East’s No. 1 seed in Detroit. • Download the NBA App Before the 2025-26 season began, the Detroit Pistons and Orlando Magic were thought by many to be on the same tier of the Eastern Conference. If they were to meet in the first round of the playoffs, it would probably be in the 4-5 or 3-6 series. Instead, its 1 vs. 8. The Pistons surpassed expectations, standing at the top of the Eastern Conference all season. The Magic were a disappointment, needing the final SoFi Play-In Tournament game to claim the 8 seed. But they split their four head-to-head matchups, with each team winning once on the other’s floor. Neither franchise has won a playoff series in more than 15 years, and one of those droughts is about to end. The Pistons face the pressure of being the top seed, while the Magic face the possibility of major offseason changes should their Play-In victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Friday prove to be fluky. Here’s how to watch the Pistons vs. Magic series: All times Eastern Standard Time * = If necessary With their season on the line on Friday, the Magic looked like their old selves, shutting down the Hornets’ fifth-ranked offense. It started with relentless ball pressure, and led to 20 Charlotte turnovers. The Pistons’ ball security isn’t great. They ranked 23rd in turnover rate (15.1 per 100) in the regular season and had a much worse rate (16.9 per 100) in last year’s first-round loss to the Knicks. So if the Magic’s ball pressure can carry over from the Play-In to the playoffs, they can keep the Pistons from getting clean looks at the basket and enhance their own efficiency with transition opportunities. Field goal percentage is always lower in the playoffs than it is in the regular season, and with more missed shots, there are more rebounds to be had. So each team’s ability to secure the glass is more important. The Pistons won the rebounding battle in the regular season series, retaining 36.5% of available offensive boards (the second-best mark among all Orlando opponents) over the four games. Ausar Thompson (13) and Jalen Duren (12) accounted for half of Detroit’s 50 offensive boards against the Magic. 1 more thing to watch for each team For Detroit: The Pistons set 2,260 ball-screens for Cade Cunningham this season, the third-highest total among all ball-handlers and a rate of more than 50 per 100 possessions. The Magic, meanwhile, have generally been a drop-coverage defense, encouraging ball-handlers to shoot off the dribble. While Cunningham has seen steady improvement with his pull-up game over his five seasons, his effective field goal percentage of 49.3% on pullup jumpers this season ( 27th among the 88 players who attempted at least 200) is a number that favors the defense. Still, we could see Orlando mix up its coverages and force other guys to make plays and make shots. Duren has been a much-improved roll man, both in regard to passing and creating his own shot. The Pistons will also let Tobias Harris go to work in the post, but Thompson (who made 16 total shots from outside the paint this season) will be ignored on the perimeter, compromising the spacing. This team can win ugly, but the offense will be under the spotlight in this series and going forward. For Orlando: Paolo Banchero has yet to live up to the expectations that have come with being a former No. 1 pick, and he’s yet to make it really work with teammate Franz Wagner. The Magic’s Banchero-led offense has struggled (104.3 points scored per 100 possessions) in the first round of the playoffs over the last two years. 13.9 – The Pistons outscored their opponents by 13.9 points per game in the restricted area, the third biggest differential for any team in the last 15 seasons. They’re not going to beat teams from the perimeter (they ranked 29th in 3-point rate), but they can be dominant inside. On offense, the Pistons led the league in the percentage of their shots (36%) that came in the restricted area. On defense, they ranked second in opponent field goal percentage in the restricted area (62.4%), with opponents having shot just 43.8% at the rim when Isaiah Stewart was there. That was the best rim-protection mark for a player who defended at least 200 shots at the rim in the 12 seasons for which we have tracking data. The Magic ranked seventh in restricted-area differential (+3.0 points per game), even though they ranked 28th in field goal percentage (63.9%) at the basket. They actually outscored the Pistons by four points in the restricted area over the two early-season meetings in Detroit, but the Pistons were plus-30 there over the two late-season meetings in Orlando, with the difference in the Magic’s April 6 win coming at the free-throw line. The Magic could keep a game or two competitive, but the Pistons shouldn’t have much trouble advancing to the Eastern Conference semifinals for the first time since 2008. Jalen Brunson and the Knicks must fend off a challenge from the surging Hawks to return to the conference finals. The Raptors seek an opening against the Cavaliers after rising to 5th in the East on the last day of the season. Jalen Brunson and the Knicks must fend off a challenge from the surging Hawks to return to the conference finals. The Raptors seek an opening against the Cavaliers after rising to 5th in the East on the last day of the season. The King refuses to let age slow him down and L.A.'s backcourt comes up big to help maintain home-court advantage.

The Orlando Magic look to pull off one of the more improbable NBA postseason series upsets against the Detroit Pistons but are not at full health.

The Tracy McGrady-led Magic also had a 3-1 lead on the top-seeded Pistons in 2003, but ended up losing the series.