Cade Cunningham and Paolo Banchero made NBA history not seen in a quarter-century originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Detroit Pistons outlasted the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night, as Cade Cunningham and Paolo Banchero put on a show for the ages in Game 5 of their first-round series.
The Pistons' 116-109 home win pushes this series back to Orlando for Game 6 on Friday. Cunningham scored 45 points, a Pistons playoff record, and Detroit needed every one of those points amid continued struggles to find reliable secondary scoring.
MORE: Cade Cunningham makes history as Detroit stays alive
But Banchero dropped a 45-point masterclass of his own. The Magic All-Star flirted with a triple-double as he added nine rebounds and seven assists.
The combination of dueling 45-point performances made Wednesday night's Game 5 only the second game in NBA history where two former top overall draft picks scored at least 40 points in a head-to-head matchup.
The only other time this happened was in Game 1 of the 2001 NBA Finals, when Allen Iverson scored 48 points in the Philadelphia 76ers' win over Shaquille O'Neal (44 points) and the Los Angeles Lakers.
Both Banchero and Cunningham will have to bring their best again on Friday. For Orlando, it represents a chance to close out the series and complete a monumental upset. For Detroit, there will be a chance to force a winner-take-all Game 7 back at Little Caesars Arena.
More NBA news:
• Cade Cunningham-Paolo Banchero stats comparison: Pistons superstar saves season by outgunning Magic counterpart
• LeBron James had the perfect response to Alperen Sengun's foul gripe
• Austin Reaves is glad to be playing for the Los Angeles Lakers again despite the loss
• Donovan Mitchell admits that he is okay with taking a step back from being the go-to guy
