Pistons' Cade Cunningham (2) goes up hard against Orlando's Goga Bitadze during Sunday night's Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first round playoff series in Detroit. (AP photo)

DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Pistons opened the NBA playoffs with a flop.

Detroit went into the postseason as the top-seeded team in the Eastern Conference, openly talking about exceeding modest expectations and winning the franchise’s fourth championship.

If the Pistons don’t play better than they did in a 112-101 loss to Orlando on Sunday night in Game 1, they might get knocked out in the first round again.

“We’re sick about losing this one,” Cade Cunningham said after scoring a playoff career-high 39 points and not getting much help from his teammates. “It’s a long series.”

Detroit, which has lost an NBA-record 11 straight home postseason games, hosts the Magic again on Wednesday night.

The Pistons have not won a home playoff game since 2008, which is also the last year they advanced in the playoffs.

They were sluggish early against the Magic and had a built-in excuse, playing for the first time in a week.

“We didn’t come out with the right energy,” Cunningham said.

They were flat early in the third quarter, too, and that’s tougher to explain.

“We were chasing them all night,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “We made some runs to get ourselves back in the ballgame.”

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The Magic, meanwhile, looked ready to play just two nights after routing Charlotte in an elimination game to earn a spot in the playoffs.

“They’ve been off and we’ve found a little bit of a rhythm,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “That always plays a part in it.”

Detroit never had the lead.

Cunningham made a 3-pointer to pull the Pistons into a tie midway through the third quarter, but they wasted the opportunity by giving up 14 of the next 17 points and couldn’t recover.

Detroit finished with a season-low 31 baskets, connecting on just 40% of its shots. Tobias Harris scored 17 points as the only double-digit scorer other than Cunningham, but he missed 10 of 15 shots.

All-Star Jalen Duren, who averaged nearly 20 points in the regular season, was limited to four shots and eight points.

“They packed the paint,” Bickerstaff said. “They’re going to put a bunch of bodies in the paint to try to make it difficult on him.”

WESTERN CONFERENCE

THUNDER 119. SUNS 84

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 25 points and the host Oklahoma City Thunder began their title defense with a rout of the Phoenix Suns in Game 1 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series on Sunday.

The reigning league MVP made just 5 of 18 field goals but went 15 of 17 at the foul line before sitting out the fourth quarter.

Jalen Williams scored 22 points and Chet Holmgren added 16 for the top-seeded Thunder, who will host Game 2 on Wednesday.

Devin Booker scored 23 points and Dillon Brooks scored 18 on 6-of-22 shooting for the Suns, who shot 34.9% from the field. Jalen Green, who scored 35 and 36 points in Phoenix’s two play-in games, had 17 on 6-for-16 shooting.

It was the third straight year that the Thunder earned the top seed and had to wait through the play-in tournament to learn their first-round opponent. Two seasons ago, Oklahoma City beat New Orleans 94-92 in Game 1. Last year, the Thunder routed Memphis 131-80 in Game 1 on their way to the title.

Phoenix claimed the No. 8 seed by defeating the Golden State Warriors on Friday night. The Suns took an early 5-0 lead Sunday as the Thunder started cold following a week off.

The Thunder heated up quickly. Brooks was called for a flagrant-one foul in the first quarter for hitting Holmgren in the face. The Thunder went on a 12-2 surge after that to take a 24-14 lead.

In the closing seconds of the quarter, Oklahoma City’s Jaylin Williams threw a pass about three-quarters of the length of the court. Holmgren caught it with his back to the basket, took one dribble to his right, then turned and drained a 3-pointer as time expired to put Oklahoma City up 35-20.

Oklahoma City extended the advantage to 65-44 at halftime. Holmgren had 16 points and Gilgeous-Alexander had 15 at the break.

Gilgeous-Alexander converted a three-point play to push Oklahoma City’s lead to 90-63 late in the third quarter, and the Thunder took a 97-66 edge into the fourth.

Nine Oklahoma City players saw at least 13 minutes of action.

SPURS, BLAZERS

Victor Wembanyama scored 35 points in his playoff debut and the San Antonio Spurs rolled to victory over the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 1 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series Sunday night in San Antonio.

Wembanyama’s 21 first-half points set an NBA record for the most in the opening half of an NBA playoff debut since the league’s play-by-play era began in 1997. His 35 total points set a Spurs franchise record for the most in a playoff debut, surpassing Tim Duncan’s 32 in 1998.

Stephon Castle and De’Aaron Fox each added 17 points and combined for 15 assists for San Antonio.

Deni Avdija had 30 points and 10 rebounds to lead Portland, which beat Phoenix 114-110 in Tuesday’s play-in game to earn the No. 7 seed.

Scoot Henderson, the No. 3 pick in the 2023 draft behind Wembanyama and Charlotte’s Brandon Miller, added 18 points.