Lakers, Cavs, Magic look to avoid Game 7s in 1st round

HOUSTON — The Houston Rockets are brimming with confidence after avoiding elimination twice with consecutive wins to force Game 6 against the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday in the first round of the playoffs. "We put ourselves in a bad position, but we can still make history and come back one game at a time," Houston big man Alperen Sengun said. "Play at home, come back here, just do the same thing we're doing."That game is one of three Game 6 matchups in the NBA on Friday starting in the Eastern Conference with underdog Orlando Magic trying again to close out its series against the top-seeded Detroit Pistons. The second game of the night features James Harden and the fourth-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers looking to wrap up their series against the fifth-seed Toronto Raptors.In Friday's nightcap, the Rockets will try to get a win to become just the fifth team in NBA history to force a Game 7 after losing the first three games of a series. None of the 159 teams that were in a 0-3 hole have won the series.They'll likely do it without superstar Kevin Durant, who has missed the last three games with an ankle injury after sitting out of the series opener with a bruised knee."You cannot take off days anymore," Houston's Jabari Smith Jr. said. "If you lose, you go home, and on this team, nobody wants to go home. Everybody is here to fight."The Lakers couldn't finish off the Rockets on Wednesday despite the return of Austin Reaves, the team's second-leading scorer in the regular season who had been out since April 2 with an oblique injury.He scored 22 points on 4-of-16 shooting in 34 minutes off the bench in the 99-93 loss.LeBron James expects him to be more dynamic Friday after shaking the rust off in Game 5."A few of his jump shots were short. That makes sense. He hasn't played in a month," James said. "He gives us another ball-handler, another attacking threat at the point of attack, so it's great for us."In Toronto, the Raptors are also feeling confident despite their 125-120 loss in Game 5 and some injury concerns."I like our odds 100%," Toronto's Scottie Barnes said. "We're going to go home and we're going to get it done."They could have to do that without All-Star Brandon Ingram, who left Wednesday's game in the second quarter with right heel inflammation and didn't return. Ingram scored just one point before his early exit. Barnes is also not 100% after being kneed in the quadriceps while driving to the rim during the second quarter."Obviously, we need (Ingram) out on the floor," Barnes said. "His playmaking ability and his defense and everything he brings."Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson knows another huge mental test is coming up for this group after rallying to win Wednesday."These are high pressure moments," he said. "You're down, you can feel the crowd getting nervous. So, I think we took a step (Wednesday). Now the big one is can you go and beat this team on the road? Can we go in there and go take this because we haven't shown we can yet."The Pistons avoided elimination behind Cade Cunningham's franchise playoff-record 45 points in a 116-109 win in Game 5. Now the Magic will try and close it out again to win a playoff series for the first time since 2010. If they're able to pull it off, they'll be only the second No. 8 seed to win its first-round series after advancing through the play-in tournament and first since Miami in 2023.