The good news for the Los Angeles Lakers: They held MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to 18 points. The good news for the Oklahoma City Thunder: They won Game 1 against the Lakers by 18 points. For the first time this season, Gilgeous-Alexander was held under 20 points. And it didn’t matter, with the Thunder easing past the Lakers 108-90 to open their Western Conference semifinal series on Tuesday night. Also Tuesday, Detroit took a 1-0 Eastern Conference semifinal series lead over Cleveland with a 111-101 win behind 23 points from Cade Cunningham.
From
To
Cade Cunningham scored 23 points, Tobias Harris had 20 and the Detroit Pistons beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 111-101 on Tuesday night in Game 1 of their second-round series. Duncan Robinson added 19 points for the top-seeded Pistons, who ended an NBA-record tying 12-game postseason losing streak against an opponent, a drought that dated to the 2007 Eastern Conference finals. Game 2 is Thursday night in Detroit. Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell scored 23 points, ending his NBA-record streak of scoring 30-plus points in nine straight series openers.
Jamahl Mosley has been fired as coach of the Orlando Magic, paying the widely expected price after the team blew a 3-1 series lead and got eliminated by the Detroit Pistons in Round 1 of the Eastern Conference playoffs. It was Orlando’s third consecutive first-round playoff exit, and easily the most disappointing. Not only did the eighth-seeded Magic lose all three chances to upset the top-seeded Pistons, but one of those games saw Orlando have a 24-point second-half lead at home and still lose. That loss probably was the one that sealed Mosley’s fate.
Scottie Barnes and RJ Barrett did everything they could to try to get the Toronto Raptors into the Eastern Conference semifinals. However, a couple of key injuries and a more veteran group ended the Raptors’ first playoff trip in four years. Barnes had 24 points and Barrett added 23 in the Raptors’ 114-102 loss to the Cavaliers in Game 7 of their first-round series Sunday night. Toronto was missing All-Star forward Brandon Ingram to a bruised right heel for the second straight game. Point guard Immanuel Quickley missed the entire series because of sore right hamstring.
Jarrett Allen tied his playoff career high with 22 points and grabbed 19 rebounds as the Cleveland Cavaliers advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals with a 114-102 victory over the Toronto Raptors. Donovan Mitchell led the Cavaliers with 22 points and James Harden added 18. The home team won all seven games. Cleveland, the No. 4 seed, will visit top-seeded Detroit on Tuesday night in Game 1 of the second round. The Central Division rivals split their four regular season meetings. Scottie Barnes had 24 points and nine rebounds and RJ Barrett scored 23 for the Raptors, who were in the playoffs for the first time since 2022.
Cade Cunningham had 32 points and 12 assists, Tobias Harris added 30 points and the Detroit Pistons beat the Orlando Magic 116-94 in Game 7 on Sunday to win a playoff series for the first time in 18 years. Cunningham averaged 32.4 points for Detroit, which last won a postseason series by beating Orlando in the second round in 2008. The Pistons advance to play the winner of Sunday evening’s Game 7 between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Toronto Raptors. The Pistons became the 15th team in NBA history to overcome a 3-1 deficit and the second in the last two nights, after the Philadelphia 76ers came back to eliminate Boston.
Toronto Raptors forward Brandon Ingram missed Game 7 of the Eastern Conference first-round playoff series against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday because of a sore right heel. Coach Darko Rajakovic said the injury right now is such that he needs to rest and go easy on his heel. Guard Jamal Shead started in Ingram’s place for the second straight game. Ingram averaged 21.5 points during the regular season and made his second All-Star Game in his first season with the Raptors. However, he has averaged just 12 games in the postseason.
After debuting in Game 4 following appendectomy surgery last month, Joel Embiid played some of the best playoff basketball of his career over the final four games of the series to lead the 76ers to a 109-100 Game 7 victory over a Celtics team that had looked like a potential NBA title contender. The No. 7 seed’s reward is an Eastern Conference semifinals matchup with the No. 3 seed New York Knicks. The 76ers will need everything Embiid gave and more to compete with a Knicks team that plays much more physical game than Boston.
Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals, beating the Jayson Tatum-less Boston Celtics 109-100 on Saturday night to complete the NBA’s 14th comeback from a 3-1 deficit. Embiid finished with 34 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. Tyrese Maxey added 30 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. V.J. Edgecombe finished with 23 points and Paul George had 13. Philadelphia, the No. 7 seed, will visit No. 3 New York on Monday in Game 1 of the second round. The Sixers franchise, including its time as Syracuse Nationals, improved to 2-10 all-time in road Game 7s.
The Detroit Pistons can complete another historic comeback against the Orlando Magic. The Cleveland Cavaliers will settle for one more home victory over the Toronto Raptors. The Pistons host the Magic in their Game 7 on Sunday in a late-afternoon contest, while the Cavaliers and Raptors wrap up the first round in primetime. Detroit faced a 3-1 deficit to Orlando in its first-round series in 2003 before winning the final three games. The home team won every game in the Cavaliers’ 2024 first-round series against the Magic, with Cleveland winning 106-94 in Game 7 to advance. The winners move on to meet in the Eastern Conference semifinals.