LeBron James had 28 points and the Los Angeles Lakers eliminated Houston with a 98-78 win in Game 6 of their Western Conference first-round playoff series on Friday night by holding the Rockets to a season low in points.

The No. 4 seeded Lakers move on to meet the top-seeded Thunder in Game 1 Tuesday in Oklahoma City.

Los Angeles has advanced to the second round for the first time since 2023 when it lost to Denver in the West finals despite missing top scorer Luka Doncic for the entire series.

The Lakers used a 27-3 run in the first half to take an 18-point lead at halftime. They led by 22 with about three minutes left in the third quarter before Houston went on an 8-2 run to cut the lead to 71-55 entering the fourth.

But Los Angeles opened the quarter with a 10-3 spurt, with five points from Rui Hachimura, to make it 81-58 with about seven minutes left.

Hachimura added 21 points with five 3-pointers.

Amen Thompson had 18 points and Alperen Sengun added 17 for Houston, which is heading home after a first-round playoff loss for a second straight season after losing to the Warriors in seven games last year.

 

Tone-setter. Game-changer. The King is one of one. pic.twitter.com/WNyD3SWrHA

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) May 2, 2026

Pistons stage stunning rally to stay alive

Cade Cunningham scored 32 points and the top-seeded Detroit Pistons pulled off an incredible rally, erasing a 24-point deficit and beating the Orlando Magic 93-79 to force a Game 7 in their Eastern Conference first-round series.

Detroit trailed by 22 at the half and Orlando's lead went to 62-38 early in the third quarter. The Magic looked absolutely poised to become the seventh No. 8 seed to eliminate a No. 1 seed in the conference quarterfinal round.

And then everything went wrong for Orlando.  

The Magic became the first team since 1996-97 – when play-by-play began getting tracked digitally – to lose at home after leading by at least 24 points with a chance to win a series.

That number, and a lot of others, were just baffling. The Magic missed 23 consecutive shots from the field, Detroit went on a 35-5 run and, just like that, the story of the game - and quite possibly the series - changed wildly.

Tobias Harris scored 22 points for Detroit, which will host Game 7 on Sunday. Paolo Banchero and Desmond Bane each scored 17 for Orlando, which is now 0-2 in closeout opportunities in this series.

 

Let's take this back to the crib. pic.twitter.com/HBFf7YHbaA

— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) May 2, 2026

Barrett’s 3-pointer in OT forces Game 7

RJ Barrett hit a 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds remaining in overtime and the Toronto Raptors pushed their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series to a seventh game by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 112-110.

Evan Mobley had a chance to win it for Cleveland, but his 3-pointer bounced off the front of the rim as the buzzer sounded.

Barrett’s 3 bounced off the back of the rim and went high above the backboard before somehow heading straight down through the basket.

Scottie Barnes had 25 points and 14 assists, Barrett and Ja’Kobe Walter both scored 24 points and Collin Murray-Boyles added 17 as Toronto held on after blowing an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter.

Game 7 is in Cleveland on Sunday. The home team has won all six games so far in the series.

Mobley had 26 points and 14 rebounds, Donovan Mitchell scored 24 points and James Harden had 16 for the Cavaliers, who Cleveland finished with 18 turnovers, leading to 25 points for Toronto.

 

bounce felt long… result was never in doubt. pic.twitter.com/VuVW96y0ZA

— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) May 2, 2026