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HOUSTON (AP) — 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 night 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.”
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That game is one of three Game 6 matchups in the NBA on Friday night 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.”
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The Lakers couldn’t finish off the Rockets on Wednesday night 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 on Friday night 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…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/lakers-cavs-magic-look-avoid-202736481.html
Author : KRISTIE RIEKEN
Publish date : 2026-04-30 20:27:00
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