NBA Playoff Bracket 2026, Updated Picture, Schedule After Pistons Beat Magic to Avoid Elimination

The NBA playoffs are heating up as several first-round series near the end.

A pair of elimination games took place on Wednesday, starting with the Detroit Pistons vs. Orlando Magic series. Here's a look at how things went and what's ahead this week.

Wednesday Round 1 Results

Detroit Pistons def. Orlando Magic, 116-109 (ORL leads series 3-2)

Cleveland Cavaliers def. Toronto Raptors, 125-120 (CLE leads series 3-2)

Houston Rockets def. Los Angeles Lakers, 99-93 (LAL leads series 3-2)

Thursday Round 1 Schedule

New York Knicks vs. Atlanta Hawks, 7 p.m. ET (NYK leads series 3-2)

Boston Celtics vs. Philadelphia 76ers, 8 p.m. ET (BOS leads series 3-2)

Denver Nuggets vs. Minnesota Timberwolves, 9:30 p.m. ET (MIN leads series 3-2)

Wednesday Highlights

Detroit Pistons 116, Orlando Magic 109

Cade Cunningham and Paolo Banchero gave fans the best duel of the playoffs so far.

Cunningham led Detroit to a season-saving win behind 45 points on 13-of-23 from the field and 5-of-8 from deep, marking a new playoff career high. His 45 points are a new franchise playoff record.

Banchero had the best postseason game of his young career with 45 points, nine boards and seven assists. He helped the Magic mount a huge fourth-quarter comeback, but they weren't quite able to complete it.

The Magic will look to put the series on ice on Friday, but Detroit showed on Wednesday that it's ready to fight back from the 3-1 deficit.

Cavaliers 125, Raptors 120

One of the most exciting first-round series provided another down-to-the-wire game on Wednesday.

The Raptors got dealt a bit of bad luck early on when Brandon Ingram was ruled out with a heel injury, but Toronto managed to stay in it despite being without a key player.

The Cavs' trio of Donovan Mitchell, James Harden and Evan Mobley once again put together a solid game as Mitchell posted 19 and Harden and Mobley each added 23.

Cleveland trailed by as many as 12, but a big fourth quarter, led by Dennis Schröder, helped the Cavs close things out. Schröder finished with 19 points in 21 minutes off the bench.

Many expected the Cavs to make light work of the Raptors, but that hasn't been the case so far. They'll look to close out the series in Game 6 on Friday.

Rockets 99, Lakers 93

The Rockets are one step closer to a potential 3-0 comeback.

Houston defeated the Lakers 99-93 in Monday's Game 5 to pull within 3-2 in the series after dropping the first three. Kevin Durant was sidelined once again, but the visitors used a strong defensive effort and balanced scoring attack to prevail on the road.

All five starters scored in double figures with Jabari Smith Jr. leading the way with 22 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Tari Eason added 18 points, while Alperen Şengün threatened a triple-double with 14 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.

But it was Reed Sheppard who made the biggest plays of the game.

After Los Angeles closed within three points with fewer than three minutes remaining, the guard hit a midrange jumper and then scored on a breakaway after stripping LeBron James. The lead was seven just like that, and Houston never relinquished its advantage.

The Lakers were once again without Luka Dončić, although Austin Reaves played for the first time this series and scored 22 points off the bench. James tallied 25 points and seven assists, but it still wasn't enough to close the series.

Houston will now have a chance to force a decisive contest if it can take care of business at home in Game 6.