Cade Cunningham and Paolo Banchero are proving they know how to put on a show, and they’re going to be called upon in another possible elimination game in their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series.

Cunningham’s heroics Wednesday night bought the Pistons another game as No. 1 seed Detroit visits Orlando for Game 6 on Friday night with the Magic leading 3-2.

The Pistons struck the last blow to win Game 5, returning the pressure to the Magic to finish the series at home and avoid a trip back to Detroit.

“With a sense of urgency, with a sense of taking care of home,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said of the mindset of going back to Florida. “With the way we know how we play at home in front of our fans, with that energy and that excitement in that building. But we’ve got to make sure we’re doing the smart version of it. It’s not about hitting home runs. It’s about hitting singles all night long. And that’s doing the little things – the box-outs, the free throws being made. …”

Cunningham and Banchero scored 45 points apiece when the Pistons extended the series with Wednesday night’s 116-109 victory in Game 5. Cunningham’s output marked a franchise playoff record.

The Pistons are attempting to come back from a 3-1 series deficit against Orlando much like it did 23 years ago in the first round, when the teams held the same seeds.

“Now we got to go to Orlando and get one win there,” Pistons coach J.B Bickerstaff said. “And we’ve won on the road before. So it’s a simple formula for us. Stay in the moment, stay present, take it one at a time.”

The Magic won both games in Orlando (Games 3 and 4) 113-105 and 94-88.

“When our backs have been against the wall, we come out swinging,” Bickerstaff said. “… That spirit carries over. The want to not let your teammate down carries over. And we’ve got a locker room full of guys that feel that way. Until that fat lady starts singing, we’ve got life.”

Even with Cunningham’s big numbers, Bickerstaff figures the outcome will be determined at the other end of the court.

“Our defense is what’s going to be key for us,” Bickerstaff said. “I still think there’s room for improvement (after Game 5).”

The Magic last advanced beyond the first round of the playoffs in 2010, sweeping the then-Charlotte Bobcats and Atlanta Hawks before losing to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Mosley knows they are close to getting the job done and expects them to play like it on Friday night.

“I think their resiliency was great,” Mosley said of his team. “I thought our guys did a really good job at the initial part.”

Banchero’s production in Game 5 came despite going 5-for-12 on free throws.

Mosley identified free-throw shooting (16-for-30) as one of the culprits in the Magic’s loss.

“Got to step up and knock them down,” Mosley said. “Those are things we can control.”

Ausar Thompson’s 15 rebounds gave the Pistons a boost in Game 5, particularly with rebounding a trouble spot for the Magic.

“His ability to get deflections, get steals and just create chaos out there,” Bickerstaff said of Thompson’s overall impact.

Orlando will be without forward Franz Wagner for the second straight game because of an ailing right calf. Wagner averaged 16.8 points per game in the first four games of the series.

–Field Level Media

The Montreal Canadiens are aware of the opportunity before them as they prepare to host the Tampa Bay Lightning for Game 6 of their Stanley Cup playoff series on Friday.

Thanks to a 3-2 victory Wednesday night in Tampa for a 3-2 edge in the Eastern Conference first-round meeting, the young Canadiens have the opportunity to knock out the Lightning in the best-of-seven series.

“It’s going to be loud and going to be fun,” defenseman Kaiden Guhle said Thursday. “We’ll use the crowd’s energy to our advantage, but we’ve got to stay even-keeled. … Just gotta keep playing our game, not get nervous, not do too much.”

Montreal finished tied in points (106) with Tampa Bay during the regular season, placing behind due to the tiebreaker. The Canadiens were considered an underdog in this series, however, because of the vast amount of playoff experience on the Lightning’s roster.

Instead of being overwhelmed, the Canadiens have shown plenty of fortitude.

“It was such a great opportunity to go against a team who probably set the standard the last 10 years,” Montreal coach Martin St. Louis said. “We haven’t done anything yet, but it’s a challenge and still is a challenge. This is a veteran, talented group that is not going to go away easy, wasn’t going to give you anything for free.”

A huge key in Montreal’s edge has been goaltender Jakub Dobes, who has stood toe-to-toe against Tampa’s surefire hall-of-famer Andrei Vasilevskiy. Dobes stopped 38 shots in Wednesday’s win, 12 during the final three minutes while the Lightning pushed for the equalizer with an extra attacker.

“He’s a confident guy. He likes his big moments and wants his big moments” Guhle said. “You look at his first game last year, a shutout against the defending Stanley Cup champs. I think he lives for this. I think that’s what makes him so good.”

Although they trail the series, the Lightning have not exactly been outclassed. Through the five games, the Canadiens have scored a total of one more goal (14-13) and every result has been decided by a single tally.

Hurting Tampa Bay’s cause is the scoring struggles of stars Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point, who each have tallied only once, and the middling goaltending from Vasilevskiy and his .880 save percentage.

From a team perspective, one statistic stands out: Montreal has opened the scoring in four of the five games.

“Our starts, we’ve had a tough time, especially at the end of the regular season,” said Lightning coach Jon Cooper, whose squad won the lone game it scored first. “It’s not the recipe to have to keep chasing the game.”

With that in mind, the Lightning can look to rely on their experience to help extend the series and bring it back home for a deciding seventh game. A team that has accomplished as much as the Lightning over the last decade has overcome plenty of adversity along the way.

“This is nine straight years (of) making the playoffs,” Cooper said. “If you had a team that didn’t believe, that streak wouldn’t be going on right now.”

And now is the opportunity for a roster filled with players who have won multiple Stanley Cup titles (back to back in 2020 and 2021) to show its mettle. Otherwise, it will be a fourth consecutive year of being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.

“I think everyone personally, when Game 6 is over, will learn a lot about themselves,” said Tampa Bay forward Brandon Hagel, who has scored six of his club’s 13 goals in the series. “This team will learn a lot about themselves. There’s not much more to say. You’ve just got to kind of leave it up to us.”

–Field Level Media

The Cleveland Cavaliers feel they passed the toughness test in winning Game 5 at home.

The next step is to show the same grit on the road Friday night in Game 6 against the Toronto Raptors and clinch the Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.

Cleveland took a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series with a 125-120 comeback win on Wednesday.

“We kind of passed that mental toughness test,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said. “Now the big one is like, ‘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.”

After convincingly winning the first two games at home, the Cavaliers could not cope with the Raptors’ aggressiveness in Games 3 and 4 at Toronto.

The Raptors carried that momentum into Game 5 and led by 12 in the first quarter. They led again by 12 in the first minute of the third quarter before Cleveland rallied and won with a 25-17 fourth-quarter advantage.

“I thought this was a step for us from a kind of mental toughness point of view,” Atkinson said. “It was not pretty. We go down by 12, the crowd’s nervous, everybody’s nervous, but I thought we showed good poise and resiliency.”

After committing 10 turnovers in the first half, Cleveland limited them to four in the third quarter and one in the fourth.

The ballhandling of guard Dennis Schroder, who scored 13 of his 19 points in the second half, was a factor in the improvement. After playing 4:55 in the first half, Schroder played 16:19 in the second; he was on the court for all 12 minutes of the fourth quarter.

Cleveland made a total of 40 turnovers in the two games in Toronto.

“For us, it’s winning the possession game; it really comes down to that,” Atkinson said. “The two games in Toronto we were minus-21 in the possession game, which statistically it’s really hard to win games. Our mentality going in there is we’ve got to be able to rebound the ball, we’ve got to take care of it. Otherwise, we’ll be back here for Game 7.”

Toronto lost forward Brandon Ingram on Wednesday with right heel inflammation after he played only 11:22. He is listed as questionable for Game 6.

Toronto guard Immanuel Quickley is out for the entire series with a hamstring strain, and Scottie Barnes, who had 17 points and 11 assists, was hobbled by a bruised thigh after being bumped on a second-quarter drive.

“Obviously, it had some effect,” Barnes said. “Couldn’t play with the same pace that I was trying to play with, just having a little limp out there.”

“I think we should be encouraged with all that happening and we were still in position to win the game,” said RJ Barrett, who had 25 points and 12 rebounds. “That’s a testament to everybody on our team. We’ve always had a next-man-up mentality.”

Ingram’s presence is important. He’s averaged 12 points in five playoff games after leading the team with a 21.5 scoring clip in the regular season.

“The way they guard him, his shot-making ability,” Barnes said. “When he’s out there on the floor, he makes big plays for us. We need him out there.”

Toronto coach Darko Rajakovic said the Raptors indeed have their “back against the wall.”

“We have 48 hours to find a physical and mental way,” Rajakovic said. “They’re going to try to close the series and we’re going to do everything possible, find enough healthy guys, and compete until the last second. I’m hopeful we’re going to have guys available.”

–Field Level Media