76ers, Pistons, Raptors head to Game 7

The Eastern Conference bracket basically hit a traffic jam. Three first-round series that could have ended this week didn’t. Philadelphia sent Boston back to a Game 7. Detroit pulled off one of the wildest comebacks of the round against Orlando. Toronto kept Cleveland from advancing by stealing an overtime game at home. Now the East won’t really move until the weekend is over. (nba.com) ### How d(nba.com)ia beat Boston 106-93 on Thursday, April 30, to tie that series 3-3. Then on Friday, May 1, Detroit beat Orlando 93-79 and Toronto beat Cleveland 112-110 in overtime, tying both of those series too. That left three separate winner-take-all games in the East first round — an unusually congested setup for a bracket that looked closer to settling a few days ago. (nba.com)lt the loudest one? Because Detroit looked dead. The Pistons trailed by 22 at halftime, fell behind by 24 early in the third quarter, and still won by 14. Cade Cunningham scored 32 points, and the game flipped when Orlando’s offense completely stalled. Detroit’s second half was the kind of stretch that changes how a whole series feels — not just one night’s score. (espn.com) ### Wha(nba.com)e the series look like its own game instead of Boston’s. Tyrese Maxey scored 30, Paul George added 23, and the Sixers held the Celtics to 93 after getting blown out twice earlier in the matchup. The big shift is psychological as much as tactical — Boston had chances to close, didn’t, and now has to handle all the pressure at home in the one game that wipes out everything before it. (espn.com)hat about Toronto-Cleveland? That one turned into a last-possession knife fight. Toronto won 112-110 in overtime when RJ Barrett hit a 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds left. Scottie Barnes led the Raptors with 25 points, while Evan Mobley had 26 for Cleveland. The pattern in that series matters too — home court has been huge, and now Cleveland gets Game 7 back in its building, but only after letting a closeout chance slip. (espn.com)ia at Boston is set for Saturday, May 2, at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock. Orlando at Detroit goes Sunday, May 3, at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC. Toronto at Cleveland follows Sunday, May 3, at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC. So the bracket is staggered, but not by much — by late Sunday the East will finally know its remaining semifinal field. (nba.com) ### Why does this matter beyond one we(espn.com)while New York already advanced by beating Atlanta 4-2. That means rest, scouting, and semifinal prep are all uneven right now. The league’s new playoff TV setup also gets a boost here — these are standalone Game 7 windows spread across ABC, NBC, and Peacock, which is about as good a drama package as the first round can offer. (nba.com)Home teams still have the cleaner path, but the catch is that all three under-pressure favorites just failed to close. Boston gets Game 7 at TD Garden after losing Game 6 by 13. Detroit gets home court after proving it can survive a disaster start. Cleveland gets the last game at home, but Toronto just showed it can win the highest-leverage possessions. None of these series feels stable anymore. (nba.com)st round was supposed to be thinning out. Instead, it turned into a three-game elimination weekend. That’s the real story — not just that three series reached Game 7, but that every one of them now feels newly breakable. (nba.com)