NBA roundup: Magic rule out Franz Wagner for pivotal Game 6 vs. Pistons

More: If Pistons advance to Round 2, they would host Game 1 Tuesday

Cavs aim for series-clinching win at Raptors

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."

Hornets' Diabate wins NBA Hustle Award

Charlotte Hornets big man Moussa Diabate was named the winner of the 2025-26 NBA Hustle Award on Thursday.

A first-time winner, Diabate ranked in the top 11 in six of the nine hustle categories used to determine the award recipient, including first in offensive box-outs per minute (0.0537) and fourth in screen assists per minute (0.1122).

The Hustle Award honors a player "who makes effort plays that do not often appear in the traditional box score but help drive team success," according to a league press release.

The hustle categories also include deflections, loose balls recovered, charges drawn and contested shots.

The Hornets improved from a 9-20 start through Dec. 22 to go 35-18 the rest of the season. Diabate became a full-time starter on Dec. 23.

Diabate, 24, averaged career highs of 7.9 points on 63.1% shooting, 8.7 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.0 blocks, 0.8 steals and 26.0 minutes in 73 games (47 starts). His 20 double-doubles nearly tripled his previous career total.

The Los Angeles Clippers selected the Frenchman in the second round of the 2022 NBA Draft. He signed with Charlotte in July 2024.

Diabate was followed in the voting by Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels, Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green, Memphis Grizzlies guard Cedric Coward and New York Knicks guard Josh Hart.

Green won the award last season. Marcus Smart, then of the Boston Celtics, received the award in 2019, 2022 and 2023 as the only multiple winner since the award started in the 2016-17 season.

This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Magic forward Franz Wagner will miss Game 6 against Pistons