Courtesy of Batu Gezer
The 2026 NBA Playoffs have officially begun, where legacies are built and players cement themselves into NBA history forever. The defending champs, Oklahoma City Thunder, come into these playoffs as the favorites to repeat, with the San Antonio Spurs and the Boston Celtics as the second and third most popular picks to win it all.
In the East, the Detroit Pistons maintained control of the number one seed for a majority of the regular season, completing their historic turnaround from a couple seasons ago, and will get the underachieving Orlando Magic, winners of their second play-in game to clinch the last spot in the East. The “gap-year” Boston Celtics climbed to the number two seed in a year many thought would see them participating in the draft lottery, and they got the Philadelphia 76ers, who are most likely without star Joel Embiid for the whole series after an emergency appendectomy surgery. The three seed New York Knicks limped into the postseason a little bit in head coach Mike Brown’s first year at the helm, who will face the red-hot Atlanta Hawks, who finished the regular season 19-4 to grab the sixth seed. In the four-five matchup, it’s the new look Cleveland Cavaliers, with a couple players trying to change their playoff legacies in Donavan Mitchell and James Harden, who will take on the Toronto Raptors, back in the playoffs for the first time since 2022.
The West number one seed, OKC Thunder, made an early run at the best record of all-time but leveled off midseason, and they draw the new look Phoenix Suns in the first round. Victor Wembanyana is in his first playoffs with the San Antonio Spurs, who earned the two seed after pushing the Thunder all year long, and they meet the Trail Blazers who are back playing for the Larry O’Brien trophy for the first time in five years. The three-six matchup offers possibly the most intriguing first round clash between recent rivals and three seed Denver Nuggets, and the sixth seed Minnesota Timberwolves, with a recently healthy Anthony Edwards back in the lineup. Grabbing the last home court advantage spot is the Los Angeles Lakers, who will be without Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves for possibly the whole first round, and they will be squaring off with the Houston Rockets, who all of a sudden have their own injury issues with Kevin Durant becoming questionable.
In the Eastern Conference, there seems to be a strong divide between the top 4 and bottom 4 seeds, and despite being the number one seed, the Pistons hold just the fourth best odds to win the conference. If both teams play to their seeds, we should see a Celtics-Knicks second round rematch of last year, the Celtics being favored once again. The Cavs hold the second best odds to win the East, and have become a popular second round pick to take down the Pistons. Among the lower seeds, the Hawks pose an interesting threat with their young talent against the Knicks, and the Magic are hungry and desperate after what felt like a very disappointing regular season, following the big offseason trade they made for Desmond Bane.
Out West, the Thunder bring back just about everybody and are healthy now moving into the postseason, but it’s a Western conference that looks even stronger than last year. The Spurs will try to go from missing the playoffs to winning the conference, and a possible second round matchup between them and the Nuggets could be straight cinema, especially if it looks like their regular season matchups did. The Lakers are the most banged up of anybody going into the playoffs, but if they can gut out a first round win against Houston, they could get healthy and be a tough matchup for OKC in the second round. Nobody is giving the Trail Blazers or Suns much of a chance, but certainly the T-Wolves are a dangerous matchup for Denver and eliminated them last year in the postseason.
My Predictions:
Starting in the East, I think the Magic can provide some trouble, and they certainly have the size and physicality to hang with and impose on the Pistons. I like the Pistons finding their footing later in the series and winning in six games. The Raptors first trip to the playoffs in 4 years ends rather abruptly, i think they win one back home at Scotiabank Arena, but the Cavs take care of them in five. Knicks-Hawks have the potential to go the distance and I actually think it will, especially with the way CJ McCollum has been playing. However, there is no way the Knicks lose a game seven in front of their home fans, they advance. With word sounding like an Embiid return would have to wait until the second round at least, I don’t think the Celtics have any issues with Philadelphia and complete a clean sweep to move onto the next round. In the Eastern Conference Semifinals I have the fourth seeded Cavs “upsetting” (seeding wise) the Pistons, but the one seed certainly won’t go down quietly, and it will take a gutsy game seven road victory for Cleveland to advance to their first Eastern Conference Finals since the Lebron Era. The way last year’s Celtics-Knicks upset went down, I can’t see Boston letting it happen again, they stay locked in for forty-eight minutes this year and win pretty easily in five games. In the ECF, James Harden channels a vintage playoff series and Donovan Mitchell plays well in his first conference finals series, but the Celtics just have too much and a healthy Jason Tatum and Jaylyn Brown get back to the finals in a thrilling seven-game series.
Taking a look at the West, the Thunder may have some difficulty getting back to the finals, but it doesn’t happen in the first round, they cruise by the Suns who grind out a win but lose in five. With Luka highly doubtful and an AR return likely having to wait until game six or seven, I think KD gets healthy soon enough to be available and lead the Rockets past the Lakers in six. Denver and Minnesota could certainly go the distance, but I believe the Nuggets come ready to play in game six at Target Center, and clinch a spot in the Western Conference Semifinals on the road, in a back and forth series where home-court advantage is constantly changing. I think we see our second sweep of the first round when the Trail Blazers and Spurs meet, with a hungry and determined San Antonio roster dominating throughout, led by the first ever unanimous Defensive Player of the Year in Victor Wembenyama. In a rematch from opening night, where we saw Houston and Oklahoma City play an absolute classic of a game, OKC winning in double overtime, the Thunder are victorious once again, this time with much less trouble advancing in just five games. Spurs-Nuggets has the makings of an all-time series, between a former three-time MVP, and likely a future at least three-time MVP, the Joker and Wemby go back and forth, with the third year star getting the last laugh and punching a ticket to the Western Conference Finals in seven. OKC and San Antonio matchup up five times during the regular season, with the Spurs taking four of those contests, but I think coach Mark Daigneault makes enough adjustments and another seven game thriller of a series sends the Spurs packing their bags for home this time.
That would mean a Thunder vs Celtics matchup to be the 2026 NBA Champion and take home the Larry O’Brien trophy. A matchup consisting of the last two NBA champions, with OKC trying to become the first team to go back-to-back since the Golden State Warriors in 2017-2018, and the Celtics trying to expand their lead on the Lakers for most championships in NBA history by winning their nineteenth. With both teams having very recent finals experience, the stage won’t be too big for either team, but I think the Thunder do have the edge in terms of talent, and fresh off of winning his second consecutive Most Valuable Player Award, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander helps guide the Thunder to their second straight ring, without too much stress, taking care of Boston in five games. SGA also became the eighth player in NBA history to win back-to-back Finals MVPs.
Editor’s Note: this article was written before the NBA Playoffs began.
