2026 NBA playoffs
Professional basketball tournament
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The 2026 NBA playoffs is the ongoing postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 2025–26 season. The playoffs began on April 18 and will end with the conclusion of the 2026 NBA Finals.
Overview
Updates to postseason appearances
- The Oklahoma City Thunder made the playoffs for the third consecutive season as the Western Conference’s number 1 seed. They also won the Maurice Podoloff Trophy for clinching the best record in the NBA for the second straight year, becoming the first team to do so.
- The Boston Celtics made the playoffs for the twelfth consecutive season, the longest such streak in the NBA.
- The Denver Nuggets made the playoffs for the eighth consecutive season.
- The Minnesota Timberwolves made the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season.
- The New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers, and Cleveland Cavaliers made the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.
- The Orlando Magic will make the playoffs for the third consecutive season.
- The Detroit Pistons and Houston Rockets made the playoffs for the second consecutive season.
- The Philadelphia 76ers and Phoenix Suns will return to the playoffs after missing the postseason the previous year.
- The Atlanta Hawks made the playoffs for the first time since 2023.
- The Toronto Raptors made the playoffs for the first time since 2022.
- The Portland Trail Blazers made the playoffs for the first time since 2021.
- The San Antonio Spurs made the playoffs for the first time since 2019.
- The Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors missed the playoffs after making the postseason the previous year.
- The Indiana Pacers missed the playoffs for the first time since 2023. They were the defending Eastern Conference champions from 2025.
- The Los Angeles Clippers missed the playoffs for the first time since 2022.
- The Miami Heat missed the playoffs for the first time since 2019.
- The Milwaukee Bucks missed the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
- The New Orleans Pelicans and Dallas Mavericks missed the playoffs for the second consecutive season.
- The Brooklyn Nets and Sacramento Kings missed the playoffs for the third consecutive season.
- The Utah Jazz and Chicago Bulls missed the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.
- The Washington Wizards missed the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season.
- The Charlotte Hornets missed the playoffs for the tenth consecutive season, currently the longest active playoff drought in the NBA.
Play-in tournament
- The Miami Heat took part in the play-in tournament for the fourth consecutive season.
- The Golden State Warriors took part in the play-in tournament for the third consecutive season.
- The Orlando Magic took part in the play-in tournament for the second consecutive season.
- The Philadelphia 76ers took part in the play-in tournament for the first time since 2024.
- The Los Angeles Clippers and Charlotte Hornets took part in the play-in tournament for the first time since 2022.
- The Portland Trail Blazers took part in the play-in tournament for the first time since 2020.
- The Phoenix Suns took part in the play-in tournament for the first time in franchise history.
Format
Eight teams from each conference participated in the playoffs. The top six teams in each conference, based on winning percentage, directly qualified for the playoffs; the seeding order of those teams was also based on winning percentage. If two or more teams had the same record, standard NBA tiebreaker rules were used.
The NBA Board of Governors adopted a format starting in 2021 to have a play-in tournament involving the teams ranked 7th through 10th in each conference. The 7th place team and 8th place team participated in a "double-chance" game, with the winner advancing to the playoffs as the 7-seed. The loser then played the winner of the elimination game between the 9th place and 10th place teams to determine the playoff's 8-seed. The NBA's regular playoff format then proceeded as normal. Furthermore, the winner of the match between the loser of the 7/8 game and the winner of the 9/10 game always plays on day 2 of the NBA playoffs to allow that team at least a day of rest.[2]
Each conference's bracket was fixed with no reseeding. All rounds were a best-of-seven series; a series ended when one team won four games, and that team advanced to the next round. All rounds, including the NBA Finals, were in a 2–2–1–1–1 format with regards to hosting. In the conference playoffs, home-court advantage went to the higher-seeded team (number one being the highest). For the NBA Finals, home-court advantage went to the team with the better regular season record, and, if needed, ties were broken based on head-to-head record, followed by intra-conference record.
Playoff qualifying
On March 17, 2026, the Oklahoma City Thunder became the first team to clinch a playoff spot.[3] While noted in the below tables, division titles have no bearing on seeding.[4]
The below tables reflect current playoff positioning and are subject to change through the end of the regular season (April 12). Seeds 7 and 8 in each conference are not finalized until the play-in tournament is completed.
Eastern Conference
| Seed | Team | Record | Clinched | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Play-in berth | Playoff berth | Division title | Best record in conference | Best record in NBA | |||
| 1 | Detroit Pistons | 60–22 | — | March 20[5] | March 31[6] | April 4[7] | — |
| 2 | Boston Celtics | 56–26 | — | March 29[8] | April 10[9] | — | — |
| 3 | New York Knicks | 53–29 | — | March 30[10] | — | — | — |
| 4 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 52–30 | — | April 2[11] | — | — | — |
| 5 | Toronto Raptors | 46–36 | — | April 12[12] | — | — | — |
| 6 | Atlanta Hawks | 46–36 | — | April 10[13] | April 10[13] | — | — |
| 7 | Philadelphia 76ers | 45–37 | April 12[14] | April 15[15] | — | — | — |
| 8 | Orlando Magic | 45–37 | April 12[16] | April 17[17] | — | — | — |
Charlotte (44–38) and Miami (43–39) also secured play-in berths but did not advance to the playoffs.[18][19]
Western Conference
| Seed | Team | Record | Clinched | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Play-in berth | Playoff berth | Division title | Best record in conference | Best record in NBA | |||
| 1 | Oklahoma City Thunder | 64–18 | — | March 17[3] | March 18[20] | April 8[21] | April 8[22] |
| 2 | San Antonio Spurs | 62–20 | — | March 19[23] | March 23[24] | — | — |
| 3 | Denver Nuggets | 54–28 | — | March 31[25] | — | — | — |
| 4 | Los Angeles Lakers | 53–29 | — | March 31[26] | March 31[26] | — | — |
| 5 | Houston Rockets | 52–30 | — | April 2[27] | — | — | — |
| 6 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 49–33 | — | April 7[28] | — | — | — |
| 7 | Portland Trail Blazers | 42–40 | March 29[29] | April 14[30] | — | — | — |
| 8 | Phoenix Suns | 45–37 | April 7[31] | April 17[32] | — | — | — |
The L.A. Clippers (42–40) and Golden State (37–45) also secured play-in berths but did not advance to the playoffs.[33][34]
Play-in tournament brackets
Eastern Conference
| Play-in games | No. 8 seed game | Final seeds | |||||||||||
| 7 | Philadelphia | 109 | 7 | Philadelphia | No. 7 seed | ||||||||
| 8 | Orlando | 97 | 8 | Orlando | No. 8 seed | ||||||||
| 8 | Orlando | 121 | |||||||||||
| 9 | Charlotte | 90 | |||||||||||
| 9 | Charlotte | 127 (OT) | |||||||||||
| 10 | Miami | 126 | |||||||||||
Bold Game winner
Italic Team with home-court advantage
Western Conference
| Play-in games | No. 8 seed game | Final seeds | |||||||||||
| 7 | Phoenix | 110 | 8 | Portland | No. 7 seed | ||||||||
| 8 | Portland | 114 | 7 | Phoenix | No. 8 seed | ||||||||
| 7 | Phoenix | 111 | |||||||||||
| 10 | Golden State | 96 | |||||||||||
| 9 | LA Clippers | 121 | |||||||||||
| 10 | Golden State | 126 | |||||||||||
Bold Game winner
Italic Team with home-court advantage
Bracket
Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in its conference, and the numbers to the right indicate the number of games the team won in that round. The division champions are marked by an asterisk. Teams with home court advantage, the higher seeded team, are shown in italics.
| First round | Conference semifinals | Conference finals | NBA Finals | ||||||||||||||||
| E1 | Detroit* | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| E8 | Orlando | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| E | |||||||||||||||||||
| E | |||||||||||||||||||
| E4 | Cleveland | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| E5 | Toronto | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| E | |||||||||||||||||||
| Eastern Conference | |||||||||||||||||||
| E | |||||||||||||||||||
| E3 | New York | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| E6 | Atlanta* | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| E | |||||||||||||||||||
| E | |||||||||||||||||||
| E2 | Boston* | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| E7 | Philadelphia | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| E | |||||||||||||||||||
| W | |||||||||||||||||||
| W1 | Oklahoma City* | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| W8 | Phoenix | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| W | |||||||||||||||||||
| W | |||||||||||||||||||
| W4 | LA Lakers* | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| W5 | Houston | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| W | |||||||||||||||||||
| Western Conference | |||||||||||||||||||
| W | |||||||||||||||||||
| W3 | Denver | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| W6 | Minnesota | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| W | |||||||||||||||||||
| W | |||||||||||||||||||
| W2 | San Antonio* | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| W7 | Portland | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
- * Division winner
- Bold Series winner
- Italic Team with home-court advantage
First round
- Note: Times are EDT (UTC−4) as listed by NBA. If the venue is located in a different time zone, the local time is also given.
Eastern Conference first round
(1) Detroit Pistons vs. (8) Orlando Magic
April 19 6:30 p.m. |
| Orlando Magic 112, Detroit Pistons 101 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 35–27, 20–24, 26–23, 31–27 | ||
| Pts: Paolo Banchero 23 Rebs: Paolo Banchero 9 Asts: Bane, Carter Jr. 5 each |
Pts: Cade Cunningham 39 Rebs: Duren, Thompson 7 each Asts: Cunningham, Robinson 4 each | |
| Orlando leads series, 1–0 | ||
Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, MI Attendance: 20,062 Referees: James Williams, Kevin Scott, Brian Forte |
Coming off their play-in victory against the Charlotte Hornets, the Magic won in a Game 1 upset at Little Caesars Arena, building up an early 13-point lead and never trailing throughout the game. All 5 starters for Orlando scored in double figures, with Paolo Banchero leading the way with 23 points and 9 rebounds. Detroit had multiple rallies to get themselves within 2, but could never take the lead with Orlando holding off every comeback attempt. For Detroit, Cade Cunningham finished with 39 points, but the All-Star point guard was held to four assist and three turnovers; Tobias Harris added 17 points. No other Pistons player reached double figures as Detroit's postseason losing streak at home extended to 11 games, the longest in NBA history.[35]
| Tied 2–2 in the regular-season series |
|---|
This is the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Pistons winning three of the first four meetings.[36]
| Detroit leads 3–1 in all-time playoff series |
|---|
(2) Boston Celtics vs. (7) Philadelphia 76ers
April 19 1:00 p.m. |
| Philadelphia 76ers 91, Boston Celtics 123 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 18–33, 28–31, 25–31, 20–28 | ||
| Pts: Tyrese Maxey 21 Rebs: Kelly Oubre Jr. 7 Asts: Tyrese Maxey 8 |
Pts: Jaylen Brown 26 Rebs: Jayson Tatum 11 Asts: Jayson Tatum 7 | |
| Boston leads series, 1–0 | ||
Coming off his first playoff game following an Achilles tendon rupture, Jayson Tatum finished with 25 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists, while Jaylen Brown led the team in scoring with 26 points as the Celtics took a comfortable 123–91 victory over the short-handed 76ers, who were missing Joel Embiid following appendicitis surgery with an indefinite timeline for return. Tyrese Maxey scored 21 points, a team-high for Philadelphia, and dished out 8 assists. Boston's defense held strong against the 76ers, limiting them to just 18 points in the 1st quarter, and an abysmal 17 percent shooting from 3-point range, with Philadelphia going just 4–23 from beyond the arc. This would mark the 24th playoff series between the two teams, the most in NBA history.
| Tied 2–2 in the regular-season series | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||
This is the 24th playoff meeting between these two teams, and the 16th since the Syracuse Nationals relocated to Philadelphia in 1963, with the Celtics winning 15 of the first 23 meetings.[37]
| Boston leads 15–8 in all-time playoff series |
|---|
(3) New York Knicks vs. (6) Atlanta Hawks
April 18 6:00 p.m. |
| Atlanta Hawks 102, New York Knicks 113 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 24–30, 31–27, 19–26, 28–30 | ||
| Pts: CJ McCollum 26 Rebs: Dyson Daniels 9 Asts: Dyson Daniels 11 |
Pts: Jalen Brunson 28 Rebs: Josh Hart 14 Asts: Jalen Brunson 7 | |
| New York leads series, 1–0 | ||
Jalen Brunson made his mark early in the game, scoring 19 points in the 1st quarter alone and finishing with 28 points on the night. A two point game at halftime, the Knicks' lead grew to as much as 19 in the 4th quarter. Despite a late 11–0 run by Atlanta late in the 4th to cut the lead to 8, New York quickly responded and manage to take a comfortable 113–102 victory, leading for the majority of the game. Karl-Anthony Towns added an all-around performance of 25 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks, as all 5 Knick starters finished in double figures. For Atlanta, CJ McCollum led the team in scoring with 26 points, whereas Jalen Johnson added 23.[38]
April 20 8:00 p.m. |
| Atlanta Hawks 107, New York Knicks 106 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 23–32, 31–29, 25–30, 28–15 | ||
| Pts: CJ McCollum 32 Rebs: Okongwu, Johnson 8 each Asts: McCollum, Alexander-Walker 6 each |
Pts: Jalen Brunson 29 Rebs: Josh Hart 13 Asts: Jalen Brunson 7 | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
CJ McCollum became the latest Madison Square Garden villain, as he jawed former teammate Jose Alvarado and Knicks fans while leading a late fourth quarter surge to even the series at 1 apiece. The Hawks had trailed the whole second half and were down 12 after three quarters, but outscored the Knicks 28–15 in the final quarter. McCollum scored 32 points on 12-of-22 shooting. Off the bench, Jonathan Kuminga added 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting. For New York, Jalen Brunson had 29 points on 10-of-26 shooting and 7 assists. McCollum had missed two free throws, as the Hawks led by one with 5.6 seconds remaining, but Mikal Bridges missed a contested jumpshot that would have given the Knicks the win. During this period, NBC's broadcast erroneously displayed the Knicks having one timeout remaining, despite it already being used with 10.2 seconds remaining.[39]
| New York won 2–1 in the regular-season series |
|---|
This is the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Knicks winning two of the first three meetings.[40]
| New York leads 2–1 in all-time playoff series |
|---|
(4) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (5) Toronto Raptors
April 18 1:00 p.m. |
| Toronto Raptors 113, Cleveland Cavaliers 126 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 31–35, 23–26, 22–36, 37–29 | ||
| Pts: RJ Barrett 24 Rebs: Sandro Mamukelashvili 8 Asts: Scottie Barnes 7 |
Pts: Donovan Mitchell 32 Rebs: Allen, Mobley 7 Asts: James Harden 10 | |
| Cleveland leads series, 1–0 | ||
The Raptors were without starting point guard Immanuel Quickley due to a mild hamstring strain that occurred on the last day of the regular season.[41]
In their first playoff game together, the star duo of James Harden and Donovan Mitchell led the Cavaliers to a 126–113 win over the Raptors in Game 1. Harden, the Cavaliers' mid-season trade acquisition, had 22 points on 8–18 shooting and 10 assists and Mitchell scored 32 points on 11–20 shooting. Evan Mobley added 17 points and 7 rebounds, center Jarrett Allen scored 10 points with 7 rebounds, and Max Strus scored 24 points off the bench on 8–10 shooting (4–6 from three). At halftime the score was 61–54 in favor of the Cavs, but the Raptors' poor third quarter saw them outscored in the quarter 36–22, as Cleveland's lead grew to as much as 24. Mitchell scored at least 30 points in an NBA-record nine straight series openers. The Raptors fell to 2–12 lifetime in Game 1s.[42]
April 20 7:00 p.m. |
| Toronto Raptors 105, Cleveland Cavaliers 115 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 19–26, 29–28, 29–30, 28–31 | ||
| Pts: Scottie Barnes 26 Rebs: Sandro Mamukelashvili 10 Asts: Barnes, Barrett 5 each |
Pts: Donovan Mitchell 30 Rebs: Evan Mobley 8 Asts: Donovan Mitchell 5 | |
| Cleveland leads series, 2–0 | ||
The trio of Donovan Mitchell (30 points on 13-of-23 shooting and 7 rebounds), James Harden (29 points on 9-of-14 shooting and 5 steals), and Evan Mobley (25 points on 11-of-13 shooting and 8 rebounds) led the Cavaliers to a 10-point Game 2 win over the Toronto Raptors. This was the Cavaliers 12th straight postseason win over the Raptors. Raptors’ forwards Scottie Barnes (26 points on 11-of-19 shooting) and RJ Barrett (22 points on 11-of-13 shooting and 9 rebounds) led the team in scoring. The team’s other starting forward, Brandon Ingram, struggled mightily, scoring just 7 points on 3-of-15 shooting. Mitchell has now scored 30 points or more in 33 of 65 playoff games in his career.[43]
| Toronto won 3–0 in the regular-season series |
|---|
This is the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Cavaliers winning the first three meetings.[44]
| Cleveland leads 3–0 in all-time playoff series |
|---|
Western Conference first round
(1) Oklahoma City Thunder vs. (8) Phoenix Suns
April 19 3:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. CDT) |
| Phoenix Suns 84, Oklahoma City Thunder 119 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 20–35, 24–30, 22–32, 18–22 | ||
| Pts: Devin Booker 23 Rebs: Oso Ighodaro 9 Asts: Ighodaro, O'Neale 3 |
Pts: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 25 Rebs: Isaiah Hartenstein 8 Asts: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 7 | |
| Oklahoma City leads series, 1–0 | ||
The Thunder began their title defense with a 119–84 rout of the Phoenix Suns. The Suns had an early first quarter lead at 12–9 in the opening minutes, but the Thunder proceeded to outscore them the rest of the game 110–72. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 25 points, but made just 5–18 field goals (he did go 15–17 from the free-throw line); Jalen Williams scored 22 points and Chet Holmgren added 16, with both having 7 rebounds. Devin Booker scored 23 points for the Suns, while Dillon Brooks and Jalen Green both shot the ball poorly, with both scoring 18 and 17 points, respectively.[45]
| Oklahoma City won 3–2 in the regular-season series | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||
This is the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams, with both teams winning two of the first four meetings. All four prior meetings took place when the Thunder played as the Seattle SuperSonics.[46]
| Tied 2–2 in all-time playoff series |
|---|
(2) San Antonio Spurs vs. (7) Portland Trail Blazers
April 19 9:00 p.m. (8:00 p.m. CDT) |
| Portland Trail Blazers 98, San Antonio Spurs 111 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 21–30, 28–29, 23–28, 26–24 | ||
| Pts: Deni Avdija 30 Rebs: Deni Avdija 10 Asts: Jrue Holiday 11 |
Pts: Victor Wembanyama 35 Rebs: Castle, Johnson 7 each Asts: De'Aaron Fox 8 | |
| San Antonio leads series, 1–0 | ||
Frost Bank Center, San Antonio, TX Attendance: 19,372 Referees: Josh Tiven, Courtney Kirkland, JB DeRosa |
In the playoff debut of Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio easily dispatched Portland, with Wembanyama setting a franchise record with 35 points in his playoff debut. Guards De'Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle each added 17 points for the Spurs, while posting a combined 15 assists. Deni Avdija led the way for Portland, with 30 points and 10 rebounds. The Spurs defense held Portland in check, with the Blazers shooting just 10-for-38 from three-point range while being outrebounded 45 to 38.[47]
April 24 10:30 p.m. (7:30 p.m. PDT) |
| San Antonio Spurs vs. Portland Trail Blazers |
Moda Center, Portland, OR |
April 26 3:30 p.m. (12:30 p.m. PDT) |
| San Antonio Spurs vs. Portland Trail Blazers |
Moda Center, Portland, OR |
| San Antonio won 2–1 in the regular-season series | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||
This is the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Spurs winning three of the first four meetings.[48]
| San Antonio leads 3–1 in all-time playoff series |
|---|
(3) Denver Nuggets vs. (6) Minnesota Timberwolves
April 18 3:30 p.m. (1:30 p.m. MDT) |
| Minnesota Timberwolves 105, Denver Nuggets 116 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 33–23, 29–39, 17–29, 26–25 | ||
| Pts: Anthony Edwards 22 Rebs: Rudy Gobert 10 Asts: Anthony Edwards 7 |
Pts: Jamal Murray 30 Rebs: Nikola Jokić 13 Asts: Nikola Jokić 11 | |
| Denver leads series, 1–0 | ||
Game 1 between the Nuggets and Timberwolves was a tale of two halves. The teams were tied at halftime after a competitive first half, but the Nuggets pulled away in the third quarter, leading by as much as 15 points. While the Timberwolves pulled within two points, the Nuggets did not relinquish their lead. Jamal Murray led the Nuggets in scoring with 30 points (16 of which came from the free-throw line). Nikola Jokić had a triple-double with 25 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists. Aaron Gordon overcame three fouls in the first quarter to add 17 points and 8 rebounds. In the losing effort, Anthony Edwards finished with 22 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists; Donte DiVincenzo scored 12 points on 4 3-pointers. Both teams struggled from beyond the arc, going a combined 21-of-70 (30 percent) on 3-pointers.[49]
April 20 10:30 p.m. (8:30 p.m. MDT) |
| Minnesota Timberwolves 119, Denver Nuggets 114 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 25–39, 39–25, 26–29, 29–21 | ||
| Pts: Anthony Edwards 30 Rebs: Anthony Edwards 10 Asts: DiVincenzo, Randle 6 each |
Pts: Jamal Murray 30 Rebs: Nikola Jokić 15 Asts: Nikola Jokić 8 | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
After a 14-point lead after the 1st quarter, the Timberwolves took a 39-22 run in the 2nd quarter before Jamal Murray launched a half-court buzzer-beater to keep to tie the score at halftime. Despite scoring just 2 points, Rudy Gobert made his presence felt in the 4th quarter, getting key stops on Murray and Nikola Jokic, while Donte DiVincenzo's late 3-pointer sealed the victory for Minnesota, as they tied the series at one apiece. Anthony Edwards led the team with 30 points and 10 rebounds despite a near-costly travel with 35 seconds remaining. Murray finished with 30 points, whereas Jokic finished with 24-15-8, although both stars struggled in the 4th quarter. Aside from Murray, Denver's starters combined to shoot 4-20 from 3-point range, contributing to the continuous shooting woes for the Nuggets.
April 23 9:30 p.m. (8:30 p.m. CDT) |
| Denver Nuggets vs. Minnesota Timberwolves |
Target Center, Minneapolis, MN |
April 25 8:30 p.m. (7:30 p.m. CDT) |
| Denver Nuggets vs. Minnesota Timberwolves |
Target Center, Minneapolis, MN |
TBD |
April 30 TBD (TBD CDT) |
| Denver Nuggets vs. Minnesota Timberwolves* |
Target Center, Minneapolis, MN |
| Denver won 3–1 in the regular-season series | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||
This is the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Timberwolves winning two of the first three meetings.[50]
| Minnesota leads 2–1 in all-time playoff series |
|---|
(4) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (5) Houston Rockets
April 18 8:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. PDT) |
| Houston Rockets 98, Los Angeles Lakers 107 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 29–33, 19–17, 18–25, 32–32 | ||
| Pts: Alperen Şengün 19 Rebs: Jabari Smith Jr. 12 Asts: Reed Sheppard 8 |
Pts: Luke Kennard 27 Rebs: Deandre Ayton 11 Asts: LeBron James 13 | |
| LA Lakers lead series, 1–0 | ||
In a game with stars Kevin Durant, Luka Dončić, and Austin Reaves all sidelined due to injury, the Lakers were able to win the short-handed duel 107–98, which marked their first Game 1 victory in the playoffs since the 2023 Semifinals. Los Angeles never trailed since early in the 1st quarter, where LeBron James dished out eight assists in the quarter alone and ten in a half both career-highs, finishing with 13 on the night. Luke Kennard led the Lakers in scoring with 27 points, whereas Deandre Ayton notched a double-double. For the Rockets, Alperen Şengün led the team with 19 points, but shot just 6–19 from the field. The entire Rockets team struggled shooting as a whole, on just 38 percent (35–93) from the field and 33 percent from 3-point range, while the Lakers' offense flourished, shooting 61 percent from the field and a remarkable 53 percent from three despite 18 turnovers.[51]
April 24 8:00 p.m. (7:00 p.m. CDT) |
| Los Angeles Lakers vs. Houston Rockets |
Toyota Center, Houston, TX |
April 26 9:30 p.m. (8:30 p.m. CDT) |
| Los Angeles Lakers vs. Houston Rockets |
Toyota Center, Houston, TX |
| LA Lakers won 2–1 in the regular-season series |
|---|
This is the tenth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning six of the first nine meetings.[52]
| LA Lakers leads 6–3 in all-time playoff series |
|---|
Media coverage
This is the first postseason of new 11-year deals with the ESPN family of networks, NBC Sports and Amazon Prime Video.[53] All first-round playoff games in the United States will now be exclusive national games, and there will no longer be regional broadcasts.[54][55]
ESPN and ABC will have approximately 18 games in the first two rounds, with those games also streaming on ESPN DTC. NBC Sports will produce at least seven games in the first round, and at least four games in the second round, to air on the main NBC broadcast network (the remaining games (between eight to 16 additional games in the first round and between three to seven additional games in the second round) the network has the option whether to stream the games exclusively on Peacock or air on NBC, with NBCSN simulcasting all Peacock exclusive games, Peacock will also simulcast all games that air on the main NBC broadcast network). Amazon Prime Video will then have between nine and 17 first-round playoff games, and between five and nine second-round playoff games.[53][56][57][58]
For the opening weekend, Amazon Prime Video will stream a Saturday tripleheader, ABC will air a Saturday primetime game and a Sunday afternoon doubleheader, and NBC will air a Sunday primetime doubleheader. NBC will next air doubleheaders on Monday and Tuesday, with an additional game streaming exclusively on Peacock each day. ESPN will then have a doubleheader on Wednesday, and Amazon Prime Video will have tripleheaders on Thursday and Friday. The second weekend will have Peacock airing an exclusive Saturday afternoon game, NBC will produce an afternoon doubleheader on Saturday and a primetime doubleheader on Sunday, ABC airing another Saturday primetime game, and ESPN having an afternoon Sunday doubleheader, games after the second weekend (April 26, for Games 5-7 in most series) will be announced as each series progresses (with each day’s slate announced once the number of the games being played that day are known).[1]
As per the alternating rotation, NBC and Peacock will have the Western Conference Finals this season, while ESPN/ABC/ESPN DTC will have the Eastern Conference Finals.[59][60] ABC will have the NBA Finals for the 24th straight year, along with it also being streamed on ESPN DTC.[53]
In Canada, the home market of the Toronto Raptors, national broadcast rights were split approximately equally between the Sportsnet and TSN groups of channels. Under those rights, the two broadcasters were allowed to produce separate Canadian feeds for all games involving the Raptors regardless of round or U.S. broadcaster. Sportsnet and TSN generally simulcast the ABC, ESPN, NBC, NBCSN or Prime Video feed for all other series.[61][62]
Sponsorship
For the fifth straight year, the playoffs is officially known as the "2026 NBA Playoffs presented by Google". During the expanded sponsorship agreement with Google where it expanded the sponsorship from the "Google Pixel" brand in favor of the general Google branding, this sponsorship provides the logo branding inside the venues and in official digital properties on-court, as well as commercial inventory during ESPN, ABC, NBC and Amazon Prime Video telecasts of the playoff games.[63] In Canada, the NBA Playoffs are presented by MyRocky, a Canadian telehealth partner. [64] NewPath Sports & Entertainment Inc. secured the Canadian rights.
