2026 NBA playoffs: Conference finals takeaways
The Conference Finals of the 2026 NBA playoffs is right here, and our NBA insiders have you ever coated for each sport of the Eastern and Western matchups.
The No. 2-seeded New York Knickswho swept the seventh-seeded Philadelphia 76ers within the East, will face the Cleveland Cavaliers after they went to seven video games with the No. 1-seeded Detroit Pistons.
In the West, the Oklahoma City Thunder face off in opposition to the San Antonio Spurs as the highest two seeds battle it out in a extremely anticipated collection.
With solely 4 groups one spherical away from their shot on the Larry O’Brien Trophy, here is what issues most in each conferences and what to observe within the collection.
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Thunder-Spurs
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Schedules and results | Offseason guides
Western Conference
Biggest takeaway from Game 1:
This West finals opener, maybe the primary of many playoff video games between two groups destined to be dominant for a number of years to return, lived as much as all of the hype. After watching Shai Gilgeous-Alexander obtain the MVP trophy in a pregame ceremony, Victor Wembanyama was by far the very best participant on the ground within the Western Conference finals opener. But the defending champions managed to rally from a double-digit deficit within the fourth quarter and Chet Holmgren made positive the sport would go to additional time by swatting away Wembanayma’s shot on the buzzer. Gilgeous-Alexander slithered by means of a crack and slammed dwelling a dunk over Wembanyama, whose contest was a split-second late, giving OKC a three-point lead with lower than a minute remaining within the first OT. Wembanyama tied it up by swishing a pull-up 3 from the spot on the Paycom Center courtroom that Stephen Curry made well-known. In the tip, Wembanyama was simply too good. His 41-point, 24-rebound, 3-block efficiency — punctuated by a pair of late dunks and a denial on the opposite finish to place the sport away — was essentially the most memorable facet of an epic sport. –Tim MacMahon
Game 2: San Antonio at Oklahoma City (Wednesday, 8:30 pm ET, NBC/Peacock)
What to observe in Game 2:
Maybe the additional relaxation resulted in some early rust for Oklahoma City in Game 1, nevertheless it’s unlikely the Thunder will proceed to shoot this poorly as this collection progresses. OKC generated clear seems to be however didn’t get pictures to fall persistently, particularly over the primary three quarters. The Thunder made simply 37.2% from the sphere and 27.3% from vary over the primary two quarters but trailed at intermission by seven factors after scoring 12 factors off eight San Antonio turnovers, together with 5 from Stephen Castlewho completed with 11 giveaways (together with three within the fourth quarter and two in additional time). OKC entered the collection ranked third in postseason 3-point capturing proportion (38.4%).
Meanwhile, back-to-back MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander fought as a shooter with Castle and rookie Carter Bryant draped throughout him for a lot of the evening. Over the primary three quarters, OKC discovered a technique to rating 17 factors on the 18 performs SGA was doubled. San Antonio targeted on minimizing Gilgeous-Alexander’s influence within the paint, leaving open 3-pointers that the Thunder flat out missed. That probably will not proceed.
Castle’s turnovers can be one thing to keep watch over, too, together with the progress of veteran level guard De’Aaron Fox, who was a late scratch because of a excessive proper ankle sprain. Fox’s absence pressured San Antonio to start out rookie Dylan Harper alongside Castle. The Spurs rolled out the youngest beginning lineup in NBA Conference Finals historical past with a median age of twenty-two years and 346 days and so they did not buckle within the raucous surroundings of Paycom Center.
Pay consideration to the battle of the bigs, too. Chet Holmgren blocked Victor Wembanyama’s potential game-winner in regulation and restricted the Frenchman to eight factors on 4-of-11 capturing on makes an attempt he contested over the primary 4 quarters. –Michael C. Wright
Two statistical indicators from Game 1:
For Oklahoma City, Chet Holmgren’s relative offensive absence is a significant concern. Holmgren scored simply eight factors on 2-for-7 capturing, which continued a season-long battle in opposition to San Antonio: In the common season, Holmgren averaged simply 10.5 factors (his second lowest in opposition to any opponent) with a 16% utilization price (his lowest in opposition to any opponent).
The Thunder clearly want extra from Holmgren, who averaged 18.6 PPG on 60% capturing — together with an astonishing 97% inside 5 ft, per ESPN Research — within the first two rounds of the postseason. Particularly when Wembanyama matches up in opposition to a Thunder guard, leaving a smaller defender on Holmgren, the Thunder All-Star huge must be extra concerned within the offense and extra forceful down low.
On the opposite finish, Wembanyama was precisely that forceful down low. Only two of his 25 area purpose makes an attempt on Monday have been 3-point makes an attempt; for context, Wembanyama averaged eight 3-point makes an attempt for each 25 pictures he took within the common season.
But not in opposition to the Thunder. Wembanyama’s 3-point try price in opposition to Oklahoma City was far decrease than in opposition to each different opponent this 12 months, as San Antonio positioned Wembanyama down low extra typically to reap the benefits of his dimension mismatch in opposition to the likes of Jalen Williams and Caruso.
Wembanyama’s 3-point vary continues to be useful in some circumstances — see, most clearly, his game-tying pull-up in additional time in Game 1. But he is spending the overwhelming majority of his time in opposition to Oklahoma City, placing extra stress on the basket, reasonably than from past the arc. –Zach Kram
