2026 NBA Playoffs thread

[Cosmo]

After a long slog of a regular season, we're here ...

WEST PLAY-IN (PRIME)
8 Portland at 7 Phoenix, Tuesday, 10 EDT
10 Golden State at 9 L.A. Clippers, Wednesday, 10
GSW-LAC winner at POR-PHX loser, Friday, 10

EAST PLAY-IN (PRIME)
10 Miami at 9 Charlotte, Tuesday, 730
8 Orlando at 7 Philadelphia, Wednesday, 730
MIA-ORL winner at ORL-PHI loser, Friday, 730

EAST FIRST ROUND
5 Toronto at 4 Cleveland (Series starts Saturday, 1, PRIME)
6 Atlanta at 3 New York (Series starts Saturday, 6, PRIME)
7 Orlando or Philadelphia at 2 Boston (Series starts Sunday, 1, ABC)
8 TBD at 1 Detroit (Series starts Sunday, 630, NBC)

WEST FIRST ROUND
6 Minnesota at 3 Denver (Series starts Saturday, 330, PRIME)
5 Houston at 4 L.A. Lakers (Series starts Saturday, 830, ABC)
8 TBD at 1 Oklahoma City (Series starts Sunday, 330, ABC)
7 Portland or Phoenix at 2 San Antonio (Series starts Sunday, 9, NBC)

 

[Cosmo]

Quick thoughts.

The season was a tank-a-thon but that means basically all decent teams have made it this far. Golden State is the worst of the lot, but Steph is still Steph and can at least make life entertaining, especially if the Warriors can somehow get to that 8 seed.

Some pretty interesting series here, actually. Minnesota and Denver hate each other. Philly could give Boston some trouble. Even Charlotte is plucky enough to give Detroit some pause if the Hornets end up the 8 seed. We get playoff Wemby and the Spurs against (hopefully) alpha Book and the Suns, and old KD vs. old LeBron. Hawks-Knicks is way more interesting with CJ there rather than Trae Young.

Still can't see anyone outside of the top two in each conference ending up in the Finals, but the ride could be interesting, at least.

 

[Webster]

It is kind of crazy the gaps in both conferences between the 10th and 11th teams. I’m not sure what the solution is for tanking, but they really need to do something. The last 2 months of the season has become meaningless for so many teams and gives easy wins which warp the playoff races.

 

[PCLoadLetter]

Quick thoughts.

The season was a tank-a-thon but that means basically all decent teams have made it this far. Golden State is the worst of the lot, but Steph is still Steph and can at least make life entertaining, especially if the Warriors can somehow get to that 8 seed.

Some pretty interesting series here, actually. Minnesota and Denver hate each other. Philly could give Boston some trouble. Even Charlotte is plucky enough to give Detroit some pause if the Hornets end up the 8 seed. We get playoff Wemby and the Spurs against (hopefully) alpha Book and the Suns, and old KD vs. old LeBron. Hawks-Knicks is way more interesting with CJ there rather than Trae Young.

Still can't see anyone outside of the top two in each conference ending up in the Finals, but the ride could be interesting, at least.

I think Denver and New York have a shot to come out of the three seed on either side. I wouldn't bet on either, but I'm not writing them off.

It is kind of crazy the gaps in both conferences between the 10th and 11th teams. I’m not sure what the solution is for tanking, but they really need to do something. The last 2 months of the season has become meaningless for so many teams and gives easy wins which warp the playoff races.

I think the solution for tanking is easy: every single team gets one ping pong ball in the draft lottery. Snake the lottery if you want, like a fantasy draft.

The only way to eliminate tanking is to stop rewarding teams for losing. As long as lousy teams are rewarded with a higher pick you are going to have tanking.

Anything short of completely flattening the lottery odds across 30 teams is a half-measure that won't fix the problem. (I fully expect the league to settle on a half-measure that won't fix the problem.)

 

[Webster]

I don’t disagree that is one solution (like the wheel, which pre-sets draft order for 30 years). But as many have said, either of those solutions potentially leads to an NBA champ getting the top pick.

 

[PCLoadLetter]

I don’t disagree that is one solution (like the wheel, which pre-sets draft order for 30 years). But as many have said, either of those solutions potentially leads to an NBA champ getting the top pick.

That's true, but I don't mind it that much. (And the OKC Thunder has a 1.5% chance of getting the top pick in this draft, so that chance exists anyway.)

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Jusr get rid of the lottery. If only one team can get the first pick, the incentive for tanking goes way way down. Not many teams are gonna tank to get the 6th instead of 8th pick in the draft. It's just not what it was in the '80s. And by and large, you can only be the worst team through consistent lack of merit from Opening Night to the finish.

 

[HanSenSE]

Not good.

 

[MileHigh]

What an ending for Charlotte.

 

[UNCGrad]

Thank you, Hornets. Most fun since Zo's jumper against Boston.

I won't sleep much tonight. Happily.

I can't wait to see what they will become in the next 2-4 years. Real ownership, real GM and reach coach, finally. They are still building.

 

[sgreenwell]

Portland kind of crapping themselves down the stretch in this game at Phoenix. The Suns have been way better than I thought they'd be this year, but man, Dillon Brooks is pretty much the poster player for a guy you only like if he's on your team.

re: Tanking fixes, I'm just burnt out on them because it has been Bill Simmons' obsession for like half the season now. The season is so long that I think the best you can do is something like giving all the lottery teams equal odds. I don't think teams would be willing to give up playoff gates and revenue for a 7% chance of winning the lottery.

 

[PCLoadLetter]

Portland kind of crapping themselves down the stretch in this game at Phoenix. The Suns have been way better than I thought they'd be this year, but man, Dillon Brooks is pretty much the poster player for a guy you only like if he's on your team.

Dillon Brooks went to my school and now plays for my NBA team. I have whiplash going between loving and hating the guy.

 

[sgreenwell]

Portland finally wakes up in the fourth quarter - hell of a pair of games tonight!

 

[Shropshire Slasher]

Somebody brought up the idea that you don't give the most lottery balls to the last-place team. You award them to Nos. 2 through 5 to avert blatant tanking.

The problem with that is, though, what if you really actually suck?

 

[qtlaw]

Portland finally wakes up in the fourth quarter - hell of a pair of games tonight!

I love the play-in, so much at stake.

Avidja, wow like 41(?)

 

[poindexter]

I think Denver and New York have a shot to come out of the three seed on either side. I wouldn't bet on either, but I'm not writing them off.


I think the solution for tanking is easy: every single team gets one ping pong ball in the draft lottery. Snake the lottery if you want, like a fantasy draft.

The only way to eliminate tanking is to stop rewarding teams for losing. As long as lousy teams are rewarded with a higher pick you are going to have tanking.

Anything short of completely flattening the lottery odds across 30 teams is a half-measure that won't fix the problem. (I fully expect the league to settle on a half-measure that won't fix the problem.)

I was about to add the wheel, where your number comes up once every 30 years, but Webster addressed it.

The answer to de-incentivising tanking is so simple. At this point, I can only assume that the NBA considers tanking a feature, not a bug.

The Black Sox have been excoriated for a century for throwing a couple of games. One of the biggest scandals in sports history. Now, a third of the teams did it for a season and the answer is a big shrug.

 

[poindexter]

I don’t disagree that is one solution (like the wheel, which pre-sets draft order for 30 years). But as many have said, either of those solutions potentially leads to an NBA champ getting the top pick.

That would be a worse problem than THIS? What we just saw for 6 months?

 

[MarkWatney]

How about this:

Base the draft on reverse order of winning percentage, as is traditionally done -- but delay it until the following year.

That is, the NBA draft order for the 2027 draft would be determined by the final standings of the just-completed 2025-26 season.

There would be no point in tanking unless you could accurately predict who the lottery picks were going to be in two years.

There would have to be some kind of transition year -- maybe one year with the draft order selected completely at random -- the single ping pong ball theory, then switch to the one year delayed draft.

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

Not sure how I feel about the Blazers making the playoffs, considering this now means they lose a lottery pick to the Bulls.

 

[Cosmo]

Stayed up for Suns-Blazers last night. That Jalen Green behind-the-back pass to no one was the beginning of the end. Completely sloppy and uncalled for when up 10 with five minutes left, which in the NBA is an eternity. Avijda was great down the stretch, Booker was not. Look, I don't expect the Suns to win more than two games in a playoff series should they win Friday, but Booker has a lot riding on that game. He finally gets out of the shadow of other superstars and puts up an absolute dud when the chips were down last night. If the Suns can't get in with two cracks at the apple at home, he's going to wear a lot of the blame, and probably rightfully so. Also, Green is as likely to go 3 for 19 from the field Friday as he is to repeat last night's game.