The 2025/26 National Basketball Association (NBA) play-offs is in full swing and while it appeared that the match-ups would have been very predictable, only the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder managed to complete a sweep, while the San Antonio Spurs overcame a mid-series scare to win their series in five games. All the other first round series have been back and forth situations, with close games, blowout wins, and overtime thrillers in a very entertaining mixed bag.

The Thunder finished their series against the Phoenix Suns over a moral-crushing four games, culminating on Monday night, with a winning average of 17.25 points, and with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander averaging 33.75 points over those games. The Suns looked overmatched and never appeared to pose a challenge in the series. Sadly, for Oklahoma City, they were without Jalen Williams in games 3 and 4, after suffering a Grade 1 left hamstring strain in the second half of Game 2, but they will need him at (or very near) 100 per cent, if they have ambitions for a repeat. The Thunder will most likely have to start their second round Western Conference playoff series without him, with their most likely opponent being the Los Angeles Lakers, unless the Houston Rockets can make history by being the first team to comeback from an 0-3 series deficit to win.

The Spurs had to work a bit harder to close their series against the Portland Trail Blazers late Tuesday night, mainly due to a head injury to Victor “Wemby” Wembanyama, in Game 2 of the series, forcing him into the concussion protocol. The Spurs lost Game 2, Wemby sat out Game 3, but returned for games 4 and 5, to stamp his class on the series, averaging 22 points, 13 rebounds, and 6.5 blocks over the last two games. Wemby has been a force in the NBA this season, at both ends of the court, especially since February, and specifically in the postseason. It’s no wonder he is the new minted, and first-ever unanimous Defensive Player of the Year. San Antonio has won their first playoff series since 2017, advanced to the Western Conference semi-finals and now get a few days rest while they wait for the confirmation of their opponents. That would be the Minnesota Timberwolves or the Denver Nuggets who are yet to complete their first-round series (up to the time of writing).

The biggest surprise of the first round of the play-offs is the underperformance of the Eastern Conference’s top seed, the Detroit Pistons, against the eighth seeded Orlando Magic. The Pistons’ dream season has derailed and they have looked like a shadow of their regular season selves, struggling against the Magic, who just managed to squeeze into the playoffs. Orlando took a 3-1 series lead on Monday night, 23 years to the day that coach Doc Rivers and the Tracy McGrady-led No 8 seeded Magic took a 3-1 series lead on the No. 1 Pistons, led by Chauncey Billups. The Pistons won the next three games by 61 total points to advance in seven, but will history repeat itself? They took one step in that direction on Wednesday night, when they beat the Magic in Detroit to stave off elimination. Detroit’s Cade Cunningham and Orlando’s Paolo Banchero went toe-to-toe, with each scoring 45 points, but the Pistons’ role players were slightly better on the night.

The JustBet favoured Pistons are travelling to Orlando tonight for another do-or-die encounter, and it promises fireworks. They have won only one of the six matchups in Orlando in the past two seasons (including playoffs), and they will need to dig deep into the bag if they have ambitions to repeat the same feat from 2002. Their backs are truly against the proverbial wall, their once glowing season is on the line, and there is zero room for error. It’s hard to pick against Orlando tonight, but desperation can oftentimes create miracles.

Also surprising are the results of the series involving the Lakers and the Rockets, in the Western Conference, for a completely different reason. The Lakers, who were not expected to make much of a wave, with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves sidelined, couldn’t complete a first-round sweep over the Rockets, after tasting defeat in Game 4 on Sunday night. The games have been engaging but with Kevin Durrant out for Houston, a lot of the sting has been removed. That said, LeBron James, at age 41 years, has been working overtime to get the Lakers over this first hurdle, and has been the main force behind the three wins. With assistance from Marcus Smart, Luke Kennard, Rui Hachimura and Deandre Ayton, James succeeded in keeping the young Houston team at bay, until Game 4 last Sunday.

In Game 4, the older Lakers squad looked out-of-sorts and never quite appeared competitive. The instinct to close out the series was never evident, and they suffered a 19-point loss, the widest margin in the series. Late Wednesday night, Game 5 saw another closeout opportunity for the Lakers, and while they were more competitive than the Game 4 showing, their display before a raucous home crowd lacked the effort one would expect from a team holding the handle in a series, even with the return of Reaves (22 points, six assists). A spirited run in the fourth quarter fell short of the goal as the LeBron-led team appeared to run out of steam.

With the Lakers still ahead in the series, Game 6 is slated for tonight in Houston, with the home team starting as JustBet favourites. The Lakers appeared to be (surprisingly) cruising through the first round and the next round appeared automatic, but after wobbling through two consecutive losses, the team appears to be looking around, hoping to see Doncic suit up. The Rockets, after the Wednesday night win, became just the 16th team ever to force a Game 6, after going down 0-3, and now momentum is on their side. Even with Durant reportedly still out, it’s hard to see this young squad not getting a win tonight to even the series, then look towards a winner-take-all Game 7 in Los Angeles on Sunday.

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