The first round of the 2025/26 National Basketball Association (NBA) playoffs was a roller-coaster ride which spanned 48 games, to include one sweep, one series with five games, three with six games, and three with seven games. This rolled over into the exhilarating conference semifinal series that has already seen 19 games, to include two sweeps and the other two series extending to six games (at least).

The Eastern Conference’s third seed, the New York Knicks, after facing a slight stumble in the opening round against the Atlanta Hawks, dispatched the seventh-seeded Philadelphia 76ers in four games, in their semi-final series. The Knicks started the series with a statement win in Game 1, blanketing the 76ers by 39 points, won the other two games in less dramatic, but efficient, fashion, then entered Game 4 on Sunday with the opportunity to close the series early and wait for their opponent in the Eastern Conference Finals — and they made every use of the opportunity.

Through three quarters of Game 4, the Knicks scored 122 points, and with a few minutes to go in the period, they were leading by nearly 40 points, then the starters took the bench, serving as onlookers for the rest of the event. The ‘mercy rule’ prevented what would have probably shattered the record for a single playoff game, and it prevented what could have been a more thorough demolition. The 30-point win (144-114) truly does not reflect the magnitude of the victory.

This marked New York’s first sweep of a series since 1999, which is also the last year in which they reached the NBA Finals. They have now also won seven-straight playoff games, dating back to the series against Atlanta, for the longest playoff win streak in franchise history. The Knicks advanced to the Eastern Conference finals for the second straight year and are waiting to face either the Detroit Pistons or the Cleveland Cavaliers in the semi-final.

Speaking of which, Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell etched his name into NBA playoffs history on Monday night after scoring 39 of his 43 points in the second half, matching Sleepy Floyd’s 1987 output for the Golden State Warriors against the Los Angeles Lakers for the most points ever scored in a playoff half. Mitchell’s contribution came in a critical 113-102 win, when the Cavaliers were down 1-2, to even the series against the Pistons. The series moved back to Detroit for Game 5 on Wednesday night and what resulted was the first overtime game of the semi-final round, a battle royale fitting of this stage of the season.

Despite 39 points from Cade Cunningham, Cleveland won their first away game of this postseason, having come in at 0-5, with James Harden contributing 30 points for the Cavaliers and coming up clutch in the 117-113 overtime win. The series goes back to Cleveland tonight, with Detroit facing elimination for the fourth time in these playoffs, including coming back from 1-3 against the Toronto Raptors in the opening round. After basically cruising through the regular season, the postseason has been a serious adventure for the Pistons, and this evening is just another episode. The Cavaliers are favoured by JustBet, but there is the gut feeling that this series is not quite finished. Game 7 loading?

In the Western Conference, the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder made quick work of the Lakers in their semi-final series, completing the sweep on Monday night in a 115-110 thriller. The trio of LeBron James (12 points, 12 rebounds), Austin Reaves (27 points, 7 rebounds), and Rui Hachimura (25 points, 5 rebounds) made things very interesting but couldn’t outlast the relentless storm from the Thunder. Led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (35 points,8 assists), who had his best game of the series, the Thunder staved off everything that the Lakers could throw at them, and in the absence of Jalen Williams, Ajay Mitchell made the most of his minutes, not just in Game 4, but for the whole series. Mitchell averaged 22.5 points, three rebounds, and six assists across the series, but his best scoring output (28 points) came in the closeout game on Monday at Crypto.com Arena.

With the sweep, the Thunder became the 11th NBA team to have started the playoffs 8-0, going back to their sweep of the Phoenix Suns in the first round, and the last team to achieve this feat were the Golden State Warriors in 2017, who won 15-straight playoff games that year, en route to winning the title. Strangely, having swept LeBron in this series, the Thunder have placed themselves in a positive position, historically, since the last three teams to complete a series sweep against a LeBron-led team won the title (two were actually in the NBA Finals).

The Denver Nuggets swept the Lakers in the 2023 Western Conference Finals on their way to taking home their first and only title; the Warriors swept the Cavaliers in the 2018 Final series for their third title in four seasons (and the first time in NBA history that the same two teams met for the championship in four consecutive years); and the San Antonio Spurs swept the Cavaliers in the 2007 Final series for their fourth NBA title. How this will play out for Oklahoma City is yet to be seen.

The aforementioned Spurs are in a ding-dong battle with the Minnesota Timberwolves to determine who will challenge the Thunder in the Western Conference Finals. The series was expected to be over in about five games, but the Timberwolves have proved a bit feisty and this, along with an untimely ejection of the league’s youngest-ever Defensive Player of the Year, Victor “Wemby” Wembanyama, in Game 4 on Sunday, saw the series extended. Wemby avoided any further punishment for his Game 4 infraction and returned in Game 5 on Tuesday night with a mission. He scored 18 first half points on his way to a game-high 27 points (plus a game-high 17 rebounds) to lead San Antonio to a 126-97 win and a 3-2 lead in the series. Game 6 is in Minnesota tonight, with the visitors favoured by JustBet, for good reason, but there is still a lot of good basketball left in the Timberwolves, especially with Rudy Gobert guarding his countryman, Wemby. This should be a great battle, and the result is hard to predict.

The Knicks and Thunder have sat waiting for their adversaries to be determined. They have no say in the matter, but they must be thanking the NBA gods that their opponents are working overtime to finish their assignments. The Knicks appear to be peaking at the right time, while the Thunder (scarily) are yet to play their best basketball this postseason. Whoever emerges as their opponents will have a torrid time, but great basketball is expected in both conferences, and the NBA world can hardly wait.

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NBA 2025/26 Champion

Team Odds

Oklahoma City Thunder 1.55

San Antonio Spurs 4.00

New York Knicks 7.00

Cleveland Cavaliers 30.00

Detroit Pistons 50.00

Minnesota Timberwolves 150.00

*Note: Odds are subject to change