2026 NBA playoffs: Conference semifinals takeawaysNBA InsidersMultiple AuthorsMay 11, 2026, 10:41 PM ET
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The second round of the 2026 NBA playoffs is here, and our NBA insiders have you covered for every game of the Eastern and Western conference semifinals.
The No. 2-seeded New York Knicks swept the seventh-seeded Philadelphia 76ers. The No. 1 seed Detroit Pistons have a 2-1 series lead after losing a wild Game 3 on Saturday to the fourth-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers.
In the West, the sixth-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves stole a win over the 2-seed San Antonio Spurs and Victor Wembanyama on Sunday to even their series. The top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder, who swept the Phoenix Suns in the first round, picked up where they left off with wins over the No. 4 seed Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
As teams chase the Larry O’Brien Trophy, here’s what matters most in both conferences and what to watch for in all four series.
Jump to a series:
76ers-Knicks | Cavaliers-Pistons
Timberwolves-Spurs | Lakers-Thunder
More coverage:
Schedules and results | Offseason guides
Eastern Conference
(1) Detroit Pistons tied with (4) Cleveland Cavaliers 2-2
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Game 1: Pistons 111, Cavaliers 101
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Game 2: Pistons 107, Cavaliers 97
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Game 3: Cavaliers 116, Pistons 109
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Game 4: Cavaliers 112, Detroit 103
Biggest takeaway from Game 4: Through two quarters on Monday, Donovan Mitchell had just four points, marking his lowest-scoring first half in any playoff game with Cleveland. But he exploded for 21 points in the third quarter — as many as the entire Pistons team in the period — with many of those buckets coming as part of a 22-0 start to the second half for Cleveland.
The stars showed up for the Cavaliers in a must-win Game 4. In their best holistic performance in this postseason as a backcourt duo, Mitchell and James Harden combined for 67 points, and Evan Mobley contributed five blocks, three steals and a plus-30 plus/minus as Cleveland evened up the series at home. — Zach Kram
Game 5: Cavaliers at Pistons (Wednesday, TBD, ESPN)
What to watch in Game 5: Detroit’s role players mostly showed up in Game 4, highlighted by Caris LeVert’s team-high 24 points off the bench. But the Pistons’ best players didn’t uphold their end of the bargain: Cade Cunningham had nearly as many turnovers (five) as assists (six), Jalen Duren continued his lackluster postseason with just eight points and two rebounds, and Ausar Thompson had a ghastly minus-27 plus-minus in 19 minutes. They’ll attempt to rebound at home in Game 5, and do a better job matching their star Cavaliers counterparts, now that a 2-0 series lead has slid to a 2-2 tie. — Kram
(3) New York Knicks beat (7) Philadelphia 76ers 4-0
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Game 1: Knicks 137, 76ers 98
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Game 2: Knicks 108, 76ers 102
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Game 3: Knicks 108, 76ers 94
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Game 4: Knicks 144, 76ers 114
Biggest takeaway from Game 4: The Knicks are playing a cohesive brand of basketball, one they perhaps had been building up to all season long.
But even the most orange-and-blue-eyed optimist couldn’t have foreseen this: the capitalizing on mistakes, the torrid 3-point shooting, bordering on a record pace. The Knicks’ 25 3-pointers in their 30-point Game 4 victory tied for the most in NBA playoff history.
Now, their 0-3 record in Detroit this season doesn’t seem to matter, and nor does their 2-1 mark against Cleveland. Detroit beat them up, heavily motivated from last season’s first-round series, but are the Knicks a much tougher bunch this time around? The Cavs had the Knicks on the ropes on Christmas Day before New York put on a fourth-quarter run that seemed like the past seven playoff games.
Perhaps it was an omen. — Vincent Goodwill
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Jalen Brunson shuts door on 76ers as Knicks go up 3-0
Western Conference
(2) San Antonio Spurs tied with (6) Minnesota Timberwolves 2-2
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Game 1: Timberwolves 104, Spurs 102
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Game 2: Spurs 133, Timberwolves 95
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Game 3: Spurs 115, Timberwolves 108
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Game 4: Timberwolves 114, Spurs 109
Biggest takeaway from Game 4: Naz Reid was the recipient of a painful but ultimately rewarding Victor Wembanyama second-quarter elbow to the chin. It landed so harshly that Wembanyama was ejected, swinging the door to the series wide open just as the Spurs were trying to shut it. San Antonio’s wave of young athletes kept it tight to the end, but ultimately, Wembanyama’s absence opened up the paint in crunch time for the Timberwolves. Anthony Edwards scored 36 points in 40 minutes, driving to the rim with power. Rudy Gobert had a pair of big and-1s. Reid had a putback. It was the loosest stretch of offensive basketball the Timberwolves have had in this series, not needing to worry about the always-looming Wembanyama. Because of it, the series shifts back to San Antonio 2-2, and the Timberwolves guaranteed themselves a Game 6 at home on Friday night. — Anthony Slater
Game 5: Timberwolves at Spurs (Tuesday, 8 p.m. ET, NBA/Peacock)
What to watch in Game 5: Wembanyama essentially gifted Game 4 to Minnesota to tie the series by getting ejected after an errant right elbow to the jaw and neck area of Reid. It’s unlikely the league will suspend Wembanyama for Game 5, so expect the Frenchman to come out inspired to dominate in Game 5 in front of the home crowd. San Antonio will likely ramp up its efforts to slow down Edwards, who lit up the Spurs for a game-high 36 points in Game 4. San Antonio had been successful sending double-teams Edwards’ way earlier in the series, but the more the Timberwolves guard sees extra attention, the better he’s becoming at finding ways to navigate it. It also appears that Edwards is improving physically. He has performed progressively better in each game this series, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see San Antonio add some wrinkles to throw off Edwards. Minnesota, meanwhile, will ramp up the physicality on Wembanyama even more to see if he’ll lose his composure again. — Michael C. Wright
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Wembanyama ejected from Game 4 for elbowing Reid
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Spurs bounce back, beat Timberwolves by 38
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Finch: Wolves ‘got punked’ in blowout loss
(1) Oklahoma City Thunder lead (4) Los Angeles Lakers 3-0
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Game 1: Thunder 108, Lakers 90
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Game 2: Thunder 125, Lakers 107
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Game 3: Thunder 131, Lakers 108
Biggest takeaway from Game 3: The Lakers have kept reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in check for the first three games of the series and have nothing to show for it.
Los Angeles’ strategy of having Marcus Smart hug Gilgeous-Alexander all over the floor when he didn’t have the ball and frequently doubling him when he did succeeded in slowing the superstar, who finished with his series-high 23 points on 7-of-20 shooting, but didn’t work overall. Ajay Mitchell, who is filling in as a starter with Jalen Williams (hamstring) injured, continued his stellar series. Mitchell had game highs of 24 points and 10 assists, scoring nine points and dishing out four dimes as the Thunder put the game out of reach while Gilgeous-Alexander rested during the first half of the fourth quarter. Chet Holmgren, who has arguably been Oklahoma City’s best player in the series, also had another outstanding outing with 18 points and nine rebounds. —Tim MacMahon
Game 4: Thunder at Lakers (Monday, 10:30 p.m., Prime)
What to watch in Game 4: All three games have followed a similar script. The Lakers’ defense does its job containing Gilgeous-Alexander and their offense does enough to hang around for a half … and then the wheels fall off when L.A.’s turnovers fuel Thunder runs.
The Lakers committed 17 turnovers leading to 30 points for Oklahoma City on Saturday (OKC had just 10, which L.A. scored 11 points off of). That disparity, combined with OKC’s work on the offensive glass, gave the Thunder 13 more shots than L.A. had in Game 3. Will the Lakers be able to string together a full four quarters Monday to avoid the consequence of their season coming to an end if they don’t? — Dave McMenamin
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Thunder ride Ajay Mitchell’s star turn to 3-0 lead over Lakers
