Last weekend, the NBA playoffs started with exciting games on April 18 and 19. For the third year in a row, OK City Thunder is the #1 seed. The Thunder are winning in their series against Phoenix Suns, as Thunder won the first two games. Victor Wembanyama and his Spurs teammates are #2 seed. The LA Lakers are winning their series with Houston Rockets, as the Lakers won the first two games in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves are hanging on the bench due to their recent injuries at the end of regular season. In the Eastern conference, the Detroit Pistons are tied 1-1 in their series with Orlando Magic. The Magic are the eighth seed and Orlando won game one in Detroit. The Boston Celtics are tied 1-1 with the Philadelphia 76ers in their first round series. The Knicks are tied 1-1 in their series with Atlanta Hawks. Atlanta won game 2. The Cavaliers are the #4 seed, and they won the first two games of their series against the Toronto Raptors. In terms of NBA awards, Shai Gilgeous Alexander won NBA Clutch Player of the Year award. Keldon Johnson won the sixth man award. Victor Wembanyama won the Defensive Player of the Year award. The three major finalists for NBA MVP are Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous Alexander, and Victor Wembanyama. Jaylen Brown and Luka Doncic did not make the cut for the top three finalists for MVP award. Doncic won his second scoring title, as he had the highest scoring average in 2025-2026. If Shai Gilgeous Alexander wins the MP award, the Thunder could be the odds-on favorite to make the NBA Finals for second consecutive year. Yesterday, Jalen Williams from OK City Thunder injured his left hamstring. The number of games that Williams could miss is not an exact number at this time. The Denver Nuggets won game 1 of their series against Minnesota Timberwolves. In game two, the Timberwolves came back to win the game by five points. This series should last six or seven games. For the LA Lakers, they must win two more games and their opponent in second round could be OK City Thunder. If the Detroit Pistons beat the Magic in three more games, their second-round opponent could be the Cleveland Cavaliers. Many NBA analysts are saying the Cavaliers are under the most pressure in the playoffs. Donovan Mitchell and James Harden would have to lead the Cavaliers to an upset over Detroit, to make their first conference finals since the Lebron James era. Detroit vs. Boston would be an exciting Eastern Conference Finals matchup. The San Antonio Spurs have limited playoffs experience in the past seven years, so this team is not a lock to make the Western Conference Finals. In closing, there are only a few teams that have a good chance of making the conference finals in Eastern and Western conference finals. If the Lakers win their series vs. Houston and OK City Thunder beat the Suns in the first round, both teams will play each other in the second round (or conference semifinals). My pick is for the Nuggets to lose in six games to the Timberwolves in the first round. Minnesota could play the Spurs if San Antonio wins three more games in their series, with Portland Trailblazers. Last year’s eastern conference champion was Indiana Pacers. This team did not make the playoffs this season. Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves are in the picture above. Good luck to your favorite NBA team in the NBA playoffs.
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