NBA postseason guide: Schedule, stories, betting odds, how to watch and more
Oklahoma City is the first team to reach Round 2 of the NBA playoffs.
And the Thunder did it with a sweep — again.
For the third consecutive season, the Thunder needed only four games to advance through the Western Conference quarterfinals. It was against New Orleans in 2024, Memphis in 2025 and this year, it was Phoenix that went out by the dreaded 4-0 count.
The Thunder became the second franchise — since the NBA went to a best-of-seven first round in 2003 — to go 12-0 in conference quarterfinal games over a three-season span. Cleveland did it in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
Oklahoma City’s win Monday capped off the lone Round 1 sweep this season. There has been at least one sweep in the first round annually since 2003.
San Antonio and Boston could join the Thunder in Round 2 with wins on Tuesday. Both the Spurs (vs. Portland) and the Celtics (vs. Philadelphia) play at home with 3-1 series leads. Also on the schedule for Tuesday night: Game 5 of a knotted-up Atlanta-New York series, which returns to Madison Square Garden.
— Magic 94, Pistons 88 for a 3-1 series lead. Detroit is in some trouble.
— Thunder 131, Suns 122 to win series 4-0.
— Nuggets 125, Timberwolves 113 to get within 3-2 in series.
— Damon Jones set to enter guilty plea
— Edwards (knee) officially week to week
— NBA going through bids from Europe
— Pat Riley says Heat will be ‘aggressive’
— An interesting year for Tiago Splitter
— There's a standard in Oklahoma City
— Taylor Jenkins set to return to Milwaukee
— AJ Dybantsa formally enters NBA draft
— Donovan steps down as Chicago's coach
— Warriors brace for possible Kerr departure
— Some news, notes going into the postseason
— Heat equipment manager needs transplants
The latest NBA award to be handed out: Rookie of the Year, where Dallas' Cooper Flagg edged fellow former Duke player Kon Knueppel of Charlotte for the trophy. That was revealed Monday.
Other awards being announced this week are Basketball Executive of the Year on Tuesday, the Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year on Wednesday and the Hustle Award on Thursday. They'll all be announced at 1 p.m. EDT on one of the NBA's social media channels.
A breakdown on other awards handed out to this point:
— San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama became the youngest Defensive Player of the Year, and the first to win the award in a unanimous vote.
— Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander nearly became the first unanimous winner of the Clutch Player of the Year award. He got 96 of a possible 100 first-place votes.
— San Antonio's Keldon Johnson topped Miami's Jaime Jaquez Jr. for Sixth Man of the Year, getting 63 first-place votes.
— Boston's Derrick White was revealed as the Sportsmanship Award winner, as selected by the league's players. Indiana's TJ McConnell — who got more first-place votes than anyone else — was second.
— Atlanta now has back-to-back Most Improved Player winners, with Nickeil Alexander-Walker taking that trophy this year. Dyson Daniels won for the Hawks last year.
Among the announcements still to be scheduled:
— Most Valuable Player, which will be either Gilgeous-Alexander, Wembanyama or Denver's Nikola Jokic.
— Coach of the Year, which will be either Detroit's J.B. Bickerstaff, San Antonio's Mitch Johnson or Boston's Joe Mazzulla.
7 p.m. EDT — Game 5, Philadelphia at Boston (ESPN)
8 p.m. EDT — Game 5, Atlanta at New York (NBC/Peacock)
9:30 p.m. EDT — Game 5, Portland at San Antonio (ESPN)
7 p.m. EDT — Game 5, Orlando at Detroit (Prime)
7:30 p.m. EDT — Game 5, Toronto at Cleveland (ESPN)
10 p.m. EDT — Game 5, Houston at LA Lakers (ESPN)
The defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder (-105) are favorites to win the NBA title, according to oddsmakers.
The Thunder are followed by San Antonio (+400), Boston (+425), Cleveland (+1500), Denver (+2500) and the Los Angeles Lakers (+2500).
New York is +3000, followed by Detroit (+5000). Minnesota, even with a 3-2 series lead, is at +30000 after injuries to Donte DiVincenzo and Anthony Edwards.
— May 2, 3 or 4: Conference semifinals begin.
— May 10: NBA draft lottery.
— May 10-17: NBA draft combine.
— May 17 or 19: Eastern Conference finals begin on ESPN and ABC.
— May 18 or 20: Western Conference finals begin on NBC and Peacock.
— June 3: Game 1, NBA Finals on ABC. (Other finals dates: June 5, June 8, June 10, June 13, June 16 and June 19).
— June 23: Round 1, NBA draft
— June 24: Round 2, NBA draft
“Job's not finished." — Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley, channeling Kobe Bryant's famous quote, after the Magic took a 3-1 series lead on Detroit.
— Orlando took a 3-1 series lead on Detroit on April 27, 2026. The last time an eighth-seeded Magic team took a 3-1 series lead on top-seeded Detroit was April 27, 2003.
— Entering the weekend, teams were 3-84 (since 1970) when shooting 32.6% or less in a playoff game. Teams are 2-0 so far this week doing that, with wins by Toronto on Sunday and now Orlando on Monday.
— Shai Gilgeous-Alexander made his only fourth-quarter shot on Monday. The Thunder star has made 19 of his last 20 field-goal attempts in fourth quarters or overtimes, going back to mid-March.
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