{"id":774260,"date":"2026-05-05T06:00:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T06:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/774260\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T06:00:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T06:00:20","slug":"2026-nba-playoffs-conference-semifinals-takeaways-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/774260\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 NBA playoffs: Conference semifinals takeaways"},"content":{"rendered":"


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.<\/p>\n

The No. 2-seeded New York Knicks<\/a> opened their East series Monday by beating the 7-seedPhiladelphia 76ers<\/a>totake a 1-0 lead. Meanwhile, the No. 1 seedDetroit Pistons<\/a>round out the East bracket on Tuesday by hosting the Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the West, the sixth-seededMinnesota Timberwolves<\/a>, who hadAnthony Edwards<\/a>(left knee injury<\/a>) backfor Game 1, stole a win over the 2-seedSan Antonio Spurs<\/a>andVictor Wembanyama<\/a>on Monday.The top-seededOklahoma City Thunder<\/a>, who swept the Phoenix Suns<\/a> in the first round, will start their series against the No. 4 seedLos Angeles Lakers<\/a> on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Jump to a series:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Knicks-76ers<\/a><\/p>\n

Spurs-Timberwolves<\/a><\/p>\n

More coverage:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Schedules and results<\/a> |Offseason guides<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"Eastern Conference\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

Biggest takeaway from Game 1:<\/strong>Perhaps Game 1 was the result of the Philadelphia 76ers<\/a>coming off an emotional 3-1 series deficit to rally against the Boston Celtics<\/a>. Or maybe the New York Knicks<\/a> are rounding into real championship shape, with a fourth straight blowout win in these playoffs and each game essentially over before halftime. The sweat equity these Knicks have built over this season was on display as they stifled Sixers centerJoel Embiid<\/a>(when New York wasn’t shaken by the desperate Hack-A-Mitch strategy againstMitchell Robinson<\/a>). Knicks centerKarl-Anthony Towns<\/a>showed that he’s a matchup nightmare with 17 points (including three 3-pointers), six rebounds and six assists in just 20 minutes, andJalen Brunson<\/a> ran wild in the first half. Freed from feeling the Atlanta Hawks<\/a> draped over him, Brunson scored 27 of his 31 points before halftime. — Vincent Goodwill<\/p>\n

Game 2: <\/strong>76ers at Knicks (Wednesday, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN<\/a>)<\/p>\n

What to watch in Game 2:<\/strong>It was Philadelphia’s shooting that doomed the team against the Knicks on Monday. New York was scorching hot. Philly missed just about everything — the Sixers made only 41% of their field goals and 37% of their 3s — and the result was an embarrassing loss. The Sixers will have to do a much better job of defendingBrunson and gettingTyrese Maxey<\/a> going a lot earlier if they want Game 2 to look different Wednesday night. — Tim Bontemps<\/p>\n

\"\"Western Conference\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

Biggest takeaway from Game 1:<\/strong>The Timberwolves just stole a win in San Antonio despite what should be, in theory, the most limited version of Minnesota guard Anthony Edwards<\/a> they’ll have in this series. Nine days after hyperextending his left knee and suffering a bone bruise, Edwards powered his way back onto the floor, and coach Chris Finch cautiously brought him off the bench. In a limited 25 minutes, Edwards put up 18 points on 13 shots. He limped and grimaced occasionally, but Edwards generally moved like himself. And his minutes and usage should only rise from here. That’s a scary proposition for the Spurs, who struggled to score against the length and strength of the Timberwolves. San Antonio’sVictor Wembanyama<\/a> andDe’Aaron Fox<\/a>went a combined 10-of-31 shooting, missing all 12 of their 3s. — Anthony Slater <\/p>\n

Game 2: <\/strong>Timberwolves at Spurs (Wednesday, 9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN<\/a>)<\/p>\n

What to watch in Game 2:<\/strong>Backpedaling on defense after drilling a 25-foot step-back jumper over Keldon Johnson<\/a> with 1:27 left in the first quarter, Edwards let the opponent and everybody else in Frost Bank Center know: “I’m back, boy! I’m back!” While there’s only one day off between Games 1 and 2, Minnesota will gladly take it, as Edwards looks to work his way back into full form. Edwards provided meaningful minutes in his first action since Game 4 of the first round. But the four-time All-Star was on a minutes restriction. If Edwards emerges from Game 1 without much residual soreness and swelling, the Timberwolves will enter Game 2 more optimistic about their prospects of stealing another one in San Antonio. As Edwards’ health improves, look for him to be even more dominant as this series progresses.<\/p>\n

San Antonio, meanwhile, will likely look to establish Wembanyama in the paint more on offense in Game 2. Sure, the Frenchman set the NBA playoff record for blocks with 11 to highlight a brilliant performance on defense. But offensively, Wembanyama shot 5-of-7, including 0-of-8 from 3-point range. In games Wembanyama thrives, he typically establishes dominance inside early by knocking down easy buckets before taking his game out to the perimeter. San Antonio needs to get Wembanyama more paint touches moving forward, and it’s expected that will be a point of emphasis for Game 2. — Michael C. Wright <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

]<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2026 ESPN Internet Ventures. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The second round of the 2026 NBA playoffs is here, and our NBA insiders have you covered for…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":774261,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[40],"tags":[317109,317106,3128,317108,3129,1518,5723,3141,3131,1260,3122,1268,3123,317107,3138,62,67,132,68,7184],"class_list":["post-774260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-317109","tag-2026nba-playoffs","tag-cleveland-cavaliers","tag-conference-semifinals","tag-detroit-pistons","tag-eastern-conference","tag-espn","tag-los-angeles-lakers","tag-minnesota-timberwolves","tag-nba","tag-new-york-knicks","tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","tag-philadelphia-76ers","tag-round-two","tag-san-antonio-spurs","tag-sports","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-western-conference"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116520448777878883","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=774260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774260\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/774261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=774260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=774260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=774260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}