The 2026 NBA Playoffs are locked in. Between the Toronto Raptors returning to the post-season, some heavyweight match-ups worth watching in Round 1 and Oklahoma City’s quest for a repeat having to go through the gauntlet that is the Western Conference, there’s plenty of intrigue ahead of this weekend’s tip-off.
Sportsnet’s NBA experts break down a few of the bigger talking points heading into the post-season and lock in their picks for every Round 1 series as well as the NBA Finals, including which team will lift the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy.
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Raptors return to the playoffs on Sportsnet
The Toronto Raptors are back in the playoffs for the first time since 2022. Watch Game 1 against the Cleveland Cavaliers Saturday at 1 p.m. ET/ 10 a.m. PT on Sportsnet ONE and Sportsnet+.
What’s a head-to-head match-up in the first round (teams or players) that you are most looking forward to and why?
Michael Grange: The Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves as the 3-6 matchup in the West promises to be the most compelling first-round series league-wide. The Nuggets beat an emerging Minnesota team in the first round of the playoffs in 2022-23 the year Denver won the title, while the T-Wolves ruined Denver’s hopes of defending their championship when they took down Denver in seven games in 2023-24. After a year pause, the rivalry renews and we get to watch one of Anthony Edwards or Nikola Jokic’s hopes of a title run end early. This could be a conference final in many years and we get it in April … lucky us.
Eric Smith: Minnesota vs Denver. The T-Wolves have been knocking on the door the last couple of years but haven’t been able to bust through. Now they get a first-round match-up against one of the all-time greats? Ouch. However, Denver’s ‘D’ is not great and Anthony Edwards has all the tools to pull off an ‘upset’.
Kai Gammage: Storyline-wise, I think it’s hard to look past LeBron James vs. Kevin Durant one last time. Who knows how many more opportunities we’ll have to watch the old guard square off. Given the Lakers’ current lack of Luka and the Rockets’ own instabilities, it’s essentially a showdown between the two generation-defining superstars. Can we get one more all-time series, for old time’s sake?
Zulfi Shiekh: I’ll go with the Nuggets-Timberwolves series. This will be the third playoff matchup in four years between the division rivals, and the rubber match could go either way after splitting the first two. The Nuggets boast the league’s No. 1 offence and enter the post-season riding a red-hot 12-game win streak. The Timberwolves feature a top-10 defence and appear to have a healthy Anthony Edwards back — Minnesota was 37-24 with the star guard and 12-9 without him.
Ian Finlayson: Between Ant’ Edwards’ pull-up three-point prowess, Nikola Jokić’s unassuming wizardry and Jamal Murray having a career year defined by out-of-this-world shot making, the Timberwolves-Nuggets 3-6 matchup is the first-round series to watch for me. The two teams already have a budding rivalry fueled by their classic 2024 Western Conference semifinal that saw Minnesota complete a 20-point comeback in the deciding contest — the largest in Game 7 history. Their Christmas Day overtime thriller this season was also sensational.
With the Raptors back in the NBA Playoffs, what does success look like for them this spring?
Grange: Having exceeded expectations to make it to this point, the Raptors are playing with house money for the most part. The only thing that could derail the feel-good vibes would be if they get mercilessly trounced by the Cavs in the first round, which would amplify the doubts about the ceiling of this team that have been floating around them for much of the year. A competitive six-game series would let everyone involved go into the summer with their head held high. Even a strong showing in five games would avoid some awkward questions.
Smith: It’s already a success. Hopefully, this is the first year of a long run of post-season appearances. It should be! And as the team builds towards another championship, there’ll certainly be highs and lows on the playoff path. Simply making it this year is good enough (they were the No. 5 seed, after all), but anything that involves Round 2 or further is gravy.
Gammage: It looks like battle scars. This is a team without much playoff experience, particularly in the roles each of these players is currently in, and the last time Scottie was under the bright lights, he was a rookie learning what it meant from Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet and OG Anunoby. This time around, he’s the face of the franchise — it’s time for him to write his own story. Fight and fight hard, shed blood, sweat and tears, and learn what it takes to not just be here, but excel on the biggest stage.
Sheikh: Success for the Raptors will look like establishing faith, win or lose. The team’s leaders need to perform to a requisite degree to instill belief. This season was undoubtedly a step forward, but the ceiling appears short of title contention as presently constructed, so I expect a summer of change and then some. Before that, however, it’ll be vital to see how Darko Rajakovic’s first post-season run at the helm goes. Was the defensively minded identity he established playoff-ready, and how does he adjust to adversity? Lots of focus will also be on Barnes and Ingram to perform like the top-paid all-stars they are. Success in the NBA is player-driven above all else, and the playoffs are the grandest stage to prove it.
Finlayson: Entering the season, a reasonable goal for the Raptors would’ve been a proper playoff spot, which is exactly where they find themselves now. They also took a 16-win jump, had developmental wins, and discovered plenty about the team’s strengths and weaknesses. It’s fair to say they’re playing with house money — although, they’ll undoubtedly learn plenty more about the team’s makeup to assist with off-season decisions.
Round 1 picks: Eastern Conference
(1) Pistons vs. (8) Magic
Grange: Pistons in 5
Smith: Pistons in 5
Gammage: Pistons in 4
Sheikh: Pistons in 4
Finlayson: Pistons in 5
(2) Celtics vs. (7) Sixers
Grange: Celtics in 5
Smith: Celtics in 4
Gammage: Celtics in 5
Sheikh: Celtics in 6
Finlayson: Celtics in 5
(3) Knicks vs. (6) Hawks
Grange: Knicks in 6
Smith: Knicks in 6
Gammage: Knicks in 6
Sheikh: Knicks in 6
Finlayson: Knicks in 5
(4) Cavaliers vs. (5) Raptors
Grange: Cavaliers in 6
Smith: Raptors in 7
Gammage: Cavaliers in 7
Sheikh: Cavaliers in 6
Finlayson: Cavaliers in 6
Round 1 picks: Western Conference
(1) Thunder vs. (8) Suns
Grange: Thunder in 4
Smith: Thunder in 5
Gammage: Thunder in 5
Sheikh: Thunder in 4
Finlayson: Thunder in 4
(2) Spurs vs. (7) Trail Blazers
Grange: Spurs in 5
Smith: Spurs in 4
Gammage: Spurs in 4
Sheikh: Spurs in 4
Finlayson: Spurs in 4
(3) Nuggets vs. (6) Timberwolves
Grange: Nuggets in 6
Smith: Timberwolves in 7
Gammage: Nuggets in 6
Sheikh: Nuggets in 6
Finlayson: Nuggets in 7
(4) Lakers vs. (5) Rockets
Grange: Rockets in 5
Smith: Rockets in 6
Gammage: Rockets in 6
Sheikh: Rockets in 5 … or 7 if Luka Doncic and Auston Reaves play
Finlayson: Rockets in 5
One player you expect to have a breakout in the NBA Playoffs?
Grange: Does Jayson Tatum count? Sure, he’s a been first team all-NBA four times, but he wasn’t this season because he missed 66 games recovering from a torn Achilles tendon injury suffered in the playoffs last season. The longer the Celtics last in the post-season, the longer he’ll have a chance to return to his all-NBA form.
Smith: This may be ‘cheating’ a bit but I’m going with Wembanyama. It’s easy to forget he’s completing only his third season in the NBA and this will be his first appearance in the playoffs! I think he’s going to put on a show.
Gammage: Considering it’s his first dance, it’s hard not to pick Victor Wembanyama here. Even though he has already asserted himself as a superstar, a run to the Finals will officially make him the face of the NBA. But that’s too easy, right? So let’s go with Stephon Castle, who absolutely deserves credit as the Robin to Victor’s Batman and will be the player to shut down SGA in the Western Conference Finals.
Sheikh: It may just be the Canadian in me thinking with my maple-leaf-shaped heart, but Nickeil Alexander-Walker appears primed to break out even further in the playoffs. The Toronto native is the front-runner for Most Improved Player after helping the Hawks fly up the standings with a 16-5 record — and fourth-best net rating — since the start of March. In that same span, Alexander-Walker was top 25 in scoring (23.7) and steals (1.6) and was one of the most efficient high-volume three-point shooters in the NBA, making nearly four triples per game at a 48 per cent clip. The Hawks will need plenty more of that to upset the Knicks.
Finlayson: Taking into account it’s his first-ever appearance in the NBA Playoffs, the pick here has to be Victor Wembanyama. It’s not just that he intelligently uses his functional, seven-foot-four frame to erase opponent’s rim attempts and post a 62.6 true shooting percentage, it’s also that he’s surrounded by a stable of guards who can create with a live dribble. The Spurs are scary.
Eastern Conference champion
Grange: Celtics
Smith: Celtics
Gammage: Knicks
Sheikh: Celtics
Finlayson: Celtics
Western Conference champion
Grange: Thunder
Smith: Thunder
Gammage: Spurs
Sheikh: Nuggets
Finlayson: Thunder
NBA champion
Grange: Thunder
Smith: Thunder
Gammage: Spurs
Sheikh: Nuggets
Finlayson: Thunder
NBA Finals MVP
Grange: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Smith: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Gammage: Victor Wembanyama
Sheikh: Nikola Jokic
Finlayson: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
from Sportsnet.ca
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