Big picture, following the first round of the 2026 NBA playoffs, we looked bound for a battle between the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference finals, where — given how young, talented and deep both teams are — they could be waging a de facto NBA Finals every season for the foreseeable future.
That’s how good both teams were through the first round of the playoffs. The regular season’s two best teams looked like the opening round’s two best teams, led by two of the NBA’s three MVP finalists, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Victor Wembanyama.
Not only that, but the third member of our current Best Player in the World debate, Nikola Jokić, and his Denver Nuggets were bounced from the first round, eliminating arguably the greatest threat to the Thunder or Spurs on either side of the bracket.
Likewise, the Boston Celtics — the 2024 NBA champions, once again a favorite to emerge from the East and possibly even a worthy challenger to Oklahoma City and San Antonio (with a healthy Jayson Tatum) in the Finals — also lost in the first round.
Worse, the Thunder and Spurs’ second-round opponents are hobbled. The Los Angeles Lakers are without Luka Dončić (hamstring), while the Minnesota Timberwolves navigated the end of their upset of the Nuggets without Anthony Edwards (knee), Donte DiVincenzo (Achilles) and Ayo Dosunmu (calf), among others. What chance would either team have against the West’s two rising juggernauts?
Meanwhile, there were questions at some point over the past two weeks about every team in the East. It was only recently that the second-seeded Celtics looked like the highest-ceiling team in the conference, and the top-seeded Detroit Pistons were left for dead. Now, the Celtics are home, and the Pistons are very much alive.
It seemed inevitable we would land on Thunder-Spurs, on SGA-Wemby, and whoever won would cruise to the championship, and that would be our reality going forward.
But who likes inevitability?
Not Edwards, whose Timberwolves have been the biggest disruptors of the playoffs. Despite missing half their rotation, they ousted Jokić’s Nuggets in six games. Edwards missed two games with what was dubbed a week-to-week injury, returning to help Minnesota hand San Antonio a 104-102 defeat in Game 1 of the second round.
The Wolves are not just Edwards, either. They are Jaden McDaniels, a breakout star of these playoffs — both on and off the court. They are Julius Randle, a two-time All-NBA selection. They are Rudy Gobert, the four-time Defensive Player of the Year. They are Naz Reid, Mike Conley and even Terrence Shannon; Dosunmu, too, once he returns from his calf injury. Sure, they are without DiVincenzo, but they are game.
They believe they belong with the Thunder and Spurs, and that may be enough. They reached the last two Western Conference finals, mostly because they can ratchet their defense up to an elite level, and they are unafraid on the offensive end — led by Edwards, but including McDaniels and Randle, who are embracing these moments.
We need someone who believes they belong with Oklahoma City and San Antonio, because if they meet in the conference finals, if whoever wins that series wallops their East opponent, then it could be curtains for the rest of the NBA for some time. It will belong to Gilgeous-Alexander and Wembanyama.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s Thunder and Wembanyama’s Spurs are that good, and both front offices are flexible enough to get even better if they choose to in the summer.
All you had to do was watch the Thunder carve up the Lakers in Game 1 of their series to know the league has passed a 41-year-old LeBron James by, at least at the highest of levels. It could pass Dončić and Tatum by, too, if their Lakers and Celtics do not make moves to reinforce their rosters this summer. The same could be said of any number of teams, including the Houston Rockets. There is a chasm between two teams (and two players) and the rest of the league, or at least that is the perception.
Which is why Minnesota’s upset of San Antonio in Game 1 of their series was so vital. It was another reminder that anything can happen in these playoffs, that these Spurs have not been tested yet, that Edwards’ giant-slayer of a team might stand a chance against the Thunder — that we don’t have to just accept the natural order of things.
Does it help that Edwards is the smoother basketball player alive? Does it help that he is an American-born superstar? Sure. Any more reason to root against inevitability.
Which brings us to the Pistons and New York Knicks, two more reasons to believe. Over the past several games, both teams seemed to have rediscovered what made them special during the regular season, including decisive Game 1 wins against the Cleveland Cavaliers and Philadelphia 76ers, respectively. There are still questions about whether Detroit has the offense, or whether New York has the defense, to vie with the West.
There are questions, too, about whether Jalen Brunson or Cade Cunningham can be the best player on a title team, though both continue to answer them at every step.
We do not have those same questions about Edwards or the Timberwolves, if only because we have seen them stand up to Jokić’s Nuggets, to Wembanyama’s Spurs. They gave Gilgeous-Alexander’s Thunder all they could handle in the regular season.
They are here for the fight, as are the Knicks and Pistons, and that’s all we can ask, because the last thing we want is the league to lay down for OKC and San Antonio.