The 2025–26 NBA Playoffs Begin: The Best Field in Years

April 17, 2026 · Mark · NBA

The play-in games are done, and Round 1 is underway. All eight Game 1s are in the books. OKC, Denver, Boston, Cleveland, New York, the Lakers, and San Antonio all won — with one massive upset: Orlando knocked off top-seeded Detroit 112–101. Sixteen teams. A field that includes the best regular-season record in ten years, the most talked-about second-year player in league history, and a franchise that hadn't sniffed the playoffs in a decade now sitting as the East's top seed.

Here's the bracket and where things stand after Game 1.

The Field at a Glance

Sixteen teams qualified. Two more get decided tonight in the play-in. Here are the final regular-season records for everyone heading in:

2025–26 Playoff Teams — Regular Season Wins
East teams in red, West teams in blue. Play-in teams shown with asterisk.

The separation at the top is striking. OKC (64–18) and San Antonio (62–20) are in a tier by themselves in the West. Detroit (60–22) stands alone at the top of the East. Below those three, there's a real cluster — eight teams between 49 and 56 wins.

The Oklahoma City Thunder Have Been a Problem All Season

64 wins. The last time a team won more than 64 games in an 82-game season was the 2015–16 Golden State Warriors (73). OKC didn't quite get there, but this was a dominant season by any measure.

64–18
Regular Season Record
31.1
SGA PPG
55.3%
SGA FG%
+17.5
Net Rating (early season)

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished the season averaging 31.1 points on 55.3% from the field — a shooting efficiency that's almost absurd for a primary ball-handler. The Thunder were the best team in the league from opening night, and the MVP conversation ran through him all year.

The question, as always in the playoffs, is whether dominant regular-season teams translate. OKC has the talent. They have the depth. Phoenix won the Western play-in and drew OKC in the first round. Game 1 answer: OKC won 119–84. The Thunder look as dominant as their regular-season record suggested.

Wembanyama's Spurs Are the Most Dangerous Team in the Bracket

If OKC is the betting favorite, San Antonio is the most interesting team in the field. Victor Wembanyama in his second NBA season averaged 26.2 points, 12.9 rebounds, and 3.6 blocks per game. That block rate led the entire league — by a wide margin.

The Wembanyama stat that doesn't fit on a card Three-and-a-half blocks per game. The league-wide average for a center is under 1.0. Wembanyama is altering games at a rate that doesn't have a modern comparison. Add 26 and 13 to that, and you have a player who is already one of the most complete big men the league has ever seen — in Year 2.

The Spurs didn't build around Wemby alone, either. De'Aaron Fox, acquired via trade in the offseason, averaged 24.0 points and 6.3 assists and gives San Antonio a legitimate lead guard who can break down defenses. They finished 62–20 — second-best record in basketball — and drew Portland as their first-round opponent. POR won the play-in but went 42–40 in the regular season.

Detroit's Rebuild Is Complete

For most of the last decade, the Pistons were the league's cautionary tale — trapped in the draft lottery but never bad enough to land a franchise-altering pick. Then they got Cade Cunningham, built patiently, and in 2025–26 won 60 games.

Cunningham averaged 23.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 9.3 assists per game. That's a legitimate triple-double threat every night. He was the engine of an offense that moved the ball (26.1 assists per game as a team) while Detroit's frontcourt anchored a physical defense — Isaiah Stewart recording 2.0 blocks per game from the center position.

Detroit's last 60-win season: 2005–06 That team went 64–18 with Chauncey Billups and Ben Wallace and lost in the conference finals. The 2025–26 Pistons are a different kind of team — more positionless, more offensive — but the standard is the same. 60 wins means something.

They're the East's #1 seed and face a play-in winner in the first round.

The Rest of the Bracket

East · 1 vs 8
Detroit vs. Orlando
Pistons (60–22) vs. Magic (play-in winner)
Detroit's first 60-win season in two decades against an Orlando team that knocked out Charlotte in the play-in. Cade Cunningham (23.9/6.4/9.3) was supposed to be the clear favorite — but Orlando pulled off the upset. Game 1: Orlando won 112–101.
West · 1 vs 8
OKC vs. Phoenix
Thunder (64–18) vs. Suns (play-in winner)
Phoenix beat Golden State in the play-in and drew the league's best record. SGA and the Thunder answered decisively in Game 1: OKC won 119–84.
East · 2 vs 7
Boston vs. Philadelphia
Celtics (56–26) vs. 76ers (45–37)
Defending champions against a team that had to earn its way in through the play-in. Tyrese Maxey averaged 31.5 points this season. Jaylen Brown led Boston at 29.1 PPG. Game 1: Boston won 123–91.
East · 3 vs 6
New York vs. Atlanta
Knicks (53–29) vs. Hawks (46–36)
Jalen Brunson at 28.3 PPG kept New York as one of the East's more reliable teams. Jalen Johnson (23.4/10.5/7.9) gave Atlanta one of the league's most versatile individual stat lines. Game 1: New York won 113–102.
East · 4 vs 5
Cleveland vs. Toronto
Cavaliers (52–30) vs. Raptors (46–36)
Donovan Mitchell (30.5 PPG) against a Toronto team built on ball movement — 29.4 team assists per game, one of the league's best. Evan Mobley (1.7 BPG) anchors Cleveland's defense. Game 1: Cleveland won 126–113.
West · 3 vs 6
Denver vs. Minnesota
Nuggets (54–28) vs. Timberwolves (49–33)
The most star-studded first-round matchup. Nikola Jokić — 29.2 points, 12.3 rebounds, 11.0 assists. Anthony Edwards counters at 28.7 PPG. Rudy Gobert still anchors Minnesota's elite defense. Game 1: Denver won 116–105.
West · 4 vs 5
L.A. Lakers vs. Houston
Lakers (53–29) vs. Rockets (52–30)
Luka Dončić is out with an injury, leaving L.A. without its star who averaged 35/9/9 this season. The Lakers found a way anyway. Game 1: L.A. won 107–98.
West · 2 vs 7
San Antonio vs. Portland
Spurs (62–20) vs. Trail Blazers (42–40)*
The biggest mismatch on paper in the bracket. Portland won a play-in game to get here — Deni Avdija averaged 25.8/7.2/6.3, and Robert Williams III (1.7 BPG) provides interior resistance. The paper mismatch showed up in Game 1. Game 1: San Antonio won 111–98.

The Play-In Results

Both play-in matchups are settled:

  • East: Orlando defeated Charlotte to claim the 8 seed. The Magic draw Detroit in Round 1.
  • West: Phoenix defeated Golden State to claim the 8 seed. The Suns drew OKC in Round 1 — and lost Game 1 by 35.

The Warriors story is over for this postseason. Stephen Curry at 38 — still averaging 27.9 points — couldn't get past Phoenix. The Suns, in turn, ran into the league's best team and got blown out in Game 1.

Key Player Stats — 2025–26 Regular Season
Top scorers on playoff teams. Data: Malter Analytics via NBA stats.

One Number to Remember

Nikola Jokić: 29.2 / 12.3 / 11.0.

Three seasons ago, a player averaging a near-triple double for an entire season would have been the single most talked-about story in the sport. In 2025–26, it barely registers above the noise — because OKC won 64 games, because Wembanyama exists, because Luka dropped 35 a night on the Lakers.

But Jokić is still here, still doing it, and the Nuggets drew a first-round opponent in Minnesota that has beaten them before. If Denver goes deep, it's because Jokić carried them again.

Round 1 is underway. All eight Game 1s are in the books — and Orlando just gave us the first big upset of the postseason. Enjoy it.

Data: Malter Analytics via NBA stats. Play-in winners: Orlando (East 8 seed), Phoenix (West 8 seed). All Game 1 results through April 19.

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