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After a great season of basketball, the NBA playoffs are finally here. Here’s a look at some of my predictions and insights for the 2026 NBA playoffs.

NBA Finals Pick: Thunder over Celtics

The last team to win back-to-back NBA championships was the Golden State Warriors, who won consecutive titles in 2017 and 2018. The Oklahoma City Thunder have an opportunity to repeat as champions this year, and I believe that will happen. The Thunder have built an amazing roster around MVP favorite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and they are the betting favorites to cut down the nets this postseason.

While the Thunder are the betting favorites, I wouldn’t count out any of the other top contenders. Those teams include the San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets, Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons, and the New York Knicks. The Thunder have looked great this season, but they had a glaring weakness: the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs and the Thunder faced off five times this season, and the Spurs won four of them. Anything can happen, especially in the stacked Western Conference.

My “Controversial” Picks

First Round: #5 seed Houston Rockets over #4 seed Los Angeles Lakers

Conference Semifinals: #4 seed Cleveland Cavaliers over #1 seed Detroit Pistons / # 3 seed Denver Nuggets over #2 seed San Antonio Spurs

Conference Finals: #2 seed Boston Celtics dismantle #4 seed Cleveland Cavaliers / #1 seed Oklahoma City Thunder barely hold off #3 seed Denver Nuggets

NBA Finals: #1 seed Oklahoma City Thunder defeat #2 seed Boston Celtics in a seven-game series.

NBA Playoff Awards

NBA Finals MVP: G Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – Oklahoma City Thunder

Eastern Conference Finals MVP: G Jaylen Brown – Boston Celtics

Western Conference Finals MVP: G Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – Oklahoma City Thunder

The NBA Playoffs officially begin on April 14th with play-in games, and the first round will start on April 18th. The NBA playoffs is always great basketball, and that should be expected again this year. Take my predictions with a grain of salt, as I picked the Los Angeles Lakers to win the championship last season. The Lakers then proceeded to lose in the first round. I do believe the Thunder are truly the best team this year, but it’s playoff basketball; you only need to beat the other team four times before they do. We will see what will happen, but don’t miss out on the amazing basketball over the next few months.