2026 NBA Playoffs<\/a>, presented by Google, with the NBA.com live blog, featuring all of the meaningful moments, performances, observations, news and highlights from Monday\u2019s action.<\/p>\nWe\u2019re into the Conference Semfinals, with the Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks renewing their longtime rivalry (8 ET), followed by Anthony Edwards\u2019 return against Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs (9:30 ET).<\/p>\n
What we know about Monday\u2019s games:<\/p>\n
Teams that win Game 1 in the Conference Semifinals go on to win 73.6% of the time in the NBA Playoffs.<\/p>\n
8:30 ET \/ MAY 4, 2026<\/p>\n
Brunson off to a hot start<\/p>\n
Jalen Brunson (14 pts, 6-of-7 shooting) is dictating the offense early, as the Knicks lead 21-19 with 3:39 to go in the first quarter. He\u2019s gone at Paul George and Quentin Grimes in recent possessions.<\/p>\n
7:30 ET \/ MAY 4, 2026<\/p>\n
Starting Lineup: 76ers-Knicks, Game 1
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Jalen Brunson and Tyrese Maxey will lead the Knicks and 76ers into their Eastern Conference Semifinals series, starting tonight at 8 ET on NBC and Peacock.<\/p>\n
Philadelphia<\/p>\n
PG Tyrese Maxey<\/p>\n
Who will guard Tyrese Maxey? Mikal Bridges would seem like the best bet. In the regular season, Bridges logged 18:48 against Maxey \u2014 second-most in the Association \u2014 giving up 20 points on 10-of-20 shooting.<\/p>\n
SG VJ Edgecombe<\/p>\n
Edgecombe was a crucial swing factor in the Sixers\u2019 wins over the Celtics. He was 0-for-16 in their three losses and 15-of-43 (45.4%) in their wins.<\/p>\n
SF Paul George<\/p>\n
The Anunoby-Paul George matchup will be fascinating to watch. George has outscored Anunoby 20.5 to 13.0 in their previous games, holding an 8-5 record. Can OG swing it on the downside of George\u2019s career?<\/p>\n
PF Kelly Oubre Jr.<\/p>\n
Oubre Jr. is always an irritant, and a talented scorer on the right night. He and Josh Hart could battle to make energy plays in this series.<\/p>\n
C Joel Embiid<\/p>\n
Embiid played inspired basketball against the Celtics, culminating in 34 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists in Game 7. Can he keep up his form against the formidable Knicks?<\/p>\n
New York:<\/p>\n
PG Jalen Brunson<\/p>\n
Who will guard Jalen Brunson? VJ Edgecombe, who shut down Derrick White in the second half of the Sixers\u2019 Game 7 victory over the Celtics, has the size, strength, activity level and length to disrupt the Knicks\u2019 captain.<\/p>\n
SG Josh Hart<\/p>\n
In wins this season, Hart averaged 13.0 ppg, 7.8 reb and 5.0 ast. In losses, 10.0 ppg, 6.6 reb and 4.4 ast.<\/p>\n
SF Mikal Bridges<\/p>\n
A native of Philadelphia, Bridges was drafted by the 76ers in 2018 before dealt to the Phoenix Suns. Six years later, he suits up against his hometown squad.<\/p>\n
PF OG Anunoby<\/p>\n
Anunoby shot 56.7% from 3-point range in the Knicks\u2019 series against the Atlanta Hawks on his way to 21.1 ppg.<\/p>\n
C Karl-Anthony Towns<\/p>\n
Two of the games\u2019 best centers go head-to-head in this series, as Towns faces Joel Embiid. They\u2019ve been physical in past matchups. Will sparks fly tonight?<\/p>\n
7:00 ET \/ MAY 4, 2026<\/p>\n
Monday\u2019s injury report<\/p>\n
Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey are available for the 76ers, while Jeremy Sochan is available for the Knicks.<\/p>\n
Donte DiVincenzo and Ayo Dosumu are out for the Timberwolves, while Anthony Edwards is available.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tyrese Maxey and the Philadelphia 76ers take on the New York Knicks in Game 1 of their 2026…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":425653,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[189687,85,46,146595,102929,4616,3167,105,200096],"class_list":["post-425652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-2026-nba-playoffs","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-knicks-76ers","tag-nba-live-blog","tag-nbc","tag-peacock","tag-sports","tag-timberwolves-spurs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425652"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425652\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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