{"id":622588,"date":"2026-05-04T08:43:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T08:43:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/622588\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T08:43:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T08:43:10","slug":"nba-playoff-predictions-who-wins-sixers-knicks-lakers-thunder-and-every-second-round-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/622588\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA playoff predictions: Who wins Sixers-Knicks, Lakers-Thunder and every second-round series?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The conference semifinal matchups are set. Cavs-Pistons and Sixers-Knicks in the East. Lakers-Thunder and Timberwolves-Spurs in the West. Which teams will advance to the NBA\u2019s final four? And what has been the biggest takeaway of the playoffs<\/a> so far? Let\u2019s break it down.<\/p>\n

Sixers-Knicks: Who wins? <\/p>\n

Tom Haberstroh: Knicks<\/a> in 7. I can\u2019t wait to see the Joel Embiid<\/a> and Karl-Anthony Towns<\/a> matchup. I think Embiid gets the best of KAT in their minutes. But when projecting the Sixers<\/a>, I just don\u2019t know how much Embiid we\u2019ll see. The Sixers big man has missed games in four out of the last five playoffs series his team has played, which doesn\u2019t give me much hope that he can go the distance.<\/p>\n

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Kelly Iko: Knicks in 7. Something clicked for the Knicks in the first round with Towns serving as a high-functioning offensive hub. Turns out, involving one of the most versatile bigs in basketball works \u2014 the Knicks are 13-2 since Feb. 1 when Towns logs a usage rate of at least 25%, according to Cleaning the Glass. The 76ers can go in a few directions with the Towns assignment, but expect them to cycle through Paul George<\/a>, Kelly Oubre<\/a> and Embiid. What the Knicks ultimately do to slow down Embiid is, of course, the most critical part of this series. A healthy Embiid is the most dominant player in the East, but New York\u2019s depth and physicality should push them over the top.<\/p>\n

Ben Rohrbach: Knicks in 6. The matchups will be fascinating \u2014 Embiid overpowering Towns; Towns spacing out Embiid; New York going double big at times; a whole lot of mixing and matching \u2014 but the 76ers trusted only six players at the end of their upset series against the Celtics<\/a>, and one of them was Embiid. Tyrese Maxey<\/a> and Jalen Brunson<\/a> may match each other shot for shot, but so much falls on Embiid\u2019s shoulders, and I\u2019m just not sure how long he can carry that load in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Dan Titus: Knicks in 7. Philly\u2019s win over Boston<\/a> was massive, but Embiid\u2019s health is still up in the air and New York\u2019s depth gives them the advantage. The Embiid-KAT and Brunson-Maxey matchups will be must-see, but the Sixers lack a true interior presence to control the glass and limit second-chance opportunities. Paul George and VJ Edgecombe<\/a> could swing things, yet the Knicks\u2019 superior defense and versatility should be the difference \u2014 especially if Embiid isn\u2019t 100%.<\/p>\n

Wolves-Spurs: Who wins? <\/p>\n

Titus: Spurs in 5. The Wolves showed grit beating Denver<\/a> without Anthony Edwards<\/a> or Donte DiVincenzo<\/a>, but with Ayo Dosunmu<\/a> likely out to start the series, they\u2019re simply running out of bodies. Who\u2019s checking Wemby<\/a>? More importantly, who keeps pace with the Spurs\u2019 second unit led by Dylan Harper<\/a>? If Minnesota<\/a> wasn\u2019t missing three key offensive pieces, this would be closer, but they just don\u2019t have the horses.<\/p>\n

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Rohrbach: Spurs in 6. The Timberwolves<\/a> are tough, and they will be even tougher if they can work a healthy Edwards into the fold, but it appears their primary offensive creator will miss at least the start of the series with a hyperextended knee. Fall behind early, and I\u2019m afraid the Wolves could get swallowed whole by Victor Wembanyama. Meanwhile, San Antonio<\/a> has so many ways to attack a Minnesota defense that is wearing thin.<\/p>\n

Iko: Spurs in 6. I\u2019m fascinated by the battle on the boards. The Wolves are the No. 1 rebounding team in the playoffs, and overwhelmed the Nuggets<\/a> in the closeout game in ways that could be replicated against the Spurs, even with the very large Frenchman on the floor. Jaden McDaniels<\/a>, Terrence Shannon Jr.<\/a> and Naz Reid<\/a> have enough collective crashing ability to give Minnesota more bites at the apple, although I worry about the composure of Shannon and Bones Hyland<\/a> against a stout, aggressive Spurs unit. Portland<\/a>, despite losing in five, was able to build big leads in segments, a sign of the youth that still exists in San Antonio, but the Spurs have enough to get it done.<\/p>\n

Haberstroh: Spurs in 5. Rudy Gobert<\/a> will need another Superman performance against Wemby in order to make this a real series, though I suspect Julius Randle<\/a> will get the first stab at Alien duties. The Spurs\u2019 guards and Wembanyama present a much tougher challenge for Minny than the gimpy Denver Nuggets.<\/p>\n

Cavaliers-Pistons: Who wins? <\/p>\n

Iko: Cavs<\/a> in 5. I\u2019ve yet to come down from my Cleveland-is-coming-out-of-the-East ledge and I won\u2019t do so today. The Pistons<\/a>\u2019 defense is aggressive, brilliant and will do its absolute best to cause chaos whenever Donovan Mitchell<\/a> or James Harden<\/a> touch the basketball. I just don\u2019t think it\u2019ll be enough to mask Detroit<\/a>\u2019s lack of secondary scoring (outside another epic Tobias Harris<\/a> breakout series), bench production relative to Cleveland<\/a>\u2019s, or collective postseason experience.<\/p>\n

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Titus: Cavs in 7. Detroit\u2019s defense will grind this out and Mitchell\u2019s struggles getting downhill against Toronto<\/a> probably repeat here. Expect Detroit to pack the paint. But the Pistons\u2019 challenge will be on offense. They are far too dependent on Cade Cunningham<\/a>, and Harris acting as their secondary scoring option is troubling. Cleveland\u2019s depth and perimeter shooting \u2014 something Orlando<\/a> lacked \u2014 should swing this series in the Cavs\u2019 favor. Evan Mobley<\/a> and Jarrett Allen<\/a> must be aggressive to win this bruiser of a matchup.<\/p>\n

Haberstroh: Pistons in 7. I think Jalen Duren<\/a> breaks out. After a huge letdown against Orlando, Duren won\u2019t have much trouble asserting himself in a matchup against Mobley and Allen. The Cavs\u2019 front line isn\u2019t nearly as physical as Orlando\u2019s big bodies, which gives Detroit a significant advantage inside.<\/p>\n

Rohrbach: Pistons in 6. On one hand, can the Pistons keep pace with the Cavaliers\u2019 offense? Their lack of secondary shot creation looked to be an issue against the Magic, until Harris found another gear. How long they can rely on that is anyone\u2019s guess. On the other hand, Cleveland struggled, for the most part, to score against the Raptors\u2019 defense. Wait until the Cavs get a load of Detroit, a team that found its 60-win form in the direst of circumstances.<\/p>\n

Lakers-Thunder: Who wins? <\/p>\n

Rohrbach: Thunder in 5. LeBron James<\/a> works miracles. Winning a game against this Oklahoma City<\/a> team,\u00a0without Luka Don\u010di\u0107<\/a>, would qualify as one. Dominating against the Rockets the way he did was nothing short of remarkable. Doing it against OKC\u2019s ferocious defense is a different story. Never mind what Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a> will do to the Lakers<\/a>. Even without Jalen Williams<\/a>, who may return sooner than Don\u010di\u0107 in this series, the Thunder should run away with it.<\/p>\n

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Haberstroh: Thunder in 5. The reports about Don\u010di\u0107\u2019s availability, or lack thereof, is deeply concerning. I just don\u2019t see how LeBron at 41 years old, with Don\u010di\u0107 out for the foreseeable future, can withstand the physical track meet that will be this OKC series.<\/p>\n

Titus: Thunder in 4. The Lakers\u2019 defense looked great against a Houston<\/a> team that couldn\u2019t shoot, but OKC is a whole different challenge. Marcus Smart<\/a> will likely draw SGA, but that won\u2019t be enough, and Chet Holmgren<\/a> is set to shine in this matchup. Even if Luka returns, it\u2019s tough to see LA keeping up. OKC just put up 126 points per 100 possessions in the first round without even tightening the screws defensively.<\/p>\n

Iko: Thunder in 5. This series will go one of two ways; either the Lakers do the proverbial \u201csteal Game 1 on the road and momentarily shock the world\u201d or \u201cwin the emotional Game 3 on their return home.\u201d James\u2019 brilliance is enough to keep these games closer than expected, but the Lakers have no answers for SGA, Oklahoma City\u2019s stable of two-way threats and one of the most prolific transition defenses, especially sans Don\u010di\u0107. The basketball world is patiently awaiting the eventual Thunder-Spurs heavyweight bout.<\/p>\n

What’s your biggest takeaway from the playoffs so far?<\/p>\n

Rohrbach: Defense is king. The teams that have looked the best \u2014 the Thunder and Spurs, specifically \u2014 are the league\u2019s top defenses. I\u2019ll even throw the Pistons and the Knicks in there. When they have looked their best, it has been the defense that has carried them to dominant stretches. Meanwhile, the Nuggets and Celtics \u2014 the NBA\u2019s top two offenses during the regular season \u2014\u00a0struggled to score against the smothering defenses of the Timberwolves and 76ers, respectively. Offense comes and goes, but defense is the constant, or however the saying goes.<\/p>\n

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Titus: Anyone can win the East. I\u2019ve got the Knicks making the Finals, but with three of the first four series going seven games, it\u2019s clear there\u2019s no truly dominant team. The margin for error is razor-thin \u2014 whoever emerges will have to find a combination of making in-series adjustments, executing and surviving the war of attrition.<\/p>\n

Iko: Your biggest strength can ultimately become your undoing. Teams that put extra emphasis on creating extra chances via offensive rebounds \u2014 that had underlying shot-creation issues outside of heliocentric figures \u2014 learned the hard way about the perils of playoff basketball. Five of the top seven teams in offensive rebounding rate are now eliminated from the postseason altogether. The real-time tradeoff between sending more bodies to the boards as opposed to getting back in transition and setting up a defensive shell has been fascinating to see unfold.<\/p>\n

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Haberstroh: No lead is safe. In-game or in-series. It\u2019s been an incredible postseason full of surprises, drama and physicality, but the player health variable still looms large unfortunately. Injuries and 3-point variance are creating such chaos that it\u2019s hard to get a handle of each team\u2019s true strength. That makes it hard to predict, but enthralling to watch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The conference semifinal matchups are set. Cavs-Pistons and Sixers-Knicks in the East. Lakers-Thunder and Timberwolves-Spurs in the West.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":622589,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[31513,19804,253734,8731,88728,6250,13034,16733,852,269811,1840,2120,13054,56232,49952,51299,7095,114221,36783,148151,7625,6418,27495,5555,6424,36782,146258,25169,6306,3013,3014,20467,6429,78366,355,4140,12205,13677,60519,53351,18223,92429,6999,6407,2112,99,60524,6427,148694,228071,12378,7639,2119,114219],"class_list":["post-622588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-anthony-edwards","tag-ayo-dosunmu","tag-bones-hyland","tag-boston","tag-cade-cunningham","tag-cavs","tag-celtics","tag-chet-holmgren","tag-cleveland","tag-dan-titus","tag-denver","tag-detroit","tag-donovan-mitchell","tag-donte-divincenzo","tag-dylan-harper","tag-evan-mobley","tag-houston","tag-jaden-mcdaniels","tag-jalen-brunson","tag-jalen-duren","tag-jalen-williams","tag-james-harden","tag-jarrett-allen","tag-joel-embiid","tag-julius-randle","tag-karl-anthony-towns","tag-kelly-oubre","tag-knicks","tag-lakers","tag-lebron-james","tag-luka-doncic","tag-marcus-smart","tag-minnesota","tag-naz-reid","tag-nba","tag-nuggets","tag-oklahoma-city","tag-orlando","tag-paul-george","tag-pistons","tag-portland","tag-rudy-gobert","tag-san-antonio","tag-shai-gilgeous-alexander","tag-sixers","tag-sports","tag-terrence-shannon-jr","tag-timberwolves","tag-tobias-harris","tag-tom-haberstroh","tag-toronto","tag-tyrese-maxey","tag-vj-edgecombe","tag-wemby"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=622588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622588\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/622589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=622588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=622588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=622588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}