NBA playoffs 2026: Thunder try to end the parity, challengers set to crash the party

Oklahoma City guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander doesn't sound all that excited about the idea of becoming a back-to-back NBA champion. That might seem strange. It's not. It's just who the Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder are. They live in the present. They try not to skip steps or waste energy on things out of their control. The Thunder — the NBA's defending champions and No. 1 overall seed in this year's playoffs, which open on Saturday — just keep things simple and see how things work out. And that's why, to the reigning NBA MVP and NBA Finals MVP in Gilgeous-Alexander, any talk of the Thunder going back-to-back and snapping the league's unprecedented run of parity — seven different champions in a seven-season span — can wait, at least for a few more weeks. "That's so far down the line," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "So many things are going to happen before we get to the finals-clinching game. Yeah, it's cool. To have the opportunity to repeat means you won before, so it's cool. I'll keep it there." Translated: Round 1, Game 1 is all that's on Oklahoma City's mind right now. The road to the title will goes through OKC yet again, with 16 teams set to start the two-month journey to decide who will raise the Larry O'Brien Trophy sometime in June. Detroit is the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, the Thunder are atop the West bracket, San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama is about to go to the playoffs for the first time and the Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James is about to go for the 19th time in the last 21 seasons. "It's competitive basketball," James said. "Anytime you're able to be in meaningful games, it definitely means a lot more for sure." The matchups In the East: No. 1 Detroit awaits Orlando or Charlotte (to be decided Friday night), No. 2 Boston plays No. 7 Philadelphia in a series for the 23rd time (the most common postseason matchup the NBA has), No. 3 New York takes on No. 6 Atlanta and No. 4 Cleveland meets No. 5 Toronto. In the West: No. 1 Oklahoma City awaits Phoenix or Golden State (also to be decided Friday night), No. 2 San Antonio meets No. 7 Portland, No. 3 Denver gets No. 6 Minnesota (the third meeting of those franchises in the last four years) and the No. 4 Lakers will play No. 5 Houston — setting up a matchup for the ages and of the ageless, the 41-year-old James leading his team against the 37-year-old Kevin Durant and the Rockets. "Obviously it's the biggest stage of basketball and there's a lot that comes around the game," Durant said. "But at the end of the day, when that ball's tipped up, it's just basketball. We all know how to play at this level. We all know what it takes to win basketball games. Just got to do that consistently." The Thunder — who got off to a 24-1 start, then went 19-3 in their final 22 games as well — didn't spend a single day this season outside of first place in the West. The Pistons came close to pulling off that feat in the East; it took them about 2 1/2 weeks to get to the No. 1 spot on that side of the league, and they stayed there the rest of the way. "We feel like we play a playoff brand of basketball every night," Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. "We're a physical team. We're a gritty team. We're a tough team. We orchestrate well in the trenches. Those are things you have to do in the playoffs." The parity run Toronto won the title in 2019, followed by the Lakers in 2020, Milwaukee in 2021, Golden State in 2022, Denver in 2023, Boston in 2024 and the Thunder last year. There's never been a run like that — seven champions in seven years — in NBA history. And there are some legitimate contenders to extend that list. The most likely candidates, according to oddsmakers, include Detroit, New York and San Antonio. "I dream about it every day," Wembanyama said. He doesn't know how the dream might match up to the reality, if a title comes the Spurs' way. The Thunder found out last year, after they won a Game 7 of the NBA Finals on their home floor to finally bring a championship to OKC and cap one of the winningest seasons in league history. From the outset of this season, the Thunder haven't been trying to win two in a row. The pressure of trying to defend a title is real, but they would also say it's external. All the Thunder worry about is whatever the day brings, an approach that worked last year and has them the overwhelming favorite to win it all again this year. "This group of guys is preconditioned to compete," Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. "They're preconditioned to stay inside the team. And they've stayed in character on that through a lot of different experiences over a long period of time. So, that's allowed us to just focus a lot on the basketball."