Basketball Intelligence For 4/20/26
Today's Best NBA Reporting And Analysis
THE PLAYOFFS
Sunday’s winners and losers
CBS Sports
Which NBA teams should be most concerned after losing their playoff openers?
Ben Golliver
SAS-POR
Victor Wembanyama’s playoff debut lives up to the Spurs’ legendary standards
Jared Weiss, The Athletic
Victor Wembanyama delivers team playoff-record debut
Jeff Zillgitt, NBA.com
Wembanyama Overwhelms Trail Blazers in Playoff Debut
Sean Highkin, Rose Garden Report
Vassell came up big on both ends of court in Spurs’ win over Blazers
Tom Orsborn, Express-News
Victor Wembanyama’s breathtaking playoff debut leads Spurs over Blazers: 3 takeaways from Game 1
The Athletic
Spurs rudely welcome Blazers back to NBA playoffs
Joe Freeman, Oregon Live
ORL-DET
Magic rewrite the narrative with impressive Game 1 victory
Philip Rossman-Reich, Orlando Magic Daily
The Magic out-toughed the Pistons in Game 1. Can Detroit raise its ruckus for Game 2?
David Aldridge, The Athletic
Orlando spins an upset in Detroit
Steve Aschburner, NBA.com
Cade Cunningham did all he could in Game 1. The Pistons need others to step up
Hunter Patterson, The Athletic
Pistons stared into a mirror in Game 1 and lost their way
Omari Sankofa II, Free Press
Takeaways from Pistons-Magic Game 1
The Athletic
Magic stun top-seeded Pistons
Jason Beede, Orlando Sentiel
OKC-PHX
4 Takeaways From OKC Thunder Game 1 win
Rylan Stiles, Sports Illustrated
Thunder’s Game 1 win vs. Suns reinforces a message: ‘Set a tone of what’s expected’
Joel Lorenzi, The Athletic
Thunder serve notice with strong start to title defense
Shaun Powell, NBA.com
Suns’ Jordan Ott has impressed in his first season, but the playoffs are another test
Doug Haller, The Athletic
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams lead Thunder rout of Suns: Game 1 takeaways
The Athletic
BOS-PHI
For 4 Celtics players, Sunday’s Game 1 win over 76ers was extra special
Noa Dalzell, Celtics Blog
The Celtics Didn’t Even Need Second Gear to Beat the 76ers in Game 1
Adam Taylor, The Celtics Chronicle
Jayson Tatum dominates in return to playoffs: Takeaways from Celtics-76ers Game 1
The Athletic
Boston delivers Philadelphia a dose of ‘Celtics basketball’ in opener
Shaun Powell, NBA.com
Jayson Tatum continues to meet every challenge. Now, anything is possible for Celtics
Jay King, The Athletic
Sixers defense offers ‘no resistance’ in Game 1 blowout loss to Celtics
Gina Mizell, The Inquirer
76ers losing to Celtics is one thing, but not even showing up? That’s a disaster
Tony Jones, The Athletic
Neemias Queta’s abbreviated first playoff start highlights 76ers’ nightmare
Bobby Krivitsky, Hardwood Houdini
For Knicks to thrive, Karl-Anthony Towns must be a participant, not an observer
Fred Katz, The Athletic
3 things to watch in Raptors-Cavaliers Game 2
Shaun Powell, NBA.com
Cavs’ Dean Wade’s Defense Earning the Proper Credit
Danny Cunningham, The Inside Shot
With or without Kevin Durant, Rockets’ offensive approach must be better vs. Lakers
William Guillory, The Athletic
Nuggets defense jolted awake vs. Timberwolves. Is it sustainable throughout NBA playoffs?
Bennett Durando, Denver Post
How Timberwolves defended Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic to start series
Vinny Benedetto, Denver Gazette
TEAM-SPECIFIC
ATL: The Hawks should be optimistic about post-Trae Young era
Wynston Wilcox, Fansided
CHA: Exit Interviews: Key Themes & Quotes
James Plowright, Buzz Beat
GSW: Steph Curry: “Can we rethink how we do things?”
Poor Man’s Commish, Let’s Go Warriors
IND: Pacers’ doomed season helped Jarace Walker grow
Dustin Dopirak, Indy Star
IND: Pascal Siakam wants this season to hurt: ‘Bring that rage into the summer’
Dustin Dopirak, Indy Star
"Being on the floor, that's the best teacher," Siakam said. "We can show you all the clips. You can work out as much as you can and do all the drills, but being on the floor and playing real NBA minutes is the only way to learn. I think we've had opportunities with younger guys being on the floor, learning and being in real game situations where they had to grow and make mistakes. Hopefully that will really help you to understanding what we're doing. ... You look around and you see who you can look to next year or the years moving forward and I think that's a good experience.
MIA: Heat’s 2026 Offseason Preview
Yossi Gozlan, Third Apron
MIA: The next on-court steps for Sixth Man of the Year finalist Jaime Jaquez Jr
Brady Hawk, Sports Illustrated
THE DRAFT
Best Game Series: Nate Ament Video Breakdown
Bryce Simon, Game Theory
The 2026 Portsmouth Invitational Tournament Recap
Maxwell Baumbach, No Ceilings
2026 NBA Mock Draft
Cameron Salerno, CBS Sports