Basketball Intelligence For 5/18/26
Today's Best NBA Reporting And Analysis
THE CONFERENCE FINALS
Playoff Power Rankings: How the 4 conference finalists stack up
John Schuhmann, NBA.com
The 2026 NBA Conference Finals Preview
Mike Shearer, Basketball Poetry
Ranking NBA’s final 4 teams in 2026 Playoffs by most likely to win the championship
Ricky O’Donnell, SBNation
Conference finals previews
ESPN
CLE-NYK
James Harden, Donovan Mitchell versus the red-hot Knicks: Who will win, and why?
The Athletic
What to expect in Knicks-Cavaliers series
John Schuhmann, NBA.com
Knicks will face Cavaliers in Eastern Conference finals — here’s how the two teams stack up
Jared Schwartz, NY Post
A conversation about the Eastern conference finals
Henry Abbott/David Thorpe, True Hoop
Why do the Cavaliers forget about Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley?
Corey Walsh, SBNation
Series Preview
Tommy Beer, Knicks Centric
OKC-SAS
The Thunder are the West favorites. But Victor Wembanyama can change everything
Henry Abbott/David Thorpe, True Hoop
The Spurs Are Still the Thunder’s Biggest Problem
Neil Paine
What league insiders are watching in Spurs-Thunder
Tim Bontemps, ESPN
Let the playoff rivalry between Spurs and Thunder begin
Jeff McDonald, Express-News
OKC Thunder better beat Spurs in NBA Playoffs now while it still can
Joe Mussatto, The Oklahoman
How Spurs’ ‘Slash Brothers’ came together as relentless, attacking force
Tom Orsborn, Express-News
Series preview
Kurt Helin/Raphielle Johnson, NBC Sports
Preview: The Collision Course
Paul Daniel Flores, LWOS
THE PLAYOFFS: ROUND TWO
Have A Good Summer: Lakers, Timberwolves, Pistons
Jared Dubin, Last Night In Basketball
Biggest Winners and Losers from 2026 NBA Playoffs Conference Semifinals
Grant Hughes, Bleacher Report
The Playoff-Tailored Players
Garrison Giddens, Giddhoops
Winners and Losers From the Second Round of the NBA Playoffs
Liam McKeone/Blake Silverman, Sports Illustrated
CLE-DET
Donovan Mitchell embraces his moment, finally breaks through to conference finals
Jason Lloyd, The Athletic
Cavs advance to Eastern Conference finals with dominant Game 7 win over Pistons, 125-94
Chris Fedor, cleveland.com
Game 7 Observations: Complete and Total Domination in Detroit
Danny Cunningham, The Inside Shot
Cavs, Donovan Mitchell dominate Pistons in Game 7
The Athletic
A season of strides and stumbles ends for the Detroit Pistons in humbling fashion
Hunter Patterson, The Athletic
Leaguewide, Team-Specific and Draft-related stories follow for paid subscribers
