6 big questions heading into the 2026 NBA playoffs

Starting with the Play-In Tournament on Tuesday and then with the official start of the NBA playoffs on Saturday, 20 teams will have the chance to advance to the NBA Finals.

The path won’t be easy. The NBA postseason spans about two months, and multiple seven-game series can take a toll on players' bodies and minds, almost as if the playoffs were a mini-season.

All of which means there are plenty of storylines and narratives to parse through ahead of the games.

Here are the six biggest questions headed into the 2026 NBA postseason:

Can the Thunder repeat as champions?

Winning a title changes a team. For one, they know what it takes to get there. For another, it creates internal and external pressures.

Oklahoma City may feel like it needs to live up to its promise of championship-level play, and other teams will view the Thunder as the established entity that needs to be upended.

The Thunder are indeed built to repeat. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the likely NBA Most Valuable Player, is the most consistent star in the league. Jalen Williams has returned to form from his hamstring injury. Chet Holmgren has been a solid defensive presence. And the Thunder are deep and talented, creating matchup issues all over the floor.

Championship teams typically get significant contributions from role players. Who might those be?

Think players like Alex Caruso and Luguentz Dort last season for the Thunder, or Sam Hauser for the Celtics the year before. Which players are going to step up this postseason to elevate great teams to championship contention, particularly in the clutch or in high-leverage situations?

Possible candidates include Keldon Johnson (Spurs), Baylor Scheierman (Celtics), Julian Strawther (Nuggets), Mitchell Robinson (Knicks), Keon Ellis (Cavaliers) and Tari Eason (Rockets).

Will the Lakers linger around long enough to get healthy?

NBA leading scorer Luka Dončić is set to rejoin the Lakers on Friday from his trip to Spain for treatment on his grade 2 hamstring injury. Still, it’s uncertain when he’ll be cleared to return to play. Austin Reaves (oblique strain) is expected to be out until around mid-May. That timeline puts Los Angeles squarely in the second round.

The Lakers, however, will have to contend with a very solid Houston Rockets team in the first round, a team that finished the season 9-1 in their last 10 games. Dončić and Reaves were the highest-scoring duo in the NBA this season. Without them, the Lakers will be nowhere near as dangerous. It’s going to be tough for them to topple Houston without Dončić and Reaves.

Will the Knicks finally get over the hump?

Last season, New York reached its first Eastern Conference finals in 25 seasons. The Knicks fired former coach Tom Thibodeau and sent the message that, with this current roster, the only acceptable outcome moving forward was a title.

That puts immense pressure on coach Mike Brown and the Knicks players. Of all playoff squads, this is the one with the most continuity among its players, many of whom go back to their college days. That stability and familiarity can go a long way in the playoffs, but the Knicks will need to avoid cold spells and will have to amplify their defensive intensity if they are to win their first NBA Finals since 1973.

Can any under-the-radar team make a deep run?

Mostly because of his struggles to get out of the second round of the playoffs, Donovan Mitchell and the Cavaliers often get overlooked as a viable threat in the East. The Minnesota Timberwolves have made consecutive appearances in the Western Conference finals, but with the strength of the Thunder, Spurs and Nuggets, Minnesota is a modest longshot. The Hawks posted the best winning percentage in the East after the All-Star break (.769) but are a young, untested team. Can any of them get hot at the right time and challenge the balance of power?

Can any Play-In team break through?

In a vacuum, the Clippers appear to be the team best positioned to make noise in the playoffs. They can compete with the best teams out West as long as Kawhi Leonard is healthy, and the trade for Bennedict Mathurin was an underrated move that infused scoring off the bench. But if L.A. emerges from the Play-In Tournament, it will face the defending-champion Thunder in the first round, a tall task.

Out East, it might be the surprising Hornets, who posted the best net rating in the East (11.1) after the All-Star break. Charlotte can shoot the ball and plays with pace and offensive ingenuity. The Hornets, though, would get the No. 1 Pistons. Cade Cunningham is still making his way back from his collapsed lung injury, so there is some weakness in Detroit’s case.