Now that the NBA regular season is over…it’s time for the second half of the season, also known as the NBA playoffs. What begins in early April will end in mid-June with a winner. There are teams vying for newfound prominence at the top, one hoping to repeat, and others who are grasping for air to stay relevant. Here’s our 2026 NBA Eastern Conference playoffs preview.
Opening Round
1) Detroit Pistons vs. 8) Magic, 76ers, Hornets, Heat
Detroit looked a lot like OKC a year ago. They breezed through the regular season as the best team in the Eastern conference. They won the conference by four games and have one of the best youth cores in the game. Regardless of who moves on, this is the Pistons series.
2) Boston Celtics vs 7) Magic, 76ers
I really did not think that we were going to see the Boston Celtics in the playoffs this year after Jayson Tatum tore his achilles tendon in the playoffs last season. Welp, here they are. They were a unit even without Tatum for most of the year. Now they have him back and watch out. Joe Mazzula has cemented himself as one of top coaches in the league for a reason and he will show it in these playoffs.
3) New York Knicks vs 6) Atlanta Hawks
The Knicks have a ton of pressure on them. And it’s internally applied from owner James Dolan who said they need to be in the Finals this season. They fired their coach after making it deep a year ago. They finished third this year. That’s a lot better than the Hawks who finished sixth and can get sloppy on defense. This could be closer than the Knicks would like but they win in six.
4) Cleveland Cavaliers vs 5) Toronto Raptors
Here’s a telling stat that you can take into this series: the Raptors were 5-22 against the top 10 teams in the league. They wiped competition below that, but it shows that this Raptors team just isn’t that serious. The Cavs breeze in 4.
Quarterfinals
1) Pistons vs 5) Cavaliers
The Cavs struggled to be legit in the playoffs last year. The Pistons are a legit team. Pistons in 5.
2) Celtics vs 3) Knicks
This is payback. It’s revenge for a year ago. Jayson Tatum gets the ultimate get back.
Semi-Finals
1) Pistons vs 2) Celtics
The Pistons are youthful, inexperienced, and are not ready for this spot quite yet. The Celtics have been here time and time again with this nucleus. Celtics take it in 6.
Finals
Thunder vs Celtics
It’s one heck of a story. A team that could’ve folded a year ago when their leader went down and punted on the season. Instead, they win their second NBA Finals in the last three years.