2026 2nd Round Playoffs Predictions.

Philadelphia 76ers vs. New York Knicks:

I don't like how New York is too reliant on their stars. Nor the way they play.

Philadelphia has more options. I also think Edgecombe is a good young player to bank on having either a good series, or making an impact.

I'll go bold, and not just pick Philadelphia, but for them to win all of their road games.

Philadelphia in 5.

Philadelphia

Philadelphia

New York

Philadelphia

Philadelphia

Minnesota Timerwolves vs. San Antonio Spurs:

First of all, I hope people give Jaden McDaniels and Rudy Gobert credit. They've been great for years, on this Minnesota team. Hopefully that last series was a reminder.

San Antonio is the most talented team in the league. I've felt that since November.

BUT, Fox doesn't do much if he's not scoring.

Minnesota is also not afraid of anyone.

If Edwards is healthy the entire series, I think Minnesota has a chance.

I'll stick with my bold theme for today.

Minnesota in 7.

Minnesota

San Antonio

San Antonio

Minnesota

Minnesota

San Antonio

Minnesota

Wow, you've got some shockers. If there is any shot of OKC losing, I have to root for the Spurs to advance but I still think it's great news that Ant is playing. Let's see the best against the best

In any event, this is how I see it

NEW YORK over PHILADELPHIA in 6 games

Game 1-NY over Philly

Game 2-Philly over NY

Game 3-NY over Philly

Game 4-Philly over NY

Game 5-NY over Philly

Game 6-NY over Philly

CLEVELAND over DETROIT in 6 games

Game 1-Cleveland over Detroit

Game 2-Detroit over Cleveland

Game 3-Cleveland over Detroit

Game 4-Cleveland over Detroit

Game 5-Detroit over Cleveland

Game 6-Cleveland over Detroit

OKC over THE L WORD in 5 games

Game 1-OKC over L Word

Game 2-OKC over L Word

Game 3-OKC over L Word

Game 4-L Word over OKC

Game 5-OKC over L Word

SA over Minnesota in 7 games

Game 1-SA over Minny

Game 2-SA over Minny

Game 3-Minny over SA

Game 4-Minny over SA

Game 5-SA over Minny

Game 6-Minny over SA

Game 7-SA over Minny

From a competitive aspect, hopefully OKC doesn't win 3 straight over the L word.

Watching Minnesota vs. San Antonio, I'll stick to my theme of San Antonio being the most talented team, but Minnesota had about 11 possessions where they were more poised.

I loved hearing Anthony Edwards complain about giving up 2 offensive rebounds to Julian Champaigne. He complained twice in the same interview. He knows the bigger picture, and what it takes to win a series. He did this complaining after a Minnesota win, because he knows what it takes.

Also, nuraman00 has hired @Trueblood to be in charge of all media broadcasts, jerseys, and courts. I know he'll make the right decisions in terms of appearance, marketing, branding, and color schemes.

BUT, just to be clear, @Trueblood has to also fire the current Peacock broadcasters. They said something so vile during the closing seconds of the Minnesota vs. San Antonio game 1, that I cannot repeat it. Or at least fire the ones during that game 1.

And no, you cannot repeat it either. But you know what they said, and why they should be fired for saying that.

I've often thought about having an advisor role with the league and Nike. I just see a lack of common sense happen so much that if you just gave me 5 minutes to sit with each governor or the higher ups at Nike, we could having the branding issue solved once and for all

As for Peacock, I assume the same jokers that we see on NBC are the same jokers that we see on Peacock in which case I'm all for firing them. I must admit that I missed the Wolves game and didn't hear what they said. Can you throw a hint my way as to how low they went? I thought it couldn't get any worse than Derek Fisher's "analysis" but apparently it did

No I can't give you a hint. Because it's a huuuuuuge peeve. I do not want any resemblance of it repeated, even via text.

But let's just say that when someone wins a game, they should get credit for winning the game, regardless of the location of the game. They earned it. They played possessions better.

It's something that happens in 98.03% of all series all time. So you should expect it to happen in 98.03% of all series.

Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Detroit Pistons:

I still have concerns about Duren, and I think Cleveland's frontcourt will win out. Maybe its recency bias because of Jarrett Allen's game 7 against Toronto.

I feel like I never pick a road team to win game 2, but not game 1.

Cleveland in 5.

Oh well.

Cleveland

Detroit

Cleveland

Cleveland

Cleveland

Los Angeles Lakers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder:

I don't think a LeBron James team will get swept, even though it has happened a few times.

Oklahoma City in 5.

Oklahoma City

Los Angeles

Oklahoma City

Oklahoma City

Oklahoma City

Very impressed with Detroit's performance so far. I really thought they would fold the tent when Cleveland made that comeback and took the lead in the 4th but Bickerstaff called a good timeout and the team clamped down on defense while Cade took over and brought it home

Surprised that the L Word, despite losing in the teens again, were as close and competitive for as long as they were last night. You have to give them credit where credit is due

How about the Beard hitting clutch hoops over another former Clipper Tobias Harris, trying to keep the Cavs alive. Good D there too on Duncan Robinson. Looks like Cavs will stave off elimination.

How about the Beard hitting clutch hoops over another former Clipper Tobias Harris, trying to keep the Cavs alive. Good D there too on Duncan Robinson. Looks like Cavs will stave off elimination.

He definitely redeemed himself in the eyes of Cav fans there. They were coming down hard on him during the games in Detroit for his lack of defense

Game 5 turning into a blowout loss for Minnesota was disappointing.

These are the kind of statement wins, if Minnesota would have won, were what I was looking for.

Yeah, I was fooled when McDaniels hit those two jumpers early in the 3rd to close the lead to 2. I was really hoping we'd get a good game but oh well

Yeah, I was fooled when McDaniels hit those two jumpers early in the 3rd to close the lead to 2. I was really hoping we'd get a good game but oh well

Yeah, I also thought Minnesota was going to play well for the rest of the game, at that same point.

My prediction of 3 road wins by Minnesota wont happen now.

I have no idea what's going to happen in Cleveland vs. Detroit now.

Very impressed with Detroit's performance so far. I really thought they would fold the tent when Cleveland made that comeback and took the lead in the 4th but Bickerstaff called a good timeout and the team clamped down on defense while Cade took over and brought it home

After the first two games of the series, I thought this was the first time we had seen Detroit Basketball for full games.

Cleveland up by 4, entering the 4th.

Cleveland up by 4, entering the 4th.

Very disappointed in that ending. As good as Detroit was at staving off the Cavs in game 2, they were just as bad in choking away a 9 point lead with less than 4 minutes to go. You expect that from offensive oriented teams especially in the high scoring era where teams routinely score 10 points in a 3 minute span but not from a defensive oriented team in a post season game with a ton on the line meaning this isn't game 1 of the first round but basically the rubber game of a series that decides who goes to the ECF

Detroit is winning tonight.

Detroit is winning tonight.

I hope you're right. I'd love to see some more game 7's

I feel bad for the Pistons fans that spent hundreds of dollars for that game 7.

There wasn't even a second of that game that was enjoyable for them.

That series went the exact same order as 2023 Golden State vs. Sacramento.

That series went the exact same order as 2023 Golden State vs. Sacramento.

Good comparison although Sacramento can at least say that they were close to even at halftime

I am big on studying series order, which is why I also predict series orders. And try to draw upon some past series as a possible comparison, before making a prediction.

When I predicted Detroit would win game 6, I still thought they could lose game 7. I just didn't know it would be that bad.