Yet another competitive NBA regular season has come to an end. The Western conference has wrapped up with a plethora of teams capable of winning the NBA finals, while the Eastern conference hangs wide open for anyone to grab. Will the Thunder be able to defend their crown, or will they be over run by a new top franchise in the NBA? 

Here are the favorites and the sleepers for the upcoming playoffs beginning on Saturday April 18th. 

Favorites

Oklahoma City Thunder:

The Thunder are the defending champions from last season and have only added talent to the roster. Led by last year’s MVP, Shai Gilgeous Alexander, the Thunder are looking to become the NBA’s next dynasty. The Thunder finished with the best record in the league with 64 wins. Throughout the season the Thunder have dealt with injuries to each of their best players, yet still managed to cruise through their schedule. Head coach Mark Daigneault is widely regarded as one of the top coaches in the league, but he has hopes to become one of the all time greats. 

Senior Andrew Sullivan says, “Daigneault has changed basketball in Oklahoma City. It always felt like they couldn’t get over the hump until he came along. His ability to build and coach this roster is above anyone else I have ever seen.” Daigneault and the Thunder will begin their playoff run on Sunday, April 19th against the Phoenix Suns.

Spurs:

The San Antonio Spurs were destined for a great year after such a talented roster barely missed the playoffs last season. With the addition of rookie Dylan Harper, the Spurs have been unstoppable. Although the team is led by MVP candidate Victor Wembanyama and shifty guard De’aaron Fox, the silent heroes of the team have been Harper and second year man Stephon Castle. Harper has contributed almost immediately to the high scoring bench that the Spurs have. The combination of him and Keldon Johnson have caused nightmares for second units around the league. As for Castle, he has taken on the role of being a lead guard in the NBA. This year he is 6th in the league in APG with 7.4 and the only one under the age of 24 (21). The Spurs will face the Trailblazers in the opening round of the playoffs on Sunday.

Celtics:

This season was expected to be a down year for Boston given the torn achilles of star forward Jayson Tatum, but Jaylen Brown had other plans. The 29 year old guard had easily the best scoring season of his career with 28.7 PPG. He has shown that he has had the ability to be a lead player on a championship contender. He led the Celtics to the 2 seed in the east and with the return of Tatum the Celtics are looking to hang banner number 19 in the rafters. Since Tatum’s return he has made it a point of emphasis to focus on contributing in more than just scoring. In the 16 games he has played this year he has averaged 10 RPG and worked to help winning in more ways than one. In his absence the Celtics received important contributions from players like Neemias Queta and Baylor Scheierman which allowed them to succeed during that long stretch. The Celtics will play the 76ers on Sunday to open their 2026 playoff campaign.

Sleepers

Cavaliers:

The Cleveland Cavaliers are searching to regain power at the top of the league as they were in the 2010s with LeBron James. The midseason acquisition of James Harden has elevated the Cavaliers to one of the top teams in the league. Junior Tom McCarthy says, “Cleveland has been a different team since bringing in Harden. I really feel like they have a good shot this year with him as the second guard.” The Cavaliers are led on the offense side by Donovan Mitchell who averaged 27.9 PPG, but is dealing with an ankle injury that has kept him sidelined for some time. On the defensive side the Cavaliers rely on their front court. Power forward Evan Mobley and center Jarrett Allen have been forces in the paint throughout their entire careers. They look to continue this defensive surge on Saturday against the Toronto Raptors.

Nuggets:
The Denver Nuggets are led by one of the all-time great big men of this generation, Nikola Jokic. Jokic is a slow moving, point center hybrid who already has won an NBA Championship. Jokic averages a triple double on efficient shooting. Even when he is not scoring, he has an immense effect on the game. Despite Jokic’s abilities, the key to this team’s success is in point guard Jamal Murray. Murray has averaged 18.9 PPG during his career, but that number shoots to 23.7 PPG in playoff games. Murray has been known throughout his career as a clutch scorer. His game takes another level in the playoffs which is what makes Denver such a threat. The combination of Murray and Jokic is almost unstoppable. The question for this Nuggets squad is whether or not this defense is up for the challenge. Many top scorers in the west such as Wembanyama and Gilgeous Alexander will pose a large threat for the Nuggets in the playoffs. Their playoff run will begin on Saturday against the Timberwolves.