Historic performances. Wild swings. And both series are far from over.
Through the first week of the Conference Finals, the NBA has delivered. The East features one of the great comeback stories of this postseason. The West features a performance for the history books. Here is where things stand heading into the weekend.
Eastern Conference Finals: New York Knicks lead Cleveland Cavaliers 2-0
Game 1: The Comeback
The Cavaliers led by 22 points with 7:52 left in Game 1. They lost.
Jalen Brunson scored 38 points and orchestrated one of the great late-game runs in recent playoff memory - a 44-11 Knicks surge to close the fourth quarter and push the game to overtime, where New York finished the job 115-104. The Cavs shot 22 percent over the final stretch. That is not a fluke. That is a team that ran out of answers against a Knicks group that simply refused to fold.
Donovan Mitchell scored 29 points for Cleveland, and it was not enough. The Cavs had the game. They let it go. It was the second-biggest fourth-quarter playoff comeback in the last 30 years, and the Knicks were on the right side of it.
Game 2: No Drama Needed
If Game 1 was a gut punch, Game 2 was a statement. New York did not need a miracle this time. An 18-0 run in the third quarter put the Knicks up 71-53 and they never looked back in a 109-93 win. Brunson finished with 14 assists - a playoff career high. Josh Hart scored 26 points off the bench - another career playoff high.
Mitchell scored 26 and Harden added 18, but neither was enough to make a dent in a Knicks team that looked completely in control. Cleveland is now 0-2 and has to come back from a two-game deficit for the second consecutive series.
Where Things Stand
The Cavs showed in the second round that they can win on the road when they have to. They beat Detroit in Game 7 in Detroit. They have not quit. But the Knicks have not given them anything to work with - not a close game, not a moment of uncertainty, not a reason to believe the series is anything other than what it looks like.
Game 3 is Saturday, May 23 at 8 ET in Cleveland. The Cavs need it badly. My pick is still Knicks in 6, but Cleveland has to respond or this becomes academic.
Western Conference Finals: Oklahoma City Thunder lead San Antonio Spurs 2-1
Game 1: Wemby Joins the History Books
Victor Wembanyama put together one of the great Conference Finals performances in NBA history. In a double-overtime classic that the Spurs won 122-115, Wemby finished with 41 points, 24 rebounds, and 3 blocks - joining Wilt Chamberlain as the only players ever to post 40 points and 20 rebounds in a Conference Finals debut. That is the company he is keeping.
It was not just Wemby. Dylan Harper scored 24 points with 11 rebounds, 6 assists, and 7 steals - becoming the first rookie to post that combination in a playoff game since Magic Johnson in 1980. Two rookies, one instant classic, and a result that announced the Spurs were not here to fill space.
Game 2: The Thunder Answer
OKC did what great teams do after a bad loss. They responded. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander bounced back from a quiet Game 1 to score 30 points, Alex Caruso added 17 off the bench, and the Thunder won 122-113 to even the series. The story of Game 2 was the bench - OKC outscored San Antonio 57-25 off the pine and turned a 27-10 edge in points off turnovers into a comfortable win.
Wemby had 21 points, 17 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 blocks even in a loss. Stephon Castle scored 25 for the Spurs. Neither was enough.
Game 3: OKC's Bench Takes Over Again
The Thunder went into San Antonio and won 123-108, taking a 2-1 series lead behind a franchise-record 76 bench points. Jared McCain led the way with 24. Jaylin Williams added 18. Caruso had 15. Cason Wallace chipped in 11. All five Spurs starters reached double figures - Wemby scored 26, Devin Vassell added 20 - but San Antonio had no answer for OKC's depth.
Where Things Stand
The Spurs are down 2-1 but far from done. Wemby is averaging numbers that belong in a different era of basketball, and San Antonio has shown they can win in Oklahoma City. But OKC's bench depth is a real problem for the Spurs - you cannot game-plan for 76 bench points, and if the Thunder keep getting that kind of production from their reserves, it is hard to see how San Antonio wins four games.
Game 4 is Sunday, May 24 at 8 ET in San Antonio. The Spurs need to protect home court. If they can get to 2-2, this series becomes exactly what we hoped it would be.
The Big Picture
Both series have delivered. The Knicks are controlling the East the way I expected, and the West is giving us the back-and-forth battle that the OKC-Spurs matchup always promised. Wemby and Brunson have had two of the best individual performances of this postseason in the same week.
Make your picks at Crystal Ball Picks - Game 3 in Cleveland is Saturday, May 23, and Game 4 in San Antonio is Sunday, May 24.
