Upset wave in playoffs
- Several lower seeds won Game 2s, including No.7 Portland over No.2 San Antonio and No.6 Minnesota over No.3 Denver. - Other surprises: No.7 Philadelphia beat No.2 Boston, and No.6 Atlanta beat No.3 New York. - Those upsets make the first round unusually volatile and reshape series expectations early in the postseason. (oklahoman.com)
Four lower seeds have already stolen Game 2s in the 2026 National Basketball Association playoffs, turning four first-round series into 1-1 ties before most teams have even played on the road. (nba.com) (espn.com) The No. 7 Philadelphia 76ers, No. 6 Atlanta Hawks, No. 6 Minnesota Timberwolves and No. 7 Portland Trail Blazers all evened their series in the first week of the postseason. ESPN’s bracket and the NBA’s official schedule both showed those matchups at 1-1 by April 23, 2026. (espn.com) (nba.com) That left only two first-round favorites with 2-0 leads entering April 23: the No. 1 Oklahoma City Thunder over the No. 8 Phoenix Suns and the No. 4 Cleveland Cavaliers over the No. 5 Toronto Raptors. The No. 1 Detroit Pistons also had to settle for a split after Orlando took Game 1 and Detroit answered in Game 2. (nba.com) (espn.com) In the National Basketball Association’s first round, the higher seed gets home court and hosts Games 1, 2, 5 and 7 in a best-of-seven series. A road win in either of the first two games flips that edge immediately, because the lower seed heads home with the series tied and control of the next two dates. (espn.com) That is where the bracket stood on April 23. Atlanta and Minnesota were scheduled to host Game 3s that night, while Philadelphia and Portland were set to host Game 3s on April 24. (nba.com) The early split is especially sharp for Portland and Philadelphia because both teams reached the bracket through the play-in route. ESPN reported Portland clinched a playoff berth by beating Phoenix in the play-in, and Philadelphia secured the East’s No. 7 seed on April 15 before drawing Boston. (espn.com) (nba.com) The calendar also compresses the stakes. The play-in tournament ran April 14-17, the first round began April 18, and by April 23 four favored teams had already lost home-court advantage in their series. (nba.com 1) (nba.com 2) The next two days were set to decide whether this opening jolt was a two-game blip or a real bracket shift. By the time Game 4s began on April 25 and April 26, every one of those lower seeds had a chance to turn an early upset into a series lead on its own floor. (nba.com)
