NBA Playoffs Kick Off with Historic LeBron-KD Matchup and Four Game 1s

Key Points

• Four Game 1 matchups tipped off the 2026 NBA playoffs on April 18.
• LeBron James and Kevin Durant face off with a combined 60,000+ career points, a playoff record.
• The Lakers-Rockets game is the day's marquee matchup on ABC.
• The team winning Game 1 historically wins the series 77.8% of the time.

Full Details

The NBA playoffs officially commenced on Saturday, April 18, featuring four first-round Game 1 matchups: Toronto Raptors at Cleveland Cavaliers (1 p.m. ET on Prime), Minnesota Timberwolves at Denver Nuggets (3:30 p.m. ET on Prime), Atlanta Hawks at New York Knicks (6 p.m. ET on Prime), and Houston Rockets at Los Angeles Lakers (8:30 p.m. ET on ABC). The opening night featured a historic storyline as the combined career point total of LeBron James and Kevin Durant now tops 60,000 points, the highest ever for a playoff pairing. Durant also entered the postseason with the fourth-most clutch points of the season (146). The Lakers-Rockets series marks a marquee Western Conference first-round matchup, with the team winning Game 1 historically having a 77.8% chance of winning the series. The playoffs follow the conclusion of the play-in tournament, which saw the Magic and Suns clinch the eighth seeds.