The NBA Conference semifinals are underway

The GIST: With an epic first round done and dusted, the NBA conference semifinals have arrived and are already bringing the early upsets. No more horsing around.

Eastern Conference: In the latest example that the 90s are so back, the NY Knicks and Indiana Pacers face off in Game 1 tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET. Jalen Brunson’s gritty Big Apple squad has been setting the pace, but can NY’s battered roster shut down Indy’s resident Hercules, Tyrese Haliburton? TBD.

• Elsewhere, the Cleveland Cavaliers punched their first semis ticket since LeBron James departed in 2018, defeating the Orlando Magic 106–94 in Game 7 yesterday.

• The reward for Donovan Mitchell’s heroics? A matchup with the regular-season best (and well-rested) Boston Celtics, starting in Boston tomorrow at 7 p.m. ET.

Western Conference: Anthony Edwards scored 43 points to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves to a feisty Game 1 win over the defending champion Denver Nuggets on Saturday — no small feat in the Mile High arena. Now trailing in a playoff series for the first time since 2022, the Nugs will try to defend home court tonight at 10 p.m. ET.

• Then tomorrow at 9:30 p.m. ET, rising stars will collide when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s Oklahoma City Thunder host Luka Dončić’s Dallas Mavericks. Two MVP contenders facing off in the second round? Say less.