The conference semifinals open Tuesday with all four series tipping inside 36 hours. The bracket is wide open in a way it has not been for several seasons, and the seven days from May 5 through May 10 will resolve most of what we still do not know about June.

There is no clear headline series in this round, which is the point. The East and West each carry two genuinely competitive matchups with different tactical fingerprints, and the regular-season meetings give us a usable baseline for what the next week looks like. Below is the matchup-by-matchup read, with the schedule, the verifiable head-to-head, and the question each series resolves.

New York Knicks at Philadelphia 76ers, Game 1, Tuesday May 5

The Knicks took the regular-season series 4-2, including a 138-89 win at Madison Square Garden on February 12. The other meetings were closer: 112-109 NYK on January 24, 130-119 PHI on January 4, 116-107 PHI on December 20, 113-104 NYK on October 4, and 99-84 NYK on October 2. The pattern is real but not dominant. Every Knicks home result was decisive, every road game was within nine. The series question is whether the 76ers can hold home court for the two games they will get there. Game 2 follows Wednesday in Philadelphia. The series flips to Madison Square Garden for Game 3 Friday and Game 4 Sunday.

Oklahoma City Thunder at Los Angeles Lakers, Game 1, Tuesday May 5

There are no completed regular-season meetings between these two clubs in the 2025-26 cycle, so the H2H baseline is the playoff series itself. That makes Tuesday a closer-to-blank-slate Game 1 than most. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has carried the highest defensive-attention burden of any guard in the league across the spring, and the Lakers will rotate primary defenders against him through the series. The interesting tactical question is how the Lakers handle Oklahoma City's secondary actions when the first action gets blown up. That has been the Thunder's most consistent halfcourt asset across the playoffs. Game 2 is Thursday at the Lakers' building. Game 3 flips to OKC on Saturday.

Detroit Pistons at Cleveland Cavaliers, Game 1, Tuesday May 5

The regular-season record across our feed shows Cleveland 3, Detroit 1: 113-109 CLE on March 4, 114-110 DET on January 4, 116-95 CLE on October 27, and 118-100 CLE on October 14. Two of the four meetings were inside five points, and the two Cleveland blowouts came in the first month of the season when the Pistons rotation was still finding shape. The version of Detroit that arrives on Tuesday is the version that played 109 close enough in March to make the Cavaliers' coaching staff sit up. The Cavaliers carry home-court advantage. The question is whether Detroit can split the first two games on the road and force Cleveland to win in Auburn Hills. Game 2 Thursday, Game 3 Saturday in Detroit.

San Antonio Spurs at Minnesota Timberwolves, Game 1, Tuesday May 5

Minnesota leads the regular-season series 2-1: 125-112 MIN on December 1, 104-103 MIN on January 12, and 126-123 SAS on January 18, with the Spurs win being the only one of the three decided by more than two possessions. Minnesota's offense lives on Anthony Edwards getting downhill against switches, and Victor Wembanyama's recovery range out of switches is the cleanest defensive antidote any opponent has shown the Timberwolves this season. If Edwards cannot generate his usual rim pressure, Minnesota's halfcourt structure has to find a different shape across three games. Game 2 Wednesday, Game 3 Friday in San Antonio, Game 4 Sunday also in San Antonio.

What to watch league-wide

All four series are in Game 3 by Saturday, which is a compressed turnaround that punishes coaching staffs who are slow to adjust. Watch the bench rotations more than the box scores, and watch the late-clock defensive coverage in the closing minutes of close games. Three of these four series will be decided inside the final two minutes of Game 3 or Game 4.

For the full slate, see the NBA this week page. Live scores update every 30 seconds at /live.