Biggest Winners and Losers from 2026 NBA Playoffs Opening Weekend
The opening weekend of the 2026 NBA Playoffs is in the books. And all 16 teams in the dance already have games under their belts.
Most of the results were expected, but there's still plenty to analyze from each and every contest.
Below, we comb through it all through the lens of "winners and losers." Which players had the best weekends? Who had the worst?
We're here to answer those questions and more.
Loser: Brandon Ingram
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After he averaged 16.7 shots per game in the regular season, Brandon Ingram was held to just nine in the Toronto Raptors' loss on Saturday.
Some of that usage was redirected to trips to the line (he took 10 freebies), but the Cleveland Cavaliers also just did a solid job of keeping him out of the spots where he typically damages opponents, particularly after halftime.
"Well, coach wanted to use me as a screener," Ingram said of taking just one shot in the second half. "Also he noticed that my man wasn't coming off me so he wanted me outside of the action and being a receiver… At the end of the day, me shooting 9 shots is not going to win basketball games."
Technically, he may be wrong. In the regular season, Toronto was 5-4 in games in which Ingram took 11 or fewer shots. That's roughly the same winning percentage as the team had in all other games.
But Ingram is right in the sense that as his team's leading scorer, he can't allow himself to be neutralized to that degree. It sends pressure down the line, requiring his teammates to pick up slack they're not used to.
If the Raptors are going to come back and pull off this upset, Ingram absolutely has to produce more.
Winner: James Harden
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James Harden had a strong performance on Saturday, totaling 22 points and 10 assists, but it wasn't otherworldly (especially relative to his career peaks). And getting a comfortable win without a huge night from Harden has to be reassuring for both him and Cleveland's fans.
This may be the least responsibility Harden has had for a playoff team since he was a sixth man for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Much off the offensive pressure is on Donovan Mitchell. Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen are carrying the burden on the other end.
Harden can focus more on simply setting up others and taking shots as they come to him.
And this specific situation may present his best shot at a title run, again, since those OKC days.
Loser: Anthony Edwards
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Anthony Edwards didn't have a terrible performance in the Minnesota Timberwolves' Saturday loss to the Denver Nuggets, but it was clear that he wasn't quite as explosive vertically or laterally, thanks to a bout with runner's knee.
For a volume scorer who's such an integral part of his team's attack, that injury could be a huge deal.
Edwards carries a huge offensive burden. Doing it on a sub-100 percent knee could add physical and psychological stress to an already stressful role.
It could also make him an easier target for Denver's perimeter attackers, like Jamal Murray and Tim Hardaway Jr.
This certainly doesn't doom the Timberwolves. The team's defensive foundation is strong. And this is the kind of injury that could feel a little better on some days than others. But it will absolutely make it tougher to pull off the upset.
Winner: Jamal Murray
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The last time Denver and Minnesota met in the playoffs, the T'Wolves' athleticism and physicality caused Jamal Murray all kinds of problems. At 18.4, he averaged as many shots as points in that series. His assist-to-turnover ratio wasn't inspiring either.
But on Saturday, Murray totaled 30 points without hitting a single three. And he got to that number by meeting pressure with pressure. He was aggressive. He attacked, and he took 16 free throws.
And if that performance was any indication that Murray learned some lessons from Minnesota eliminating him in 2024, Denver should be in solid shape for this first round.
Loser: Jonathan Kuminga
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Jonathan Kuminga spent much of his time with the Golden State Warriors pining for a bigger, more glamorous role.
The further we get into this tenure with the Atlanta Hawks, the clearer it seems that that ole wasn't waiting for him there.
Kuminga averaged fewer minutes as a Hawk than he did as a Warrior this season. And on Saturday, he made his Atlanta playoff debut by scoring eight points on 3-of-7 shooting. In 27 minutes, he had four rebounds, an assist and no steals or blocks in the loss.
Kuminga's inability to affect a game outside the scoring column plagued him with the Warriors, and it appears that's still the case now.
As long as the Hawks have this seemingly undeveloped version of Kuminga coming off the bench, they'll have a hard time stringing together wins against the higher-seeded New York Knicks.
Winner: Josh Hart
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Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson are obviously the New York Knicks' best players. Each had solid games in New York's win on Saturday, but they didn't really do anything out of their ordinaries.
Josh Hart maybe didn't either, but his often-unheralded contributions deserve a little heralding.
For years, particularly since he joined the Knicks, Hart has been one of the league's quintessential "does all the little things" guys, and that was on vivid display against the Hawks.
Hart had 14 rebounds, five assists and three steals. The only players in NBA history to hit all three of those marks in a playoff game while being Hart's height (6'5") or shorter? Russell Westbrook, Baron Davis, Fat Lever, Rajon Rondo and Jason Kidd.
Because Hart is so willing to scrap for rebounds, create for others, jump passing lanes or guard the opposition's toughest perimeter player, often at the expense of his own scoring opportunities, players like KAT and Brunson have a lot more freedom to just focus on putting the ball through the hoop.
And that balance is a big part of why New York is a championship contender.
Loser: Ime Udoka
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It's not fair to lay all the blame for the Houston Rockets' performance on Saturday at head coach Ime Udoka's feet. At a certain point, young players have to take a little ownership of their development and performance. And Kevin Durant's late scratch was obviously a disaster. Any team would struggle offensively without its best offensive player.
But the loss to the Los Angeles Lakers also highlighted some things Rockets fans have worried about all season.
First, Udoka's offense is just far too unimaginative. It's not as obvious when KD is on the floor, since he can bail out most possessions with a contested mid-range jumper. Before Steven Adams went down, an absurd offensive rebounding rate helped mask the deficiencies, too.
But without Durant, all the attempts to score in isolation looked, to put it charitably, laborious.
"They just play one-on-one basketball," Charles Barkley said after the game. "They don't run plays… what are they doing? Whoever gets it shoots it… they have KD to cover up all their flaws… I have no idea what kind of offense they are running… it was awful to watch."
And at this point, it may be too late to change philosophies.
The other glaring problem is the apparent lack of development from some of the younger core players.
Despite Houston going 17-4 in games Reed Sheppard started this season, it took Udoka way too long to embrace that role for his young guard. Had he made that move sooner, Sheppard would be more prepared for today's responsibility.
Alperen Şengün, Amen Thompson and Jabari Smith Jr. all looked overwhelmed without Durant to save individual possessions, too.
And though he could come back and help Houston still beat the injury-plagued Lakers, Saturday's game didn't inspire much confidence that the Rockets would have a chance against the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round.
Winner: Luke Kennard
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There's a very strong case to go with LeBron James for the Los Angeles Lakers. But even at 41 years old, a line like his (he had 19 points, 13 assists, eight rebounds, two steals and a block) is almost expected.
We shouldn't take what he's doing at his age for granted, but at this point, at seems like he's going to just keep on doing it in perpetuity.
The more shocking performance came from Luke Kennard, who helped make up for the absence of Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves by playing 38 minutes, dropping 27 points and making all five of his three-point attempts.
Over the last four regular seasons, Kennard hit 46.4 percent of his long-range attempts, but four different teams relegated him to pretty small roles (at least in terms of minutes), and he averaged 9.1 points in 22.7 minutes.
This performance was an announcement that he may be capable of more, even after Luka and Reaves come back.
Flanking those two with a flamethrower like Kennard, assuming L.A. can get past Houston, could make the Lakers a trickier matchup for the Thunder than previously thought.
Loser: Joel Embiid
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It's obviously not Joel Embiid's fault he had to have an emergency appendectomy on the eve of the playoffs. We're not dubbing him a "loser" in that sense.
But it had to have been nightmarish for him, after all the springs that have been affected by random injuries and illnesses, to watch his Philadelphia 76ers get trounced in Game 1 by the Boston Celtics.
Philly looked almost hopeless on both ends against a motivated Boston team peaking at just the right time. And even if there is some off chance that Embiid could be back on his feet and playing by the end of the series, the Sixers figure to be in a pretty deep hole.
It looks like, for the 12th time in Embiid's 12 seasons, his team will be headed home before the conference finals.
Boston Celtics: Jayson Tatum
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When Jayson Tatum went down with a ruptured Achilles during last year's series against the New York Knicks, it would've been safe to assume he'd miss the entirety of the 2025-26 campaign.
Roughly 11 months later, Tatum isn't just back in action. He somehow managed to play over 500 minutes in the regular season and looked almost indistinguishable from his old self in a playoff game.
Boston crushed Philadelphia by 32 points, and Tatum sent for 25, 11 rebounds, seven assists and two steals in 32 minutes.
Afterward, he said he felt, "excited, and relaxed, and grateful," to be back on this stage. And it looks like, as long as Embiid remains out, this could be a perfect series for him to readjust to playoff basketball.
By the time it's over, we may be looking at the Celtics as the prohibitive favorite in the East.
Loser: Collin Gillespie
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It was a rough postseason debut for Collin Gillespie on Sunday.
After starting 58 games in the regular season, he suddenly came off the bench in three of his last four games. He remained in that role against the Oklahoma City Thunder and wasn't able to do much to suggest his coach was wrong to demote him.
Gillespie was a crucial part of Phoenix's turnaround. He averaged 12.7 points and 4.6 assists, while shooting 40.1 percent from deep. But on Sunday, he was a team-worst minus-35 in just 23 minutes.
When he was on the floor, OKC was able to score at will. And it looks like the size and physicality of the Thunder's backcourt could make playing Gillespie in this series a challenge.
Winner: Jalen Williams
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Injuries have been the theme of this season for Jalen Williams, who only managed 33 appearances, saw his scoring average dip 4.5 points and had his three-point percentage plummet from 36.5 in 2024-25 to 29.9 in 2025-26.
But on Sunday, he looked exactly like the dominant defender and secondary playmaker that helped OKC win the title a year ago. He was all over the floor, overwhelmed the Suns matched up with him and finished with 22 points, seven rebounds and six assists in just 29 minutes.
The performance came against the eighth-seeded Suns. Things are going to get more challenging for Williams, but the Thunder's chances of repeating are obviously much better if he continues to look like he did this weekend.
Winner: Paolo Banchero
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Sunday's matchup between the top-seeded Detroit Pistons and the "snuck in through the play-in" Orlando Magic turned into an absolute slobberknocker.
And while plenty of the Pistons' opponents this season have wilted in the face of their physicality, the game tilting that way may have been exactly what Orlando wanted.
The Magic have several players seemingly engineered for that kind of contest, including Jalen Suggs, Desmond Bane and especially Paolo Banchero.
"Inefficiency" and "on-off" have been unavoidable buzz words throughout Banchero's four-year career, but in a matchup that was reduced to which side could simply play bigger and stronger, the 6'10", 250-pound forward thrived.
Banchero had a team-high 23 points, shot 8-of-15 from the field, grabbed eight boards and had four assists.
And as long as the Pistons are OK with playing this kind of basketball-meets-wrestling-style series, Banchero has the tools to be its best player.
Loser: Jalen Duren
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Jalen Duren spent most of this season as the one doing the bullying, but he couldn't against the Orlando Magic.
It's not that Duren had a terrible game, he just didn't have an actively good one. And he wasn't able to be the tone-setter he typically is.
Duren finished with eight points on 3-of-4 shooting, had seven rebounds and was a team-worst minus-21. His individual matchup, Wendell Carter Jr., had 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
If Duren continues to get outmuscled for the rest of this series, there's a real chance Detroit could get upset by the eighth-seeded Magic.
Loser: Jrue Holiday
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Jrue Holiday had some good moments on Sunday. He finished the Portland Trail Blazers' 111-98 loss to the San Antonio Spurs with 11 assists. His perimeter defense was a factor in De'Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle shooting a combined 11-of-28 from the field.
But on balance, he looked like a soon-to-be-36-year-old point guard trying to keep up with the speed and physicality of one of the most explosive young backcourts in the NBA, finished with nine points on 4-of-15 shooting and was minus-seven for the game.
Holiday was a crucial member of two different championship teams in relatively recent history, but this series could prove that he's officially post-post-prime. And even with Scoot Henderson (who had an encouraging 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting) in the rotation, it looks like Portland could be at a pretty severe physical disadvantage in the backcourt.
Winner: Victor Wembanyama
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Victor Wembanyama's postseason debut was undoubtedly a success.
He didn't look remotely rattled by playoff intensity. His size overwhelmed the Blazers inside. He hit five threes. All told, he had 35 points on 13-of-21 shooting, blocked two shots and was on the right side of the plus-minus ledger in San Antonio's win.
As usual, his game was a genuine spectacle.
And what may be scariest for Portland is the fact that there are a couple areas where Wemby can certainly be better.
He only had five rebounds. He had one assist to four turnovers. All three columns affect the possession battle, and Wemby just wasn't good as there as he typically is.
If he cleans that up, it's hard to imagine the Blazers winning a single game.
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