Sports
The NHL is back at the Olympics! Everything you need to know about hockey in Milan-Cortina
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Ryan S. Clark
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Kristen Shilton
For the first time since 2014, NHL players will be competing in the Olympic Games — minus those who call Russia home.
On the women’s side, the best players have been participating without restriction this whole time.
You might have several questions based on those two sentences.
ESPN reporters Ryan S. Clark and Kristen Shilton are here with answers to those — and many more about the format, favorites, etc. — as the start of the Milan-Cortina Games approaches in early February.
When do the tournaments begin?
As pop poet laureate Taylor Swift would say: Baby, let the Games begin!
In this 25th iteration of the iconic winter sports showcase, hockey’s best will compete over 18 days. The women’s side kicks things off Feb. 5, with round-robin action extending to Feb. 10. The men get started Feb. 11 with their own round-robin going until Feb. 18.
Quarterfinals for the women will open Feb. 13, and the men will have qualification playoff games starting Feb. 17. Further quarterfinal and semifinal matchups will follow, leading into medal rounds slated for Feb. 19 (both bronze and gold on the women’s end) and then Feb. 21 (bronze) and Feb. 22 (gold) for the men. — Shilton
Which countries are competing?
Twelve nations will compete in the men’s division, while 10 nations will comprise the women’s division.
Men’s hockey was first introduced as an Olympic sport during the 1920 Summer Olympics, but was then made a permanent sport at the 1924 Winter Games.
Canada was the first nation to win gold in men’s hockey, winning four consecutively; in total, Canada has won gold nine times — the most of any nation. The U.S. is tied for third all time with two gold medals, while its eight silver medals are the most of any nation in men’s hockey.
Finland enters the tournament as the reigning men’s champion, with the nation winning its first-ever gold in 2022. The Finns are seeking to become the first country since Canada in 2010 and 2014 to win consecutive gold medals. It’ll try to pull off that achievement in a field that will also feature Canada, Czechia, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland and the U.S.
Women’s hockey was introduced at the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, Japan.
The U.S. was the first country to win gold in women’s hockey when it defeated Canada. Since then, there has been just one Olympics (2006 Torino) in which the gold medal game hasn’t been played between the two North American rivals. The Canadians won their first gold in 2002, and kept those gold medals coming until they were defeated by the U.S. in 2018 in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Canada would strike back in 2022 to win its fifth gold medal in six tries.
Both Canada and the U.S., which are the only countries to win a gold medal in women’s hockey, are back in 2026. They’ll be joined by Czechia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Sweden and Switzerland. — Clark
Why is it a big deal that NHL players are participating on the men’s side?
The NHL is back competing at the Olympics for the first time since the 2014 event in Sochi. There had been league players participating at the Winter Olympics since 1998, but the NHL eventually had a change of heart about being involved. The NHL opted to stop taking Olympic breaks, disallowing its athletes from going to the 2018 showcase.
There were a number of reasons for that choice cited by NHL officials, ranging from pricing and cost issues with the International Olympic Committee and International Ice Hockey Federation (particularly when it came to insurance, travel and lodging). Furthermore, there was consideration for the impact of shutting down for a month on the NHL’s bottom line, not to mention the logistical gymnastics involved in a shortened season. Basically, the NHL owners didn’t think there was enough benefit to seeing their players suit up for their countries.
It wasn’t until the NHLPA pushed back at the collective bargaining table and worked Olympic participation back into the labor laws that it became an option once again. NHL players were slated to return for the 2022 Games, but because of widespread COVID-19 outbreaks at that time, the league stepped in and barred its players again — this time for health reasons — from heading to Beijing.
Those days are behind us now though. The NHL is all-in, and ready to build on the best-on-best momentum from last February’s 4 Nations Face-Off — Shilton
What is the format of the tournament, and what rules are different from the NHL’s?
The tournament is straightforward for the women: 10 countries will be represented, spread across two groups of five teams each. All teams will play each other once in preliminary action. From there, all five teams from Group A and the top three teams from Group B will advance to the quarterfinals. Standard knockout rules apply once the round-robin is done.
The men’s situation is a tad more complex.
We’ve already covered some of the basics: There are 12 teams competing, seeded across three groups of four. Each team will play three round-robin games. When that preliminary round ends, all 12 clubs will be reranked according to a specific system: Which team had the higher position in the group, which had more points, which had the better goal differential, which had the higher number of goals scored and which had a higher IIHF ranking in 2020.
At that point, teams rated 1-4 will have a bye into the quarterfinals. Teams 5-12 will participate in a qualifying round that pits 5 vs. 12, 6 vs. 11, 7 vs. 10 and 8 vs. 9. The four winners from that mini tournament will advance to the quarterfinals, where the matchup system (highest vs. lowest seed) will carry on. Ditto into the semifinals, and then the gold and bronze medal games will be played by the winners and losers of the semis. The team with the higher preliminary round ranking will be considered the home squad in each final round game.
There will also be some differences from what rules and procedures govern the NHL.
The Olympic event’s outcomes will be run by a points system: three for the winning team in regulation, zero for the losing team in regulation, two for the winning team in overtime or a shootout and one for the losing team in overtime or a shootout. During the preliminary action, overtime will last five minutes before the sides go to a shootout. At the Olympics, there will be five preliminary shooters per side instead of the NHL’s usual three. In qualifying, quarterfinal and semifinal games, there will be a 10-minute overtime followed by a shootout. In medal rounds, overtime periods will last 20 minutes until someone scores.
Intermissions will also be shorter — 15 minutes, as opposed to 18 in the NHL. Men’s teams can bring 25 skaters (including three goalies) and ice a game-day roster of 20 players.
Oh, and as always, there is no fighting allowed at the Olympics (or any IIHF hockey events). Sorry, Tkachuk brothers! — Shilton
What’s the latest on the construction of a new rink?
Creating the space where both male and female players will compete has been an arduous process ahead of these Games. Various delays put laborers behind schedule, and by mid-December — just seven weeks from when the women’s hockey teams are slated to start playing — the ice surface inside Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena had not been installed.
The IOC executive board has made assurances that the arena will be ready by February, even though previously planned pre-Olympic events to test out the pending ice surface had to be canceled. There are reported to be thousands of workers on site around the clock each day to ensure the final deadlines are made.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has repeatedly said the NHL had nothing to do with the arena construction process, and deputy commissioner Bill Daly reiterated recently that the safety of NHL players remains the league’s primary concern when it comes to any arena setbacks. — Shilton
What happens if the rink isn’t finished? Is there a deadline for a decision?
Officially, there is no Plan B if the Milano Santaguila rink isn’t finished in time and deemed safe for the athletes. In order for the NHL to make that designation, there has to be some kind of hockey played in the arena so that ice can be tested on its own and when the 16,000-person capacity venue has actual people inside. Bettman and Daly have both stated that if the league doesn’t feel the rink is adequately prepared and vetted they will not send players as planned.
NHL officials have been on the ground in Milan to see what progress there has been, and on one of those trips discovered the size of the ice surface will measure 196.85 feet by 85.3 feet, something the IIHF agreed upon but was a surprise to the league (which has its own standard rinks at 200 feet by 85 feet). International tournaments have been played on smaller ice surfaces than that in the past, but this will be shorter and wider than what athletes have experienced before. The IIHF defended itself against any backlash while moving ahead with their plans.
“While these dimensions differ slightly from a typical NHL rink, they are consistent with IIHF regulations, match the rink size used at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games and are fully consistent with the dimensions the NHL requires as part of its Global Series Game arena specifications,” the federation said in a statement. “All involved — the IIHF, the organizing committee, NHL, NHLPA, International Olympic Committee and the relevant venue authorities — agree that the differences in rink specifications are insignificant and should not impact either the safety or quality of game play.”
Still, it’s yet another wrench in an increasingly stressful situation for both Olympic organizers and men’s and women’s league executives who want to see their players properly showcased but without risking their health in the process.
“We have offered [to help with the construction] and they are utilizing our ice experts and technicians and outside providers,” Daly said. “We’re basically moving everybody there to try to help get this done in a way that is acceptable for NHL athletes.”
There has been no publicly announced cut-off date as of yet that would indicate how much runway the organizers have before the NHL or any of the women’s teams would drop out of the tournament. — Shilton
Who are some of the top women’s players who I need to know?
Canada is expected to be led by its established stars, and that starts with its captain Marie-Philip Poulin. She’s a three-time Olympic gold medalist, a four-time women’s world champion, the reigning IIHF Women’s Player of the Year, and is considered to be one of the greatest players of all time.
Poulin is just one of two Player of the Year recipients who are expected to play for Canada. Natalie Spooner won the award in 2024 and has won two Olympic golds and three world championships. Canada’s bid for a consecutive gold medal is also likely to be heavily bolstered by other stars such as Erin Ambrose, Renata Fast, Sarah Fillier, Brianne Jenner, Sarah Nurse and Blayre Turnbull.
The U.S. has its own collection of stars who will be led by captain Hilary Knight. She is a four-time Olympic medalist who was part of the U.S. team that won gold in 2018 and is also a 10-time world champion. Knight was the first recipient of the IIHF Women’s Player of the Year back in 2023.
America’s path for a gold is also expected to feature Alex Carpenter, Kendall Coyne Schofield, Britta Curl-Salemme, Aerin Frankel and Lee Stecklein. Laila Edwards and Caroline Harvey, teammates at the University of Wisconsin, are also expected to be on the roster.
Outside of the North American powers, there’s Finland duo Jenni Hiirikoski and Michelle Karvinen, who are considered to be two of the best players in the world. Switzerland’s Alina Muller might be a familiar name, with the forward winning a bronze medal when she was 15 at the 2014 Olympics.
Another country to watch is Czechia, which has been among the top four women’s teams over the past four years because of players such as Kristyna Kaltounkova, Natalie Mlynkova, Katerina Mrazova and Aneta Tejralova. — Clark
Who are the key non-NHL players to know on the men’s side?
The U.S., Canada, Finland and Sweden are expected to field rosters that exclusively feature NHL players. Although it’s possible Finland could have to rely on skaters playing elsewhere considering how many expected roster players are out because of injury, led by Florida Panthers star Aleksander Barkov.
Czechia, Germany and Switzerland will have NHL players on their respective rosters but will need players from leagues beyond the NHL in order to field a full team. Czechia is expected to rely on Ondrej Beranek, Roman Cervenka and Jakub Flek, along with other players who have previous NHL experience like Libor Hajek, Michal Kempny and Dominik Kubalik.
Switzerland could be an under-the-radar medal threat. In addition to NHL players like Nico Hischier and Timo Meier, it also has players who either have NHL experience or have played in North American leagues. It’s a group that consists of Sven Andrighetto, Dean Kukan and Denis Malgin. There are also players who’ve stayed in Europe for their whole careers such as Swiss goalie Leonardo Genoni, a veteran of nearly 90 games for his country at the senior level. — Clark
Who are the medal favorites?
Part of what made the 4 Nations Face-Off intriguing is that it was seen as a dress rehearsal for the Olympics. Canada and the U.S. were the heavy favorites and showed why with Canada winning in overtime in the final. The tight margins between those two teams is more evidence that either could win the men’s tournament. That narrative was enhanced by the U.S. winning its first men’s world championships gold medal since 1960 this past spring.
HISTORY MADE. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 92 YEARS, TEAM USA IS BRINGING HOME THE #MENSWORLDS GOLD 🇺🇸🏆 pic.twitter.com/4qqRdIc3VF
— USA Hockey (@usahockey) May 25, 2025
That said, Czechia, Finland and Sweden all have a strong history of finding cohesion at numerous international tournaments en route to either winning gold or being somewhere on the podium. And as noted above, Switzerland could build upon its consecutive second-place finishes at the two most recent men’s world championships and parlay that into a place on the medal stand.
On the women’s side, the U.S. and Canada are considered to be the two strongest nations when it comes to talent and infrastructure, and they enter the tournament as the favorites for gold.
That’s not to suggest that others won’t force the issue and give the Olympics its second-ever gold medal game that isn’t played between Canada and the U.S.; the two most likely candidates to do so appear to be Finland and Czechia.
Finland has won bronze in three of the four most recent Olympics. The Finns have also won bronze in the two most recent women’s world championships.
Both of those third-place finishes for Finland were against a surging Czechia. The 2022 Olympics was Czechia’s first time at the Games, and they finished seventh. They were the bronze medalists at the women’s world championships in 2022 and 2023, losing the bronze to Finland the past two years. — Clark
Why isn’t Russia in the tournament?
The IOC is continuing its ban on teams from Russia (and Belarus) competing in both men’s and women’s hockey at the 2026 Games. This will be the second straight Olympics where those countries won’t be represented in group sports, although certain individual athletes will be allowed to compete as Individual Neutral Athletes.
The IOC initially had its executive board call for sanctions against Russia in response to their invasion of Ukraine — with Belarus’ support — in 2022. Those recommendations were made in 2023, and consequently Russia and Belarus were barred from the summer 2024 Games in Paris. The IOC asked the IIHF for a projected schedule and groupings in May for the 2026 Games, making their decision to uphold the previous recommendations against Russia and Belarus at the end of that month.
This isn’t the first time the IOC has taken a stance against Russia. When a state-sponsored doping program was exposed there in 2016, the IOC and World Doping Agency determined as punishment that Russia’s name, flag and anthem be banned from all upcoming Games. As such, Russia’s last two Olympic teams competed as “Olympic Athletes from Russia” in 2018 and “Russia Olympic Committee” in 2022. — Shilton
Just under a month ago, Maryland Terrapins guard Oluchi Okanawa went viral for an intense moment with her coach Brenda Frese in their 74-66 loss to the North Carolina Tar Heels in the NCAA Women’s Basketball tournament.
Now, she is headlining what appears to be a rebuild of the Nigeria women’s basketball program.
Okananwa, the Terrapins star player, was having a dreadful third quarter where she turned the ball over multiple times, missed three free throws and missed a layup before getting yanked by Frese.
What followed turned out to be one of the most viral moments of March Madness. Frese went forehead-to-forehead with the guard in an intense coaching moment, telling her star Terrapin “I believe in you, but you got to want this moment!”
Oluchi went back into the game, immediately scored, got a steal and ended up with 21 points in a remarkable turnaround. She said after the game that she welcomed the intensity of the coaching moment.
“Coach understands I’m a competitor at heart,” she said. “I’ve told her this before, and I’ll keep on telling her this forever. I love to be coached hard. That’s what she does with me every single day.”
Less than four weeks later, Okananwa is now top of the list on the Nigeria women’s basketball team, as they named a 21-player training camp roster ahead of a series of friendlies against WNBA opposition, part of preparations for the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in Berlin.
Far from routine, the squad named by head coach Rena Wakama, appears to be a clear indication that D’Tigress are fully in refresh season, with a wave of NCAA-based players called up, led by Okananwa and Texas Tech’s Stephanie Okechukwu, the tallest player in the history of NCAA women’s basketball at 7 feet 1 inch.
Both players are part of a total of 15 players on that roster picked from fourteen different US programs. Of those, Okananwa and Okechukwu are the undisputed picks of a bunch spanning Power Four programs, the Ivy League and the junior college ranks.
It is the most concentrated draw on the NCAA pipeline in D’Tigress history and comes in the wake of the departure of former captain Sarah Ogoke, as the NBBF looks to lower the age of the team with players like Ezinne Kalu, Promise Amukamara, and Victoria Macaulay the other side of 30.
Okananwa, a junior, earned AP and WBCA All-America honorable mention honors this season after averaging 17.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and a Big Ten-leading 74 steals in 33 starts for the Terrapins. She led Maryland in scoring in 28 of 33 games and reached 20 points or more in 14 outings.
With her talent, Okananwa could well be the face and future of Nigeria women’s basketball.
Okechukwu, the 7-foot-1 center from Umunneochi, Nigeria, who attended high school in Japan, signed with Texas Tech in January as the tallest player in the history of NCAA women’s basketball.
She did not play during the 2025-26 season due to NCAA eligibility complications related to her academic transcripts, but remains enrolled at Texas Tech and is expected to compete beginning next season.
Stanford are the only program to contribute more than one player. They are Shay Ijiwoye, a sophomore guard from Phoenix, Arizona, who appeared in 32 games for the Cardinals last season, averaging 2.7 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists.
Her teammate Nora Ezike, a freshman forward from La Grange, Illinois, made her Nigeria debut at the FIBA U19 World Cup in Brno, Czechia, last July, where she opened with 25 points on 8-for-8 shooting in Nigeria’s first-ever U19 World Cup victory against China. She played in nine games off the Stanford bench in 2025-26.
Another addition is Uche Izoje, who may be college basketball’s most compelling origin story. The 6-foot-3 center from Asaba, Delta State, left Nigeria at age 13 to play basketball in Japan, spent two seasons with Chanson V-Magic in the Women’s Japan Basketball League as a two-time All-Star and 2024 Rookie of the Year, then arrived in the United States for the first time to play at Syracuse.
In her debut college season she averaged 15.6 points, 9.2 rebounds and a conference-leading 2.6 blocks per game, capping a standout debut season by winning ACC Rookie of the Year and going on to score 23 points in 25 minutes against Iowa State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Hall of Famer Geno Auriemma called her “the best player we’ve seen this year.”
Miami freshman forward Danielle Osho, a four-star recruit from Dacula, Georgia and a two-time Georgia state high school champion, also earns a call-up. Osho averaged 2.5 points and 2.9 rebounds in her first college season with the Hurricanes.
Despite the seemingly overwhelming number of NCAA-related rookies, the squad is held together by an experienced core of vets that include Kalu, Amukamara, Macaulay, Nicole Enabosi and Pallas Kunayi-Akpanah.
But they are also missing just as much experience, including the leadership of captain Amy Okonkwo, who signed a training camp contract with the Dallas Wings after averaging 11.0 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.4 steals across eight appearances in her WNBA debut with the franchise in 2025.
Elizabeth Balogun is in a similar position with the Toronto Tempo. Murjanatu Musa is also absent, competing instead with Basket Landes at the EuroLeague Women’s Final Six in Zaragoza, Spain, where she is in the running for the MVP in only her first season in that competition.
Despite this influx of largely young and untested players, Kunayi-Akpanah says the objective for those three games in the States is clear.
“These aren’t just exhibition games,” she said. “These are games for us to test our plays, our systems and how we communicate under pressure. Basically, everything we’ve been building. All is to arrive in our best shape for the World Cup in September.”
D’Tigress face the Los Angeles Sparks on April 25, the Minnesota Lynx on April 27, and the Indiana Fever on May 2 as part of their preparations for the 2026 FIBA World Cup, which begins September 4 in Berlin, Germany.
Nigeria qualified as AfroBasket champions, but were still required to take part in World Cup qualifying tournament where they went 2-3.
Still, those results were sufficient to maintain their eighth-place standing in the FIBA Women’s World Rankings with 700.3 points and D’Tigress remain the only African nation ranked inside the global top 10.
Full training camp roster:
Promise Amukamara, Shay Ijiwoye, Donanu Regina, Jerni Kiaku, Ezinne Kalu, Oluchi Okananwa, Gabby White, Nora Ezike, Victoria Macaulay, Vivian Iwuchukwu, Pallas Kunayi-Akpanah, Suzie Rafiu, Danielle Osho, Nicole Enabosi, Maryam Dauda, Rita Igbokwe, Stephanie Okechukwu, Uche Izoje, Vera Ojenuwa, Favour Nwaedozi and Blessing Ejiofor.
D’Tigress College Future:
Shay Ijiwoye – Stanford
Donanu Regina – Barton Community College
Jerni Kiaku – Indiana University Hoosiers
Oluchi Okananwa – Maryland
Gabby White – UVA transferring to UNC
Nora Ezike – Stanford
Vivian Iwuchukwu – USC Trojans
Suzie Rafiu – Columbia University
Danielle Osho – Miami Hurricanes
Maryam Dauda – U South Carolina Gamecocks
Rita Igbokwe – Ole Miss
Stephanie Okechukwu – Texas
Uche Izoje – Syracuse
Vera Ojenuwa – UGA
Favour Nwaedozi – Mississippi State
Notre Dame and Villanova will play a men’s and women’s basketball doubleheader Nov. 1 in Rome to open the season.
The universities are promoting the matchups as a chance to celebrate their shared mission and heritage as Catholic schools. The jointly hosted event will include “special programming that brings together academics, athletics and spirituality,” Villanova said in its announcement.
“From academic engagement and cultural immersion to shared worship and athletics, this journey offers a profound opportunity to grow in mind, body and spirit,” said the Rev. Peter Donohue, Villanova’s school president.
The schools said the election of Pope Leo XIV, an Augustinian friar and Villanova alumnus, was the inspiration for scheduling the game.
Those attending the Italian excursion will have the opportunity for a shared Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, a planned papal audience with Pope Leo XIV before the games and private tours of the Vatican Museums.
College teams playing overseas is expected to become more common amid a growing influx of international talent. Twenty-three of the 62 players on Final Four rosters listed their hometown as being in another country, and NCAA data shows the number of international players on Division I rosters (888) has more than doubled since 2010.
Games in Croatia and Serbia are in the works and planned for November as part of a new College Basketball International Series launched by Intersport and Rochelle Management Group.
The 2026 NBA playoffs began Saturday, and our NBA insiders have you covered for every game in the march to the Finals.
The Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves kicked things off for the Western Conference on Saturday. Jamal Murray, who was a first-time All-Star this season, led all players with 30 points to help the Nuggets take a 1-0 lead. Nikola Jokic added 25 points despite a slow first half. Anthony Edwards kept the Wolves in the game with 22 points, but it wasn’t enough.
The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Houston Rockets 107-98 in the day’s final game. The Lakers have had to turn to LeBron James at the end of the regular season after losing Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves indefinitely to injuries, but the Rockets were also without a star. Kevin Durant missed Game 1 because of a knee contusion, and his availability for Game 2 is uncertain.
On Sunday, the No. 1-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder blew out the No. 8-seeded Phoenix Suns 119-84 despite an off-game from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored 25 points but shot just 5 for 18 in 29 minutes. The San Antonio Spurs also opened the playoffs with an impressive performance in their 111-98 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.
More coverage:
East takeaways | Schedules and results | Offseason guides
Game 1: Spurs 111, Trail Blazers 98
Biggest takeaway from Game 1: San Antonio showed up at Frost Bank Center outfitted for the occasion, eschewing its usual casual dress code and opting for all-black suits. The Spurs took a business approach into their Game 1 demolition, led by Victor Wembanyama, who enhanced his jaw-dropping physical skill set by deploying it in an intelligent and efficient manner.
Wembanyama, who was making his postseason debut, poured in 21 points in the first half, the highest scoring output in a player’s first career playoff opening half in the play-by-play era, according to ESPN Research. Before halftime, he scored or assisted on 24 points and held Portland’s shooters scoreless (0-of-6) as the contesting defender, helping San Antonio build a 10-point lead at the break that it would never relinquish.
Wembanyama became the third player in NBA history to have at least 30 points and hit five 3-pointers in his postseason debut, joining Kyrie Irving (2015) and Jordan Poole (2022), according to ESPN Research. — Michael C. Wright
Game 2: Trail Blazers at Spurs (8 p.m. ET, NBC/Peacock)
What to watch in Game 2: Portland is the underdog, but its chances to make a mark in this series would increase if the Trail Blazers can supplement Deni Avdija‘s offensive production. Through the first three quarters, Portland had just two scorers in double figures other than Avdija (Scoot Henderson and Robert Williams III), while the Spurs had five players with at least 10 points.
Toumani Camara, Donovan Clingan and Jrue Holiday shot a combined 4-of-23 over the first three quarters. So, with San Antonio loading up to slow down Avdija, his teammates should be able to capitalize if they can knock down some of their solid looks.
San Antonio, meanwhile, will look to apply more pressure if it gains a sizable lead in Game 2 after nearly letting Portland back into this contest. The Spurs built a 10-point halftime lead, and the Blazers cut it to two points by scoring the first eight points of the second half. — Wright
Game 1: Thunder 119, Suns 84
Biggest takeaway from Game 1: A series-opening Sunday afternoon tip in Oklahoma City isn’t a fair fight for a No. 8 seed that had to fight to punch its playoff ticket Friday night.
For the second straight year, the Thunder had all but sealed the victory by halftime of Game 1 in the first round. Oklahoma City, which was a 14.5-point favorite, led by 21 at the half, fueled by scoring 21 points off 10 Phoenix turnovers. It was the largest halftime lead of any playoff game this weekend, but it’s familiar territory for Oklahoma City, which led by at least 20 at the half three times during its title run last postseason.
To their credit, the Suns had a much more respectable showing than the Memphis Grizzlies did a year ago, when the Thunder rolled to a 51-point victory in Game 1. — Tim MacMahon
Game 2: Suns at Thunder (Wednesday, 9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
What to watch in Game 2: The Suns need to find a solution to slow down Jalen Williams, Gilgeous-Alexander’s sidekick who is as healthy as he has been all season after coming off summer wrist surgery and dealing with recurring hamstring issues.
Williams finished with 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting and six assists in 29 minutes. It didn’t help Phoenix that guard Jordan Goodwin, who took the defensive assignment on Gilgeous-Alexander to start the game, got into early foul trouble. That forced the Suns to switch Dillon Brooks onto Gilgeous-Alexander and use lesser defenders on Williams, whose penetration into the paint created all kinds of problems.
The game got out of reach during Gilgeous-Alexander’s seven-minute rest to start the second quarter, a span in which Williams had four points and four assists. — MacMahon
Game 1: Lakers 107, Rockets 98
Biggest takeaway from Game 1: The Lakers were dealt a terrible hand when Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves suffered injuries a couple of weeks before the playoffs began. On Saturday, Los Angeles caught a break when Rockets star Kevin Durant was a late scratch because of a right knee injury. And the Lakers seized the opportunity.
Other than the final four minutes of the second quarter, when the Lakers struggled and turned the ball over five times to allow Houston to cut the lead from eight to two points, L.A. played a brilliant offensive game. LeBron James (19 points, 12 assists, 8 rebounds) ignited the action with eight assists in the first quarter — the most assists in any quarter of his playoff career, according to ESPN Research — and the ball flowed the rest of the night, with all five starters scoring in double digits.
Luke Kennard, who scored a career-playoff-high 27 points on 9-for-13 shooting, was a favorite target of James, but Deandre Ayton (18 points on 8-of-10 shooting) and Rui Hachimura (14 points on 6-of-10 shooting) also made the most of their touches. The Lakers said all week they had rediscovered their belief after their backcourt went down. That belief will only grow going into Game 2. — Dave McMenamin
Game 2: Rockets at Lakers (Tuesday, 10:30 p.m. ET, NBC/Peacock)
What to watch in Game 2: The obvious question for Houston is whether Durant will be available. Without the fifth-leading scorer in league history, the Rockets’ offense was rudderless. Houston shot just 37.6%, with Alperen Sengun missing 13 of his 19 shots, Reed Sheppard missing 14 of his 20, Amen Thompson missing 11 of his 18 and Jabari Smith Jr. missing nine of his 14.
The Lakers had the final five games of the regular season and all week during the play-in tournament to tinker with their game plan to survive without Doncic and Reaves, but the Rockets had to adjust to Durant’s injury on the fly. How Durant heals in the next 48 hours, or how the Rockets game plan for Tuesday if he isn’t available, could well decide the series. — McMenamin
Game 1: Nuggets 116, Timberwolves 105
What we learned from Game 1: Playoff Jamal Murray launched early this year. In years past, Murray came up with big games or big shots when the Nuggets had fallen into a hole or needed some heroics. This year, Murray came out of the gate in peak form, propelling Denver with 30 points, seven assists and five rebounds on a remarkable 16-for-16 from the free throw line. Denver needed every one of those points as Aaron Gordon got into early foul trouble and Nikola Jokic started slow with just six points in the first half. Jokic got on track in the second half, finishing with 25 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists for his 22nd postseason triple-double, third most in NBA history behind Magic Johnson (30) and LeBron James (28).
Denver broke open the game with a 14-0 run in the third quarter, during which Minnesota missed nine straight field goal attempts. Anthony Edwards was on the bench for the end of that run as Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch tried to get him some rest before the fourth quarter. Edwards is still managing pain in his right knee and will be doing so for as long as the season continues. He finished with a pedestrian-for-him 22 points in 37 minutes. — Ramona Shelburne
Game 2: Timberwolves at Nuggets (Monday, 10:30 p.m. ET, NBC)
What to watch for Game 2: These two teams have played more times than any two teams in the league the past three seasons. With the win in Game 1, the Nuggets now have a 15-14 advantage. That past is prologue to everything that happens in this series, and it is a fascinating chess match to behold.
Minnesota has to use its length and athleticism to do a better job of containing Murray on the perimeter — without fouling. His 16 free throws is a Denver postseason record (the entire Minnesota team shot 19 free throws), which is a reflection of his aggressiveness and the way the game was officiated. That dynamic has been a major point of contention throughout this rivalry, and it noticeably affects the results each game. It’ll be interesting to see whether that changes in Game 2, because the Timberwolves did well in virtually all the other facets of the game in which they usually thrive — finishing with 54 points in the paint. — Shelburne
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