NBA Playoffs Superlatives: Handing Out Awards for 2026 Postseason So Far Ahead of Knicks-Spurs Finals

The NBA Finals are here, and the matchup is outstanding.

The Spurs and Knicks will go to battle on Wednesday, June 3 for the right to raise the Larry O’Brien Trophy. The starpower of Victor Wembanyama and Jalen Brunson going toe-to-toe on the biggest stage figures to be so bright it’s blinding. When the dust settles, either the city of New York will be reveling in its first NBA championship in 50 years or the basketball world must reckon with the upcoming Wemby era if the 22-year-old superstar earns a ring in his first-ever playoff run.

Before we see it all unfold, however, we wanted to take a beat and appreciate this year’s postseason with most of it in the rearview. The Finals are always such an event that the best and worst of the playoffs leading up to it are often forgotten. We do not want the last two months to fade into the basketball ether.

There were so many great moments, consequential outcomes, stunning performances and highlight-reel plays that it would be a shame to let it dissipate without a moment of remembrance. The best way to do that? Superlatives, of course.

Thus, we present Sports Illustrated’s playoff superlatives for the 2026 NBA postseason as focus shifts towards what should be a tremendously entertaining Finals.

Best Dunk—Stephon Castle, Game 2, WCF

Truly awe-inspiring dunks are not terribly common in the postseason. In stark contrast to the regular season, every single player on the floor is giving 150% effort at all times and most would rather pick up a foul than allow an open lane for a dunk. Even when that open lane emerges, the chances are high that the dunker gets laid out in the spirit of a hard playoff foul before getting to the rim. But when the stars align and the opportunity arises? It’s incredible. Every time. Big dunks in a big game get everyone watching out of their seat.

For these playoffs, nobody did it better than Stephon Castle in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals. He found himself in the open floor with only Isaiah Hartenstein there to contest, rose up, and threw it down. No further words are needed, and you’ll soon understand why if you somehow haven’t seen this yet.

It was glorious, the dunk of the postseason and perhaps the dunk of the year, a highlight so sick your parents were talking about it the next day. I know mine were. - Liam McKeone

Best Comeback—Knicks, Game 1, ECF

The Knicks were already on a roll entering Game 1 of their Eastern Conference finals series against the Cavaliers, having dispatched the Hawks with three consecutive wins after falling behind 2–1 and sweeping the 76ers in the semifinals. That first game with Cleveland at Madison Square Garden, however, elevated the run—now at 11 straight wins entering the NBA Finals—into “team of destiny” territory.

Down 93–71 midway through the fourth quarter, Brunson led a comeback for the ages, scoring 17 points in the fourth quarter and overtime. New York outscored the Cavs 44–11 down the stretch to win in overtime—a concept that is hard to fathom, but made sense for those who were locked into the game. - Dan Lyons

Becoming the Chiefs Award—Thunder

Shai Gilgeous-Alexande — SGA was fishing for fouls throughout the WCF. | Brett Rojo-Imagn Images

Impressively, the Thunder managed to speedrun the usual cycle of good teams becoming reviled in the eyes of the public because they got too good. OKC became the face of the NBA’s flopping epidemic by the time the Spurs eliminated the defending champs. The Thunder emerged as a self-perpetuating negative news cycle with constant, loud accusations that they manipulated the referees and received the most favorable call every time.

Sound familiar?

To us, it sounds an awful lot like how people talk about the Chiefs. They get every call! The officials and the league want them to win! Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (the NBA’s Patrick Mahomes) gets more superstar calls than anybody! The refs are on their side and so is the league!

Normally, it takes an extended dynasty like we’ve seen in Kansas City to reach that level of conspiratorial, acidic discussion. The Thunder managed to follow in their footsteps after one title and three winning seasons overall. The toxicity in any conversation about OKC is impossible to avoid, just like the Chiefs. Remarkable work. - L.M.

Worst Use of Analytics Award—Kenny Atkinson

If you ask Kenny Atkinson, the Cavaliers are probably playing in the NBA Finals. Analytically.

After his team went down 0–3 to the Knicks in the Eastern Conference finals, Atkinson gave an all-time terrible quote about analytics. He said that Cleveland, “analytically,” had won two games when looking at expected score based on the quality of shots the Cavs earned and how many they should have made based on the numbers.

“I think analytically, I think we've won … we're two out of three in the expected wins," Atkinson said. “I don't know if you guys follow that—the expected score. We've won two out of three.”

“Analytically… we’ve won 2/3 games on the expected (score),- Cavs HC Kenny Atkinson.

The Cavs have lost all 3 games of the Knicks series. pic.twitter.com/TQNHG2lZsJ
— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) May 24, 2026

Atkinson would go on to acknowledge that nobody really wants to hear that when the team lost three games. Which is the most accurate thing he said. Analytics are a useful tool to contextualize what’s happening on the court beyond what our eyes can tell us but they cannot overrule reality. And the reality for the Cavaliers was that, even if they were making fewer shots than the numbers said they should and the Knicks were making more … they lost. No matter what the expected score had to say about the matter. - L.M.

Most … Interesting Way of Scoring—Paul Reed/Pistons

On May 15, the Pistons were in a 3–2 hole vs. the Cavs in the East semifinals and needed a win to stay alive. It was also Game 6, and the team was on the road ... which is to say that the odds were very clearly stacked against them. But, with their backs against the wall, Detroit rallied to play some of its best basketball of the series and win the game by 21 points.

The key here was that everyone contributed; Jalen Duren finally lived up to his All-Star reputation, Ausar Thompson was back in the mix with some excellent defense and six players overall posted double-digit points, including forward Paul Reed, who dropped 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting in what would be his best performance of the series.

And speaking of Reed, no play embodied the effort the Pistons put together that night more than this one, which the bench player both saved and finished (for an and-one, no less!). There was incredible hustle from everyone involved, and it was easily the most fascinating FG any of us watched all season.

THIS EFFORT BY PAUL REED. pic.twitter.com/vP8hOvY9NC
— 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔇𝔢𝔱𝔯𝔬𝔦𝔱 𝔗𝔦𝔪𝔢𝔰 📰 (@the_det_times) May 16, 2026

A Rube Goldberg machine-like possession. I love to watch it back. - Brigid Kennedy

Best Block—Luke Kornet, Game 7, WCF

This was not exactly LeBron James’s chasedown block in Game 7 of the 2016 Finals, but if the Spurs hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy, it will look no less important. Late in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals, Kornet made the biggest play of his career. One the veteran center waited 482 games to make.

With 6:48 remaining, the Spurs led 97-91, but the Thunder were on a 5-0 run and San Antonio was forced to call a timeout. Kornet stepped in to replace Victor Wembanyama, who had five fouls. He made an immediate impact.

An errant pass to Kornet from Dylan Harper was knocked away by OKC center Isaiah Hartenstein, who broke away down the right side and headed for what would have been a thunderous dunk. Then Kornet stepped in. After hustling all the way down the court, he perfectly timed his jump, went up with both hands raised and adjusted his right arm to hammer the ball off the backboard as Hartenstein headed up to throw it down.

WHAT A BLOCK BY LUKE KORNET 🤯

(via @NBA) pic.twitter.com/3jaZcCFNd7
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) May 31, 2026

Momentum immediately flipped on its head. San Antonio quickly scored five points and reestablished an 11-point lead. The teams traded baskets the rest of the way but the Thunder never got closer than six points. Kornet’s block changed the game right as it looked like things might be getting away from his Spurs. It was arguably the most impactful play of the postseason so far. - Ryan Phillips

Biggest Bellyflop—Nuggets

Every year the playoffs feature one team that flames out so spectacularly it leads to severe offseason consequences. The Nuggets are that team this year.

Denver entered the postseason on the short list of contenders who were perceived as genuine challengers to Oklahoma City’s throne. Earning the No. 3 seed by the end of the regular season ensured a playoff rematch with the defending champs wouldn’t come before the conference finals. When the Nuggets drew a banged-up Timberwolves team in the first round that only got more banged-up as the series progressed? It seemed everything was coming up aces—or joker, more appropriately—for Nikola Jokić’s team.

And then they just… collapsed. Despite Anthony Edwards hurting his knee and Donte DiVincenzo tearing his Achilles in the same game, the Nuggets were sent home in six games. Worse, they got embarrassed as Jokić lost his temper and Minnesota’s various troublemakers (led by Jaden McDaniels) were able to get under their skin. Aaron Gordon hurting his hamstring and Peyton Watson’s absence didn’t help matters, but Denver was the more talented, championship-tested team in the opening round and got run off the floor by an undermanned opponent.

Disaster doesn’t even begin to cover it. This was a massively wasted opportunity for the Nuggets and a complete flop after a regular season that suggested they could win a title. - L.M.

I Can’t Believe My Eyes Award—Victor Wembanyama

Victor Wembanyama’s first playoff run was going to be a matter of great interest for just about everybody loosely paying attention to the NBA. But even his biggest fans couldn’t have anticipated this.

At 22 years old and fighting through the grueling gauntlet of playoff basketball for the first time, Wemby is averaging 23.2 points, 10.8 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per game. He scored 41 to beat the No. 1 seed on their court to open the Western Conference finals. He made NBA history with 12 blocks in one game during the second round. And, of course, Wemby is making his NBA Finals debut at, literally, his first opportunity after beating the defending champions in a road Game 7.

What are we watching here? What kind of history is unfolding before our eyes? The 7’4” generational talent is not just living up to but exceeding the extraordinary expectations he faces and every game he does something our brains can barely grasp as physically possible. It's always been hard to use mere words to describe Wemby, but we’re in unmarked territory now. The question going forward is not whether he’ll wow us again—but how he’ll do it. - L.M.

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