The 2026 NBA playoffs continue Sunday with four Game 1s: 76ers-Celtics, Suns-Thunder, Magic-Pistons and Trail Blazers-Spurs. We’re breaking down the key takeaways from each game.
Here are our takeaways from Saturday’s Game 1s.
Jayson Tatum looked like Jayson Tatum
If there were concerns about how Jayson Tatum might look in his first playoff game since tearing his right Achilles last May, he eased them in the opening minutes. He played the entire first quarter, logging a 10-7-4, well on his way to 25 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists in 33 minutes.
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He did all of the Jayson Tatum things — scoring from every level, playmaking, rebounding, defending at a high level, you name it. He called Tyrese Maxey or Andre Drummond into the action, operating out of the high post or from the perimeter. He was, quite simply, the best player on the floor, and who could have seen that coming in Game 1 of a 2026 playoff series at year’s start?
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Joel Embiid’s absence is everything
For all the wear and tear on his oft-injured knees, Joel Embiid is still a top-end rim protector. Few players contested more shots than Embiid’s 7.1 challenges around the rim per game, and opponents shot 5.5% worse than their season averages on those attempts. Without him, even if Adem Bona is statistically as stout (on fewer opportunities), the Celtics can almost taste the rim.
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On their very first possession of the game, the Celtics called Bona into the action, employing Neemias Queta as the screener. Tatum found Queta with a pocket pass, and they got two free throws out of it. A little over 90 seconds into the game, Bona already logged his second foul.
The absence of Embiid isn’t only felt on defense. He draws so much attention on offense, even in a limited capacity, that it generates opportunities for Maxey, VJ Edgecombe and Paul George. Now, it’s on them to create, and they tried it on their own. Against a versatile Boston defense, unconcerned with Bona or Kelly Oubre Jr., Philadelphia managed just two assists on six made field goals in the first quarter, when the lead ballooned to 33-18. The Sixers never led.
The question is whether Embiid can make it back to the court before the series is over. He underwent an appendectomy on April 9. Sixers coach Nick Nurse said prior to the series that Embiid’s status would be updated game-to-game. It’s hard to imagine him making it back for anything beyond the tail end of a long series, and if Game 1 is any indication, this won’t be that.
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Philadelphia’s pick-and-roll defense is a nightmare
The 76ers tried hiding Maxey on Sam Hauser defensively, and the Celtics found him anyhow. Whether it was Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White or Payton Pritchard, Boston’s ball-handler could work his switch onto Maxey, call Andre Drummond into a pick-and-roll and go to work. That combo of Maxey and Drummond is a pick-and-roll defensive nightmare.
Maxey is not tall or stout enough to match Boston’s bigger playmakers, and Drummond is too slow to contain them. Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla is relentless, too. He will not feel bad about repeatedly calling for Maxey and Drummond (or Bona, for that matter). Boston just didn’t even need to call on them all that often. But if any of these games get close, keep an eye on how easily they manufacture points against the Maxey-Drummond combo, spraying out to shooters when anyone helps them.
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— Ben Rohrbach
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