The on-court trends defining the 2026 NBA playoffs - ESPN

The 2026 NBA conference finals are approaching their climax on one side of the bracket and fizzling out in the other.

Out West, the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs are fulfilling expectations of a classic, with a 2-2 tie entering Tuesday's Game 5 (8:30 p.m. ET, NBC). Meanwhile in the Eastern Conference, the New York Knicks completed a four-game sweep over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday to reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999.

Let's take stock of six key trends and takeaways for the final four teams, as the 2025-26 NBA season enters its final month. I'll start in San Antonio, with the MVP of the playoffs to this point.

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It's far from clear whether the Spurs will pull off the upset of the defending champs and advance to the Finals. But it's very clear that Wembanyama has been the best and most valuable player this postseason.

Even though he left two games very early, due to an injury and ejection, Wembanyama is still averaging 23.1 points, 11.4 rebounds and 3.8 blocks per game in the playoffs. He's making 37% of his 3-pointers and 86% of his free throws. And the Spurs have a plus-17.3 net rating with him on the court, versus a minus-0.3 net rating without him.

In the conference finals, that gap is even starker: a plus-6.1 net rating with Wembanyama but an astonishing minus-60.3 without him.

In advanced stats, Wembanyama ranks first among all players in the playoffs in ESPN's net points metric. He's first in estimated plus-minus. And he's second in box plus-minus, behind only Karl-Anthony Towns.

It's difficult to say whether Towns has even been the most valuable player on his own