Think of vintage sports moments. Maybe you think of Freddie Freeman’s home run in game one of the 2024 World Series, or maybe you think of LeBron’s Chasedown block in game seven against the Warriors in 2016, maybe you think of Montiel’s penalty kick that won Argentina the 2022 world cup. Regardless, all of these moments are etched into our memories and history books. The first round of the 2025-2026 National Basketball Association (NBA) Playoffs had three special moments just like these.
The Detroit Pistons found themselves with their backs against the wall, fighting to stay alive down 3-1. The Pistons were shell-shocked; they were the one seed in the Eastern Conference and had won sixty games. Yet, the eight-seed Orlando Magic had stolen a game from them at home and won both of their games at home. Still, it didn’t startle the Pistons. They continued to fight, winning game five at home to force a game six in Orlando, and in Orlando, the Magic had a twenty point lead in the second half to close out the game. Missing 27 of their last 28 shots, the Pistons lived to see another day. Game seven would hold a lot of weight for the Pistons. They hadn’t won a playoff series since 2008, but the pressure didn’t affect them, and they were able to close out game seven in style, winning by twenty points at home to complete the comeback.
The Detroit Pistons weren’t the only team to complete a 3-1 comeback though, as the Philadelphia 76’ers, who were facing the Boston Celtics, found themselves dug into a 3-1 hole. The 76’ers were 0-18 when down 3-1 in a playoff series, and the Boston Celtics were 32-0 when leading 3-1 in a series. The 76’ers best player Joel Embiid had missed the first three games of the series, and this led to the Celtics gaining this series lead, but in game four Embiid returned. Yet they still lost, and with their backs against the wall, won the next game, with major performances from Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. Then in game six Tyrese Maxey had a game high thirty points to force a game seven in Boston. Then the weirdest thing happened, Celtics Head Coach Joe Mazzula brought out a starting lineup including three players who have never started a playoff game. The 76’ers were able to ride their momentum and with Boston missing all of their important shots, make history, stealing game seven.
The New York Knicks found themselves playing in a game six versus the Atlanta Hawks, and after losing game two and game three by one point, got back on track winning game five by 16 points. Then the impossible happened in game six. After finishing the first quarter 40 to 15, the Knicks didn’t take their foot off the gas, they ended the first half to a score of 83 to 36. At one, Knicks forward OG Anunoby was out-scoring the entire Hawks team by himself. The Knicks would sail smoothly through the rest of the game and win by 51 points to a score of 140-89. They set the record for largest halftime lead in NBA playoff history, and biggest playoff win in Knicks history.
The first round was filled with insane performances, and shows just how entertaining and wild the NBA playoffs can be. The second round starts on Monday May 4, with the New York Knicks facing the Philadelphia 76’ers.
