The NBA conference finals start with Spurs-Thunder on Monday

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) looks for an outlet against San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)

Merry Christmas! No, wait, these are the NBA conference finals. Easy mistake.

If these games — San Antonio at Oklahoma City, and Cleveland at New York — make you want to put on holiday sweaters, have some eggnog and unwrap gifts, there’s a reason. Those matchups were part of the NBA’s schedule on Dec. 25 this season.

And now, they’re also the matchups for the conference finals.

Oklahoma City and San Antonio will play in the Western Conference finals, that series beginning Monday on the Thunder’s home floor. And Cleveland — a 31-point Game 7 winner in Detroit on Sunday — will play New York in the Eastern Conference finals, starting Tuesday at Madison Square Garden.

Monday’s schedule

— Game 1, San Antonio at Oklahoma City, 8:30 p.m. EDT

— Odds: Oklahoma City by 6.5.

The Spurs went 4-1 against the Thunder (the teams played five times because of the NBA Cup) during the regular season.

If the series goes the full seven games, it will mark only the second instance in the last 30 years of two teams meeting 12 times in the same season (Golden State and Houston did it last season).

Tuesday’s schedule

— Game 1, Cleveland at New York, 8 p.m. EDT

— Odds: New York by 6.5.

The Knicks started the season with a win over the Cavaliers; they went on to edge Cleveland by one game in the race for the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference — so, the first 82 games maybe do matter!

New York went 2-1 against Cleveland in the regular season, and the Cavaliers’ win came after the trade that brought them James Harden.

Sunday’s recap

— Cavaliers 125, Pistons 94 to win series 4-3.

Donovan Mitchell is finally in the conference finals.

Conference finals schedule

— East No. 3 New York vs. No. 4 Cleveland (all times 8 p.m. EDT) — Tuesday, at New York; Thursday, at New York; Saturday, at Cleveland; May 25, at Cleveland; May 27, at New York (if necessary); May 29, at Cleveland (if necessary); May 31, at New York (if necessary).

— West No. 1 Oklahoma City vs. No. 2 San Antonio (all times 8:30 p.m. EDT, except where noted) — Monday, at Oklahoma City; Wednesday, at Oklahoma City; Friday, at San Antonio; Sunday, at San Antonio, 8 p.m. EDT; May 26, at Oklahoma City (if necessary); May 28, at San Antonio (if necessary); May 30, at Oklahoma City, 8 p.m. EDT (if necessary).

— The Oklahoma City-San Antonio winner will have home-court advantage in the NBA Finals.

Awards watch

SGA is the MVP again.

Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the NBA’s Most Valuable Player for the second consecutive year, the league announced Sunday night. Gilgeous-Alexander held off Denver’s Nikola Jokic and San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama for the trophy.

And the voting provided a big hint about the first-team All-NBA squad still to be announced — with the Los Angeles Lakers’ Luka Doncic and Detroit’s Cade Cunningham looking like they’ll join the MVP finalists on that team.

Other awards handed out so far

— Defensive Player of the Year: Wembanyama.

— Clutch Player of the Year: Gilgeous-Alexander.

— Sixth Man of the Year: Keldon Johnson, San Antonio.

— Sportsmanship Award: Derrick White, Boston.

— Most Improved Player: Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Atlanta.

— Rookie of the Year: Cooper Flagg, Dallas.

— Executive of the Year: Brad Stevens, Boston.

— Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year: DeAndre Jordan, New Orleans.

— Hustle Award: Moussa Diabaté, Charlotte.

Among the announcements still to come

— Coach of the Year: San Antonio’s Mitch Johnson, Detroit’s J.B. Bickerstaff or Boston’s Joe Mazzulla.

— Social Justice Champion Award: Miami’s Bam Adebayo San Antonio’s Harrison Barnes, Boston’s Jaylen Brown, Detroit’s Tobias Harris or Cleveland’s Larry Nance Jr.

— The All-NBA, All-Defensive and All-Rookie teams.

Betting odds

Defending champion Oklahoma City (-160) is favored to win the NBA title, according to oddsmakers.

The Thunder are followed by San Antonio (+300), New York (+550), and Cleveland (+2500). The Cavaliers were +8000 before their Game 7 win on Sunday night in Detroit.

Key dates

— Monday: Western Conference finals begin.

— Tuesday: Eastern Conference finals begin.

— June 3: Game 1, NBA Finals on ABC. (Other finals dates: June 5, June 8, June 10, June 13, June 16 and June 19).

— June 23: Round 1, NBA draft.

— June 24: Round 2, NBA draft.

Quote of the day

“Let me tell you something — this guy is a huge inspiration, not only for his country but for people who love the game. I can’t say I’ve seen anyone play the way he does. ... He gets buckets. He gets assists. He gets wins." — Hall of Famer Chris Bosh on Canada’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, now a two-time NBA MVP.

Stats of the day

— The last four teams standing were a 1 seed (Oklahoma City), a 2 seed (San Antonio), a 3 seed (New York) and a 4 seed (Cleveland). This is the second consecutive season that the Eastern Conference final has seen the No. 3 seed vs. the No. 4 seed; Indiana, the fourth seed, beat the third-seeded Knicks 4-2 last season.

— Cleveland is the second team ever to win Game 7 by 20 or more after losing Game 6 by 20 or more. The other was Orlando in the 1995 East final against Indiana.

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Tim Reynolds, The Associated Press