The NBA revealed the three finalists for each of its seven end-of-season awards on Sunday.

Victor Wembanyama, three-time MVP Nikola Jokić and reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander are the finalists in one of the most competitive MVP races in NBA history.

Gilgeous-Alexander is seeking to become the 14th player to earn back-to-back MVPs, joining Jokić, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Stephen Curry and LeBron James among active players.

Wembanyama and Gilgeous-Alexander are also both finalists for two awards.

Luka Dončić and Cade Cunningham were both granted exceptions by the NBA to the league’s 65-game minimum rule to qualify for postseason awards. Both were considered MVP candidates at different points of the season, but neither made the cut as a finalist for any of the league’s end-of-year awards.

Here are the finalists for each of the NBA’s seven individual awards:

NBA awards finalists

MVP

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder
Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets
Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs

Defensive Player of the Year

Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs
Chet Holmgren, Oklahoma City Thunder
Ausar Thompson, Detroit Pistons

Coach of the Year

Joe Mazzulla, Boston Celtics
J.B. Bickerstaff, Detroit Pistons
Mitch Johnson, San Antonio Spurs

Rookie of the Year

Cooper Flagg, Dallas Mavericks
Kon Knueppel, Charlotte Hornets
VJ Edgecombe, Philadelphia 76ers

Most Improved Player

Deni Avdija, Portland Trail Blazers
Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Atlanta Hawks
Jalen Duren, Detroit Pistons

Sixth Man of the Year

Keldon Johnson, San Antonio Spurs
Jaime Jaquez Jr., Miami Heat
Tim Hardaway Jr., Denver Nuggets

Clutch Player of the Year

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder
Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves
Jamal Murray, Denver Nuggets

The winners for individual honors will be announced throughout the next month during the NBA playoffs, with three coming this week.

Monday: Defensive Player of the Year
Tuesday: Clutch Player of the Year
Wednesday: Sixth Man of the Year

The NBA has not yet announced when the rest of the awards will be announced.

Check out how Yahoo Sports NBA analyst Kevin O’Connor filled out his 2025-26 awards ballot.

The New York Mets’ losing streak was on the ropes on Sunday.

But a blown save by Devin Williams spoiled a shutout in the ninth inning, and the Chicago Cubs prevailed, 2-1, in extra innings to extend New York’s misery and its losing streak to 11 games. Former Met Michael Conforto delivered the blow that sent the game to a 10th frame.

With the loss, a Mets team that invested in the league’s second-most expensive roster behind only the Los Angeles Dodgers drops to an MLB-worst 7-15.

Mets were on the verge of winning

In a bullpen game, five Mets pitchers combined to shut out the Cubs for eight innings. Mets left fielder MJ Melendez, meanwhile, plated the only run of the game up to that point with a fifth-inning solo home run.

The Mets went to the bottom of the ninth at Wrigley Field with a 1-0 lead and a chance to snap a 10-game losing streak. Williams, who signed from the crosstown Yankees in the offseason to replace now-Dodgers closer Edwin Díaz, took the mound with a save at stake.

Ian Happ led off the inning with single to right field and was replaced on first base by pinch runner Scott Kingery. With one out and Kingery still on first, up came Confroto, who played his first seven MLB seasons with the Mets.

Conforto delivers on Williams meatball

Williams threw a first-pitch fastball over the heart of the plate, and Conforto delivered a line drive that bounced to the right-field corner. Kingery ran home, and Conforto reached second with a stand-up double.

That ultimately sent the game to the 10th inning tied 1-1. In the bottom of the frame, the Mets sent another high-profile offseason acquisition to the mound in nine-time All-Star reliever Craig Kimbrel.

Pete Crow-Armstrong stood on second base as Chicago’s extra-innings ghost runner and advanced to third on a no-out wild pitch by Kimbrel. With one out, all the Cubs needed from second baseman Nico Hoerner was a fly ball to the outfield.

Hoerner delivered just that to right field, and Crow-Armstrong beat the throw home to secure a walk-off win.

The loss with one run was painfully familiar to Mets fans who have so far watched the league’s second-highest payroll produce the second-fewest runs in MLB as of Sunday.

Williams’ struggles were also familiar to Yankees fans. Williams joined the Yankees last season after six seasons as one of MLB’s best closers with the Milwaukee Brewers, only to lose his job as closer early in the season.

He regained the job and posted a career-worst 4.79 ERA, and the Yankees ultimately let him walk as a free agent. With the Mets, Williams now has a 7.11 ERA in seven appearances.

The loss completes a three-game sweep at the hands of the Cubs. The Mets have upcoming three-game home series against the Minnesota Twins and Colorado Rockies. They’ll need at least one win in those six games to avoid tying a franchise-worst 17-game losing streak set in 1962.

Houston’s Kingston Flemings is heading to the NBA.

The freshman made his expected draft declaration official Sunday as he said he’d be entering the 2026 NBA Draft. Flemings is widely considered to be a top-10 pick. Yahoo Sports’ Kevin O’Connor had Flemings going No. 8 to the Dallas Mavericks in his latest mock draft.

Flemings led Houston with over 16 points and five assists per game in 2025-26. Flemings was a consensus All-American as the Cougars earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament after finishing second in the Big 12 to Arizona. 

“Obviously it was a hard decision whether to come back and play with my boys, take it one more year and try to go get the [national championship],” Flemings told USA Today. “But this opportunity doesn’t come all the time. … Had to make the right decision, for sure.”

The Texas native shot nearly 48% from the field and almost 39% from the 3-point line, though he attempted just 106 shots behind the arc this season. 

Flemings was a four-star recruit when he signed with Houston out of high school. He was rated as the No. 17 player in the country and the top player in the state of Texas. 

He was part of a Houston recruiting class that included three top-20 prospects and was actually the lowest-rated of the three. Forward Chris Cenac Jr. was the No. 6 player in the country and guard Isiah Harwell was the No. 13 recruit.

Flemings started every game this season for Houston, while Cenac started all but one and Harwell was a role player off the bench. Cenac, a potential lottery pick himself, averaged almost 10 points a game. He declared for the NBA Draft a week ago.

Here’s what O’Connor had to say about Flemings in his mock draft on Tuesday.

Flemings entered the season as the least-heralded of Houston’s stacked freshman class, but he played his way into the top-10 conversation while his higher-ranked teammates played their way out of it. He’s a 6-4 ball-handler who can get to his spots, make advanced passes and limit turnovers in a way that resembles a veteran guard. If he lands with Dallas, it’s hard to imagine a better situation. Kyrie Irving could serve as a mentor, and Flemings could grow alongside a future MVP candidate in Flagg.

With Cenac and Flemings off to the NBA, Houston has two top-50 recruits signed for the 2026-27 season in center Arafan Diane and guard Ikenna Alozie. 

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.

Thunder 119, Suns 84

The Thunder (defense) rolled

Oklahoma City’s defense being great is not exactly breaking news, but it broke this game open. The Suns came out aggressive, a Jalen Green layup giving them 12 points with 8:05 left in the first quarter. They made exactly one field goal over the next five minutes, a 17-2 run from OKC setting the tone. That volume would amplify during a 16-4 run from the 10:34 mark in the second quarter to the 5:28 mark. And if you didn’t think the saxophones could get louder …

You get my point. 

Everything to know for the NBA playoffs: Predictions, series previews, X-factors

OKC played with a high level of activity on the defensive end of the floor: Ball pressure from its elite personnel to bother the Suns guards; consistent effort to navigate screens and work to recover; Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein working to get to the level of a screen and drop back to contain drives; toggling on-ball switches. When the Suns wanted to mix in off-ball actions, OKC was physical, working to switch and deny to get them later in the clock. When the Suns wanted to drive, there was help coming from the elbow or the baseline. There were not a lot of windows for Phoenix to open up in this one, and when they did … they closed quickly. Twenty-four points in the paint (12 of 32!!) and a grand total of two fast-break points did not help matters for the Suns. 

The back and forth of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

The Suns came with the (obvious) mindset to make life as tough as possible on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. On one hand, their efforts got him to shoot 5 of 18 from the field. The issue for them is SGA has found ways to impact the game on the nights his shot isn’t falling. His blend of driving, play-making and tough shot-making always gives him the opportunity to control the dance. (Yes, 15 of 17 from the free-throw line, I know, I know.)

Phoenix worked to show help at the elbow and the nail to try and take away SGA’s driving lanes. OKC countered by working to have Jalen Williams one pass away. Shai saw the help, made the right read and let his playmaking do the talking early. OKC worked to keep the wings clear, the Suns stuck with their help, and OKC worked to punish the second closeout. In the third quarter, we saw OKC tap the pick-and-roll button to get two on the ball against Shai. Being able to get to the team effort early in the series speaks to what OKC has built (Williams had 22 pts on 9-of-15 shooting and Chet Holmgren had 16 points on 5-of-10). 

It’ll be interesting to see how Phoenix reacts in Game 2. If SGA’s straight-line drives return or the fadeaways and stepbacks go down, do the Suns send more doubles? Does that open even more up for the Thunder offense? 

Phoenix’s formula?

It’s a tough pill to swallow when you have one of those “this is just not our night” moments in the playoffs. The positive? It can’t get much worse, right? RIGHT?

Devin Booker, Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks have the ability to make tough shots, but that alone won’t beat OKC. Tempo in the half-court feels like the easiest answer. Quick decisions will be in their favor. Knowing help is coming on drives gives you an opportunity to spray in the perimeter and work to keep the advantage. They have to get into their actions quicker, make the right read and play out of it. Bottle up what they had in the start of the third quarter, hope to defend better and get back to their formula.

— Steve Jones

Celtics 123, 76ers 91

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

— Ben Rohrbach

It’d be difficult to argue the Warriors deserved to find themselves in the playoffs. 

The team won just 37 games, dealt with a plethora of injuries and made big in-season trades … but did not look like a genuine threat at any stage of the season. 

While the Warriors momentarily turned back the clock against the Los Angeles Clippers in their first play-in game, it also very much felt like their last gasp of the season. 

The days of the Warriors consistently outperforming their roster capabilities seem to be over, once and for all. 

Stephen Curry turned 38 in March, and while he’s the player most capable of turning back the clock, that simply can’t be said of Draymond Green, whose value we only see once or twice a week, if we’re lucky. 

(His childish behavior at the end of the loss to the Phoenix Suns in their final play-in game is yet another reminder of how the aging Green — now 36 — has become more name than game, and his relevance is increasingly being reduced to his antics, as opposed to his relentless defensive qualities, which made him an all-time great.) 

Now, the Warriors look ahead, but to what? 

Christian Petersen via Getty Images

2025-26 finish

Record: 37-45, 10th in the Western Conference. Eliminated by the Suns in the play-in tournament. 

Highlight of the season

The Warriors finally ended years of self-imposed drama by trading Jonathan Kuminga in a deal for Kristaps Porziņģis, a 7-3 rim-protector who can join in on Golden State’s 3-point fun. While his future with the club is in question, they did finally move past a situation with Kuminga that had grown enormously contentious. 

Players signed for next season

Stephen Curry 

Jimmy Butler

Moses Moody

Brandin Podziemski

Gui Santos 

Will Richard

Key free agents

Kristaps Porziņģis (UFA) 

Draymond Green (Player option) 

Al Horford (Player option)

De’Anthony Melton (Player option) 

Projected salary

$144,379,937

Projected draft picks

Nos. 11 & 54

Draft focus: Unless they decide to pivot even more into veteran presence, the Warriors are in dire need of youth and upside at every position, making their case clear. They have to go for the best players available, regardless of roster configuration. 

Roster-building tools

The above salary number is tricky, as Green is likely to pick up his option worth over $27.6 million. Additionally, Porziņģis is also looking for a new deal, which is likely going to cost the Warriors more than $20 million annually. That’s adding almost $50 million to that cap figure before taking into account the rest of the roster with options, as well as any roster charges. 

Don’t expect the Warriors to have many options in terms of exceptions or a willingness to spend, unless they ship out money first. 

Needs and goals

What the Warriors think they need probably differs from what so many other people think. They want to give Curry one more crack at a title, which is endearing, yet not particularly realistic, given their financial structure, age and inability to hit home runs in the draft. 

As such, it’s time to lay the groundwork for a new era — with everything that entails. 

After a dominating display of basketball after the turn of the calendar year, the Charlotte Hornets — for reasons unknown — reverted back to their immature, frustrating and irresponsible ways during the play-in tournament. 

LaMelo Ball grabbed the ankle of Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo as he was in the air, causing the 6-foot-9 big man to fall on his back and miss the rest of the game, which the Hornets won. 

Ball, who should have been ejected, stayed in the game, which left a sour taste in the mouths of NBA observers. 

One game later in Orlando, the Hornets completely imploded. Miles Bridges, a man with a stark and dark history of violence, was seen clearly hitting Magic guard Desmond Bane when both of them were on the floor, fighting for a loose ball. 

Everything to know for the NBA playoffs: Predictions, series previews, X-factors

Once again, the call turned in favor of Charlotte, with Bridges staying in the game, only this time, no advantage seemed to matter. 

The Hornets could barely produce points, and their defensive symmetry was entirely nonexistent. 

For a team that so many favored to make the playoffs, sympathy turned — and quickly — due to the return of its bad habits and general lack of maturity. 

2025-26 finish

Record: 44-38, 9th in the Eastern Conference. Eliminated by the Orlando Magic in the play-in tournament. 

Highlight of the season

The in-season turnaround showed this team does have the technical capabilities to achieve more than what has otherwise been expected of them, which only makes the end to the season so disappointing. The Hornets went 33-16 from Jan. 1 on, outscoring opponents by an average of 10.2 points per game, signaling considerable upside. 

Players signed for next season

LaMelo Ball

Miles Bridges

Josh Green

Grant Williams 

Brandon Miller

Kon Knueppel

Tre Mann

Tidjane Salaün

Liam McNeeley

Ryan Kalkbrenner

Sion James

Key free agents

Coby White (UFA) 

Moussa Diabaté (Non-guaranteed) 

Projected salary

$142,124,695

Projected draft picks

Nos. 14 & 17

Draft focus: While the Hornets did find success at the center position with both Diabaté and Kalkbrenner this season, they can afford to think bigger. Should Michigan’s Aday Mara be available, his 7-3 frame should be enormously attractive for this young team, particularly from a defensive perspective. 

Roster-building tools

The team is currently projected to have access to the full non-tax MLE if it re-signs Coby White, which seems to be the plan. The Hornets have virtually all of their key players under contract and clean books. They’re in good shape financially. 

Needs and goals

The Hornets need an adult in the room. There has to be a culture change within the locker room, and it likely starts by removing Bridges to some extent. Loading up on cheap veterans, with high locker-room and leadership value, should be of the utmost importance.