Celtics and Spurs can advance on Tuesday. The Knicks and Hawks play the first pivotal Game 5 of 2026

GREENBURGH, N.Y. (AP) — After the Boston Celtics rolled in Philadelphia and the San Antonio Spurs roared back in Portland, the No. 2 seeds in the NBA playoffs are on the verge of advancing.

The New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks might still need a while to settle things in their series.

Game 5 with a 2-2 tie has long been the pivotal moment of a series, and the first one of this postseason arrives Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.

In seven-game series that were tied 2-2, the team that took Game 5 won 81.5% of the time. It's a pressure-packed moment, and coach Mike Brown believes his Knicks are prepared for it.

“This group’s a relentless group. They’re an experienced group. They perform best, it seems, when their backs are against the wall, so I believe our guys are ready,” Brown said Monday.

The other two Game 5s on Tuesday can finish series. The Celtics are up 3-1 on the 76ers and the Spurs hold the same lead on the Trail Blazers, with both teams in position to wrap things up on their home floor.

However, the Celtics and Spurs both lost Game 2 of their series when they last played at home.

So did the No. 3-seeded Knicks, who then went and dropped Game 3 in Atlanta before evening things with a 114-98 victory on Saturday. They know they are already facing another trip to Atlanta for Game 6 on Thursday but don't want to be having to save their season of huge expectations that night by blowing another game on their home court first.

“This is what we work all year for, what you work all summer for, for an opportunity to play in the playoffs, and there’s not a lot of motivation left that’s needed really,” All-Star Jalen Brunson said. “It’s just, this is an opportunity for teams to go and put their names in history if they want it. So that’s the only motivation.”

When/Where to Watch: Game 5, 7 p.m. EDT (ESPN)

Series: Celtics lead, 3-1.

Betting line: Celtics by 11.5.

What to Know: The Celtics made a franchise playoff-record 24 3-pointers in their 128-96 victory in Game 4 on Sunday — their second 32-point victory of the series. Joel Embiid had 26 points and 10 rebounds in 34 minutes in his return after having an appendectomy on April 9, but their big man can't save the 76ers unless they get back the VJ Edgecombe they had in their Game 2 victory in Boston. The rookie guard scored 30 points that night but totaled just 16 and shot 7 for 26 in the two games in Philadelphia.

When/Where to Watch: Game 5, 8 p.m. EDT (NBC/Peacock)

Series: Tied, 2-2.

Betting line: Knicks by 6.5.

What to Know: The Knicks have appeared to be the better team during long stretches of the series, leading by 19 points in Game 1, 14 in the second half of Game 2 and 24 in Game 4. Yet the Hawks pulled out two one-point victories, including Game 2 at MSG. CJ McCollum averaged 29 points in the two games in New York and the Hawks hope he'll get more support in Game 5 from Nickeil Alexander-Walker, the winner of the Most Improved Player award who shot just 9 for 29 in Games 1 and 2.

When/Where to Watch: Game 5, 9:30 p.m. EDT (ESPN)

Series: Spurs lead, 3-1.

Betting line: Spurs by 12.5.

What to Know: The Spurs wiped out a 15-point deficit in Game 3 and then stormed back from 19 down in Game 4. Victor Wembanyama looked fine on Sunday, finishing with 27 points, 11 rebounds and seven blocked shots after missing Game 3 with a concussion that he sustained in Game 2. Scoot Henderson was the star of Portland's rally for victory in that game with 31 points, but the guard is coming off a scoreless, 0-for-7 performance in Game 4. Meanwhile, San Antonio's starting guards have been terrific with or without Wembanyama. Stephon Castle averaged 24.5 points and De'Aaron Fox 23 in the two games in Portland.

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New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) fights for the ball against Atlanta Hawks' Jalen Johnson (1) and Onyeka Okongwu (17) during the first half of Game 4 in a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Boston Celtics' Jayson Tatum, right, tries to get past Philadelphia 76ers' Kelly Oubre Jr. during the second half of Game 4 in a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

San Antonio Spurs forward/center Victor Wembanyama (1) and guard Dylan Harper, right, react after a play during the second half in Game 4 of a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series against the Portland Trail Blazers, in Portland, Ore., Sunday, April 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

New York Knicks forward Og Anunoby (8) reacts after scoring during the first half of Game 4 in a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series against the Atlanta Hawks Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Dallas' Cooper Flagg edged former Duke teammate Kon Knueppel of Charlotte to win the NBA Rookie of the Year award Monday night.

Flagg was the first rookie since Michael Jordan in 1984-85 to lead his team in points, rebounds, assists and steals. That and other accolades for a teenager were enough to overcome a difficult season for the Mavericks, while Knueppel helped the Hornets qualify for the play-in tournament.

The 19-year-old Flagg and Knueppel were first and second in rookie scoring, the first former college teammates to do that since UConn stars Emeka Okafor and Ben Gordon in 2004-05. Philadelphia's VJ Edgecombe was the other finalist.

Flagg and Knueppel traded places as betting favorites during the season, but Flagg's 96-point outburst over two games on the second-to-last weekend might have tipped the scales. Flagg was the favorite going into the announcement.

The first of those games was Flagg's 51-point showing against Orlando, the first time a teenager has scored 50 in the NBA. He broke his own record for a teenager of 49 from earlier in the season against Knueppel and the Hornets.

“I see the games every night. I can check the box scores,” Flagg said when asked how close of an eye he kept on Knueppel during the season. “I think also I was watching Kon just because that’s one of my brothers. We had such a good connection, and we’re gonna be there for each other for the rest of our lives. I was watching him as a fan as well, but there was obviously that competition at the same time.”

It was, as expected, one of the closest votes in Rookie of the Year history.

Only 26 points separated Flagg and Knueppel in a balloting where 100 reporters and broadcasters who cover the league ranked their top three rookies, with five points going to first place, three to second and one to third.

There were three years where the award was shared because of a tie in the voting, and two of those included Duke players Elton Brand and Grant Hill. Brand and Steve Francis tied for the award in 2000, Hill and Jason Kidd — Flagg’s current coach — tied in 1995 and Dave Cowens and Geoff Petrie tied in 1971.

The 2022 award, which utilized the current voting format, saw Scottie Barnes edge Evan Mobley by 15 points.

And in 1981, under a different format, Darrell Griffith edged Kelvin Ransey by one vote — 19-18. Only 69 ballots were cast that year, with Larry Smith (14) finishing third and Kevin McHale (11) fourth.

Knueppel, who was a one-and-done at Duke just like Flagg but turned 20 before his NBA career started, became the first rookie to lead the league in 3-pointers 273.

He averaged 18.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists, while shooting 42.5% from 3-point range to join Larry Bird and Paul Pierce as only the only NBA rookies to average 15 points and five rebounds per game while shooting better than 40% from beyond the arc.

Behind Knueppel, Charlotte won 44 games — a 25-game improvement over last season — before being eliminated by Orlando in the play-in tournament.

The rookie award was the sixth to be announced by the NBA since the end of the regular season. The others:

— San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama was the unanimous Defensive Player of the Year.

— Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander got 96 of a possible 100 first-place votes to win the Clutch Player of the Year award.

— San Antonio’s Keldon Johnson won Sixth Man of the Year.

— Boston’s Derrick White won the Sportsmanship Award. That award, unlike most others, is selected solely by active players.

— Atlanta’s Nickeil Alexander-Walker won Most Improved Player.

Other award announcements yet to be scheduled include MVP (either Gilgeous-Alexander, Wembanyama or Denver’s Nikola Jokic) and Coach of the Year (either Detroit’s J.B. Bickerstaff, San Antonio’s Mitch Johnson or Boston’s Joe Mazzulla).

The NBA will announce the Executive of the Year, the Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year and the Hustle Award winner later this week.

AP Sports Writer Steve Reed and AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds contributed to this report.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba

Philadelphia 76ers' VJ Edgecombe goes up for a dunk during the first half of Game 3 against the Boston Celtics in a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series Friday, April 24, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)