Seasonal guide · NBA Playoffs

NBA tip-off trivia: last postseason, minute by minute.

Last postseason held both ends of the scale: the biggest lead at any minute of any playoff game since 2011, 61 points, and a Finals comeback from 29 down. Before the new season tips off, here are six games from the 2026 playoffs drawn in colour.

Every strip on this page is a real NBA Playoffs strip from the Huezle app, drawn by the app’s own code. More about NBA Playoffs.

How to read the strips

Each strip is one playoff game. Each band is one minute, left to right from tip-off to the final buzzer, so a regulation game has 48 bands and every overtime adds five. A band is purple when the away team is leading, gold when the home team is leading, and bone-white when the score is tied. The deeper the colour, the bigger the lead, reaching full colour at 18 points.

The comeback that won the title

Finals Game 4 · Knicks 107, Spurs 106Deep purple for most of the night: the Spurs, the away team, led by 29 in the 21st minute. The Knicks did not lead until the 47th.
Tip-offFinal Buzzer
  • Away Leading
  • Tied
  • Home Leading

The New York Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs four games to one, and came from behind in all four wins. Game 4 is the one to remember: San Antonio led by 29 at its peak and by 15 after three quarters, and New York won by one. No Finals winner from 2011 to 2026 came back from further behind; the next biggest is 16. The 2026 Finals game by game goes through the series.

Getting there

West Finals Game 7 · Spurs 111, Thunder 103A Game 7 won on the road. Purple almost from end to end: the Spurs were ahead at 44 of the 48 minute marks.
Tip-offFinal Buzzer
  • Away Leading
  • Tied
  • Home Leading

San Antonio reached the Finals by winning Game 7 in Oklahoma City against the defending champions. The Thunder led at the end of only two minutes and never by more than four.

West Finals Game 1 · Spurs 122, Thunder 115 (double overtime)Fifty-eight bands: regulation plus two overtimes, tied at the end of both regulation and the first overtime.
Tip-offFinal Buzzer
  • Away Leading
  • Tied
  • Home Leading

The same series opened with the longest game of the postseason. The Spurs led at 47 minute marks, yet it was level after regulation and again after the first overtime.

East Finals Game 1 · Knicks 115, Cavaliers 104 (overtime)Gold is a Knicks lead here. Deep purple late in regulation, when Cleveland led by 21, then gold again in overtime.
Tip-offFinal Buzzer
  • Away Leading
  • Tied
  • Home Leading

The Knicks’ run nearly stalled here. Cleveland led by 21 with eight minutes of regulation left; New York had it level by the buzzer, won overtime by 11, and went on to sweep the series.

The two extremes

First Round Game 6 · Knicks 140, Hawks 89The deepest purple there is. The Knicks led by 61 in the 27th minute.
Tip-offFinal Buzzer
  • Away Leading
  • Tied
  • Home Leading
East Semifinals Game 2 · Knicks 108, 76ers 102Never more than six points either way, and fifteen lead changes, the most of the postseason.
Tip-offFinal Buzzer
  • Away Leading
  • Tied
  • Home Leading

One strip is almost a solid block; the other barely leaves the pale middle. Most playoff games sit somewhere between, which is what makes them hard to name from colour alone.

The 2026 postseason in numbers

Playoff games, 18 April to 13 June85
Game 7s5
Overtime games5
Biggest comeback (Finals Game 4)29 points
Biggest lead (First Round Game 6)61 points
Most lead changes (East Semifinals Game 2)15

A tip-off party game. Show these six strips out of order and ask which is which. The overtime games give themselves away by length; the two Game 1s are the real test. Each band is the score at the end of a minute.

For more, the biggest playoff comebacks and every Finals Game 7 go back to 2011. If football is next on your calendar, the Thanksgiving NFL guide reads the same way.

Huezle has every playoff game since 2011. See if you can name one from its colours.

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Questions

Who won the 2026 NBA Finals?

The New York Knicks, four games to one over the San Antonio Spurs. The series ended with Game 5 in San Antonio on 13 June 2026, a 94–90 Knicks win.

What was the biggest comeback of the 2026 NBA Finals?

Game 4. The Knicks trailed the Spurs by 29 points in the second quarter and won 107–106. It is the biggest comeback in any NBA Finals game from 2011 to 2026.

How many overtime games were in the 2026 playoffs?

Five, including a double-overtime Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, which the Spurs won 122–115 in Oklahoma City.

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