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2026 NBA playoffs: Western Conference first-round takeaways
The 2026 playoffs are underway, and our NBA insiders have you covered for every game in the march to the Finals. Which top seeds are cruising and which could be in danger of a first-round upset? Which stars are shining and which players are breaking through on the playoff stage?
As the Western Conference playoffs continue, here’s what matters most and what to watch in all four series.
More coverage:
East takeaways | Schedules and results | Offseason guides



Game 2: Lakers 101, Rockets 94
Biggest takeaway from Game 2: The series felt like it changed after the first possession of Tuesday’s Game 2, when Kevin Durant – out for the series opener with a sore right knee – blocked Lakers Game 1 hero Luke Kennard‘s shot attempt. Yet as much of an impact as Durant had — 23 points on 6-for-9 shooting and six rebounds — L.A. followed pretty much the same formula to go up 2-0.
LeBron James, who finished with 28 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, was the best player on the court for either team; Kennard (23 points) made up for some of the offensive power missing with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves in street clothes and L.A.’s defense held Houston under 100 points on just 40.4% shooting. Just to make things eerily similar to Game 1, the Lakers once again had a late second-quarter collapse fueled by turnovers to let the Rockets back in the game with a 12-0 run shortly before halftime. And, once again, Marcus Smart (25 points) hit a timely fourth-quarter 3-pointer, putting L.A. up by eight with 2:23 to go. — Dave McMenamin
Game 3: Lakers at Rockets (8 p.m. ET, Amazon Prime)
What to watch in Game 3: After finishing the regular season 7-1 at home and going 30-11 at the Toyota Center for the year, can the Rockets protect home court? Incidentally, before they went on that home surge, their two games before that were back-to-back losses to the Lakers on March 16 and 18. And with three days of rest in between Games 2 and 3, will Durant — who coughed up nine turnovers Tuesday — have that knee improved and look even more like himself? — McMenamin


Game 2: Trail Blazers 106, Spurs 103
Biggest takeaway from Game 2: Victor Wembanyama took a nasty spill on a drive to the basket as Jrue Holiday defended with 8:57 left in the second quarter and appeared to land squarely on his chin. Wembanyama headed to the locker room several minutes later, and the team announced he had entered concussion protocol and would miss the remainder of the contest.
Wembanyama’s availability is now in question with the series shifting on Friday to Portland for Games 3 and 4 after a day off Wednesday followed by a travel day on Thursday. Veteran backup Luke Kornet is plenty capable of filling in for Wembanyama, but the club’s depth takes a hit. Newcomer Mason Plumlee, Kelly Olynyk and Bismack Biyombo are viable options as backup centers, and the Spurs could opt to play rookie Carter Bryant at the 5 in smaller lineups. — Michael C. Wright
Game 3: Spurs at Trail Blazers (Friday, 10:30 p.m. ET, Prime)
What to watch in Game 3: The Wembanyama injury changes the dynamic, especially for San Antonio’s overall team defense, and provides a sliver of hope for a scrappy Portland squad that has hung tough despite being outmanned in terms of overall talent.
It’s worth noting that if Wembanyama is diagnosed with a concussion, he can’t return to participation without restrictions for at least 48 hours after the time of injury and until he completes the league’s required return-to-participation process. San Antonio has traditionally erred on the conservative side when bringing back players from injury, anyway. So, there’s a good chance Portland will face a somewhat undermanned Spurs squad at home for Game 3. — Wright


Game 2: Timberwolves 119, Nuggets 114
Biggest takeaway from Game 2: The Timberwolves stole the game they needed in Denver, thanks in large part to Rudy Gobert‘s defensive work against Nikola Jokic. Gobert — early in the game and during several key possessions down the stretch — made life difficult for the three-time MVP. Jokic shot 1-of-8 when guarded by Gobert, 1-of-2 in transition and 6-of-10 against everyone else.
He surged in the third quarter after Gobert went to the bench with four fouls, but Gobert returned in the fourth quarter and forced a trio of late misses that set up Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo and Anthony Edwards to drag Minnesota over the finish line with some offensive heroics. Those three combined for 70 points, sending the series back to Minneapolis tied 1-1. — Anthony Slater
Game 3: Nuggets at Timberwolves (Thursday, 9:30 p.m. ET, Amazon Prime)
What to watch in Game 3: How will Edwards’ knee continue to respond to a heavy workload series?
He missed 11 of the last 14 regular-season games for a persistent right knee issue that clearly continues to bother him. He grimaced and grabbed it at least twice in the first half. But it seemed to loosen and Edwards never needed to manage his court time.
He played a team-high 40 minutes, the most he has logged since early February. That’s 78 minutes in two games for Edwards after only three games total the previous month. He wasn’t hyper efficient, but he was productive and showed that elite burst when needed, finishing with 30 points, including a first-half surge that brought the Timberwolves back from an early 19-point deficit. He will get two days of rest before Thursday’s Game 3. — Slater


Game 1: Thunder 119, Suns 84
Biggest takeaway from Game 1: A series-opening Sunday afternoon tip in Oklahoma City isn’t a fair fight for a No. 8 seed that had to fight to punch its playoff ticket Friday night.
For the second straight year, the Thunder had all but sealed the victory by halftime of Game 1 in the first round. Oklahoma City, which was a 14.5-point favorite, led by 21 at the half, fueled by scoring 21 points off 10 Phoenix turnovers. It was the largest halftime lead of any playoff game this weekend, but it’s familiar territory for Oklahoma City, which led by at least 20 at the half three times during its title run last postseason.
To their credit, the Suns had a much more respectable showing than the Memphis Grizzlies did a year ago, when the Thunder rolled to a 51-point victory in Game 1. — Tim MacMahon
Game 2: Suns at Thunder (Wednesday, 9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
What to watch in Game 2: The Suns need to find a solution to slow down Jalen Williams, Gilgeous-Alexander’s sidekick who is as healthy as he has been all season after coming off summer wrist surgery and dealing with recurring hamstring issues.
Williams finished with 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting and six assists in 29 minutes. It didn’t help Phoenix that guard Jordan Goodwin, who took the defensive assignment on Gilgeous-Alexander to start the game, got into early foul trouble. That forced the Suns to switch Dillon Brooks onto Gilgeous-Alexander and use lesser defenders on Williams, whose penetration into the paint created all kinds of problems.
The game got out of reach during Gilgeous-Alexander’s seven-minute rest to start the second quarter, a span in which Williams had four points and four assists. — MacMahon
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ServiceNow Just Ripped 29% in a Month. What Would It Take to Get NOW Stock Up to $150?
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NOW surged 29% in a month but remains 16% below its year-to-date open, with Wall Street consensus targeting $142.
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WDAY and CRM surged 47% and 28% over the same period, confirming a sector-wide re-rating of enterprise AI names.
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ServiceNow’s AI product crossed $1 billion in annual contract value as agentic deployments grew ninefold in nine months.
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The AI software rally has finally come for ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW), and few enterprise names have moved harder in August after Q2 earnings reset the agentic AI narrative across the group. The question now is a re-rating question rather than a breakout question, and $150 is the number setting the ceiling of that conversation.
ServiceNow stock is up 29% over the past month to $127.23. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (NASDAQ:IGV) is up 16% over the past month to $101.80, so shares are outrunning the software sector benchmark by a wide margin.
Through Monday’s close, ServiceNow shares were down 16% year to date, so $150 would only recover part of the earlier drawdown. The company completed a five-for-one stock split effective December 17, 2025, which is why that price level counts as a modest ambition rather than a fresh all-time high. Wall Street’s consensus target sits at $142.23, and the 52-week high is $194.73.
The Q2 Report That Reset the Story
ServiceNow reported non-GAAP EPS of $0.90 against a $0.86 consensus on July 22, a 5.1% beat and its fourth consecutive quarter topping expectations. Revenue reached $3.99 billion, up 24%, and subscription revenue climbed 24.5% to $3.88 billion, both above the high end of guidance.
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The company’s ServiceNow AI product crossed $1 billion in annual contract value, and agentic deployments increased ninefold in nine months. Management logged 123 transactions above $1 million in net new annual contract value, up 40% year over year, and CEO Bill McDermott framed the quarter as evidence the company is “operating to the Rule of 56, well on our way to the Rule of 60.”
What Would Actually Get NOW to $150
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Fact-checking the White House statement of facts about Canada
The White House issued a statement on Tuesday that lists “facts” about how Canada has abused its trading relationship with the United State “for decades.”
It was another move in the deepening trade war between the two countries. Talks over tariffs collapsed on Friday night when Prime Minister Mark Carney pulled out, saying the U.S. “asked too much and offered too little.”
Some of the claims the White House makes about Canada are true. Others are opinions that U.S. President Donald Trump has long held or claims that are open to debate. Here’s a look at what the White House said.
Are we alone with China in retaliating against U.S. tariffs?
The first point in the White House statement says: “Canada is joined only by the People’s Republic of China in choosing retaliation over negotiation.”
Although Canada has been negotiating with the U.S. for the past month, this statement appears to be true. Many trading partners have threatened to retaliate against Trump’s tariffs but have yet to do so.
- With the trade war back in full swing, are you trying to buy Canadian again? We want to hear from you — email us at [email protected].
Mexico is in negotiations to reduce similar tariffs Canada faces on steel, aluminum and cars, but it has not threatened specific countermeasures.
Brazil is threatening action in response to U.S. duties. Both the U.K. and the European Union considered counter-tariffs after “Liberation Day” in 2025, but they decided to hold off.
Canada tariffs vehicles imported from the U.S.
The statement accuses Canada of imposing “discriminatory” tariffs of 25 per cent on imports of vehicles from the U.S. It characterizes the move as unfair, as it says the measures were “applied to no other country.”
This is strictly true — but the reason Canada imposed the tariff on April 9, 2025, is because the U.S. did the same days earlier. The tariff applies to non-CUSMA-compliant vehicles imported into Canada from the U.S., which is the equivalent of what the U.S. did to Canada.
The negotiations that fell apart on Friday were, in part, about eliminating or at least reducing that tariff.
Canada has banned most U.S. alcohol from shelves
One of the most high-profile actions Canadian provinces took after new tariffs were imposed by Trump in 2025 was to pull U.S. alcohol from the shelves of government liquor stores.
The White House statement says: “Canada banned American wine, beer, and spirits in nearly every province and territory — while other countries have faced no such restrictions. As a result, U.S. alcohol exports to Canada collapsed 81% in a single year.”

It’s true that all provinces except Saskatchewan and Alberta have taken this step. Premiers have said in recent days that they would lift the bans only if Trump’s tariffs are substantially lowered or eliminated. Since trade talks collapsed, they say U.S. alcohol will not return to shelves any time soon.
In recent months, politicians in California have pleaded with Canada to lift the ban, saying it has hurt wineries in their state. In Kentucky, Gov. Andy Beshear acknowledged last week that the bourbon industry is hurting, as Canada is his state’s No. 1 trading partner.
Does Canada impose a 300% tariff on U.S. dairy?
Trump has repeatedly attacked Canada’s dairy industry, and the White House went there again.
“Canada locks out U.S. dairy with tariff-rate quotas far more restrictive than those given to Europe, plus over-quota tariffs of nearly 300% — rates so extreme they function as a near-total ban and rank among the highest agricultural tariffs in the developed world,” its statement claimed.
Canada has not locked out U.S. dairy. The rules are complex, but U.S. dairy producers can export to Canada tariff-free, up to a limit — which they have never reached. Beyond that limit, tariffs would be imposed that can reach 250 per cent. But that has never happened.
What particularly irritates the U.S. is that its retailers are not allowed to sell dairy directly in Canada. That’s why you can’t buy American milk in the grocery store.
But Canada’s agreement with the EU does allow some retail brands from there to sell their products here, particularly cheese. The U.S. says that’s unfair.
It should be noted that the current tariff rules on U.S. dairy entering Canada were negotiated and agreed to by Trump in his first term.

The U.S. trade deficit with Canada
Trump spends a lot of time focused on trade deficits, and he interprets them as a form of weakness.
The White House says, “Canada has extracted a persistent average annual goods trade deficit of roughly $50 billion from the U.S. over the last decade — while refusing reciprocal access.”
The overall number is correct (it was $48.5 billion in 2025, according to the U.S. Trade Representative). But as premiers and others have repeatedly noted, the only reason for that is because Canada exported 3.9 million barrels of oil per day to the U.S. last year.
States near Canada’s border need the oil, and it’s sold at below-market prices, a significant economic advantage for the U.S.
If that oil were removed from the calculation, the U.S. would have a goods surplus with Canada. In other words, excluding energy, it exports more stuff to Canada than Canada exports to the U.S.
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne says Canada will match the latest round of U.S. tariffs in a ‘proportionate, targeted and strategic’ way. Champagne says the tariffs, which will impact more than $27 billion in U.S. goods, are ‘all about fairness.’
Some White House claims can’t be fact-checked
The statement includes a series of “facts” that are actually opinions or claims that are open to debate.
For example, it says: “Without the United States, Canada could not survive. Canada sends roughly three-quarters of all its goods exports to America.” The figure here is correct, and although no Canadian officials deny the importance of the U.S. market, Canada’s survivability without the U.S. is a hypothetical that no one is seriously contemplating.
“The statement also says: “Canada’s failed trade policies are driving its own manufacturers south. A recent survey found 42% of Canadian manufacturers have already moved or are planning to move production to the U.S.”
The survey, by KPMG, says companies are moving or planning to move “due to economic uncertainty and trade and tariff threats,” not because of “Canada’s failed trade policies.”
The White House statement ends with a claim that the U.S. “has the clear leverage” since its economy is far larger. Although no one disputes the size advantage, the debate over who has the upper hand in this trade war is not settled.
- Do you support Canada’s new retaliatory tariffs on the U.S., set for Sept. 8? Click “Join the Conversation” below. On the app? Tap here.
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Khadijah Haqq Files for Child and Spousal Support from Estranged Husband Bobby McCray, Claims She’s Had to Take Loans from Family
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Khadijah Haqq filed for spousal and child support from her estranged husband, Bobby McCray
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She is requesting $2,033 monthly in spousal support and $100,000 for attorney fees from the former NFL player
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The former couple shares three kids: Christina, Celine and Kapri
Khadijah Haqq is requesting child and spousal support from her estranged husband Bobby McCray.
According to court documents obtained by PEOPLE, The Girls star, 43, is seeking child and spousal support from McCray for their three kids — Christian, 15, Celine, 12, and Kapri, 5. She is asking for $2,033 monthly in spousal support and a one-time payment of $100,000 to cover her attorney fees. Haqq is also asking the court to determine how much the former Philadelphia Eagles defensive end, 45, should pay in child support.
Haqq claims that her family “primarily relied” on McCray’s income, although she earned “minimal residuals” and was occasionally paid for small projects because she worked in the entertainment industry.

Khadijah Haqq and her kids.
Credit: Khadijah Haqq/Instagram
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Reps for both Haqq and McCray did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
In the documents, the mom of three explains that their family had always lived in a single-family residence and grew up having two cars. They would take their kids on at least one domestic or international vacation per year, and would often go to restaurants for meals or order in. The former couple’s kids went to private school, and Haqq says they “paid significant amounts” for each kid to participate in extracurricular activities.
“We had minimal to no debt and did not need to live off of credit card, which I have to rely upon now to make ends meet,” writes Haqq. She explains that she now is “unable to earn enough money to maintain the marital standard of living.”
Haqq says she has been “primarily responsible” for the care of their kids and claimed that McCray is “neither consistently in California” — where they live — “nor does he have a set schedule to see the children.”

Khadijah Haqq and her kids.
Credit: Khadijah Haqq/Instagram
She claims in the filing that with “little to no help” from McCray, she’s been unable to dedicate time to finding work since she’s been working as a full-time parent. Haqq also says she’s had to take loans from friends and family to make ends meet.
“For example, my sister deposited approximately $8,000 into my bank account,” says Haqq, “in 2025 so that I could pay for our living expenses. I have also had to borrow monies [sic] from friends to pay for same. I am greatly [appreciative] for the support I have received in our time of need, and intend to repay these financial loans.”
Haqq adds in the filing that her ex is “more than capable” of both meeting his own monthly expenses while also contributing to her and the children’s monthly expenses. McCray, who receives “significant income” from the NFL every month due to his disability and annuity payments, also gets monthly SSA derivative payments “for the benefit of the children,” but Haqq has not received them for their youngest child. Haqq says that McCray has an “obligation to support his children” and that he has “failed to do so.”
McCray filed for divorce from Haqq in August 2024, nearly one year after the two first announced their split. The former couple, who tied the knot in 2010 and were married for 13 years.
Read the original article on People
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