The NBA playoffs are all about matchups, both on the team and player level.

Contenders that lean on size could be forced to adjust before a small-ball team that can pour in 3-pointers runs them off the court. A speedy guard who thrives in transition could be forced to grind out possessions in the half court.

Which matchups are deciding the first round? The top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder and Cleveland Cavaliers won just about every matchup throughout their sweeps, but what about the back-and-forth series of Nuggets-Clippers, the down-to-the-wire finishes of Knicks-Pistons and the brewing upset of Lakers-Timberwolves?

Let’s dive into both the individual and schematic showdowns playing the biggest factors in the six remaining series still up for grabs, starting in New York, where the Clutch Player of the Year is showing why.

Jump to a series:
Pacers-Bucks | Knicks-Pistons
Celtics-Magic | Nuggets-Clippers
Rockets-Warriors | Lakers-Wolves

New York Knicks vs. Detroit Pistons
Series: Knicks lead 3-1
Game 5: Tuesday, 7:30 p.m. ET (TNT)

Matchup:Jalen Brunson vs. Ausar Thompson and Dennis Schroder‘s defense

What has stood out most, particularly in the clutch, is Brunson’s ability to ignite offense quickly. Pesky second-year wing Ausar Thompson, who stands 6-foot-6 to Brunson’s 6-2, has started on the Knicks’ captain throughout the series, limiting him to 39% shooting and just 23 points on 23 shot attempts in those first quarters. But he’s also been overly aggressive in his first NBA postseason, getting into foul trouble while also struggling with turnovers, having committed 11 against his five assists. Between the fouls — Thompson had five in Game 1, fouled out in Game 2 and had four in Game 3 — and offensive struggles, Pistons coach JB Bickerstaff has often closed games with Schroder.

There’s some upside in that: Schroder has considerable postseason experience, and he hit what turned out to be the game-winning triple in Game 3. His ballhandling and outside shot are also big pluses compared to Thompson’s. But Brunson has found it much easier to score on Schroder than on the rangy Thompson. In fact, Brunson, who put up 15 points in the fourth quarter after returning from an ankle injury, is in the midst of a historic clutch scoring run. If it holds, Brunson’s 13.3 points per fourth quarter would be the most in the play-by-play era (since 1996-97), according to ESPN Research.

Given Brunson’s level of success late in games — each has come down to the wire — Bickerstaff may have to rethink who gets the fourth-quarter assignment on the Knicks’ All-Star point guard.

Indiana Pacers vs. Milwaukee Bucks
Series: Pacers lead 3-1
Game 5: Tuesday, 6 p.m. ET (NBA TV)

Matchup: Giannis vs. everybody

Only Paolo Banchero, who has an All-Star caliber sidekick in forward Franz Wagner, has posted a higher postseason usage rate than Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s 35.9% thus far. That lofty figure is obviously out of necessity with Damian Lillard having suffered a brutal Achilles injury in Game 4 and deadline acquisition Kyle Kuzma giving the Bucks almost nothing offensively, averaging six points per game while shooting just 33% from the field.

There’s little to feel confident about with Antetokounmpo having to force the issue against the Pacers’ walled-off defense, which can align itself that way because of the limited playmaking threat the rest of his Bucks teammates pose.

But more than anything — beyond Lillard’s injury at least — the Bucks are seemingly doomed not necessarily because of their offense, but because of their inability to stop Indiana’s high-powered attack.

How open were the Pacers in Sunday’s Game 4? Indiana logged 80 points off uncontested looks in their breezy victory, the most in a playoff game since the metric was first tracked during the 2013-14 campaign. Eight different Pacers had at least 12 points, which tied for the most in NBA playoff history.

Boston Celtics vs. Orlando Magic
Series: Celtics lead 3-1
Game 5: Tuesday, 8:30 p.m. ET (NBA TV)

Matchup:Kristaps Porzingis vs. Orlando’s bruising defense

It hasn’t been the prettiest series for Boston’s 7-3 big man, whose forehead was gashed open by Magic center Goga Bitadze‘s elbow on a loose-ball rebound attempt in Game 2.

Aside from that bloody moment, it’s been clear that the Magic’s defense is impacting his shooting. Porzingis has connected on just 14% (2-for-14) from deep and a ghastly 23% (3-for-13) from the non-restricted paint area, where he has sought to post up. During the regular season, no player with at least 100 post-up opportunities was more efficient than Porzingis, according to NBA Advanced Stats.

It will be paramount for Boston to get Porzingis, normally a sharpshooter, going in the next round; especially if the Celtics end up drawing the Knicks, who’ve struggled all season to cover floor-spacing big men out at the perimeter. (Porzingis, in particular, hit eight triples in a win over New York earlier this month, including a game-winning dagger in overtime.)

But perhaps knowing that it’s more important to stop Porzingis’ skid, coach Joe Mazzulla and the Celtics wisely tilted the offense in his direction in a low-pressure way that the Magic weren’t expecting.

Orlando has been dogged in blanketing the 3-point line in this series. The Magic are holding the league’s most active 3-point shooting team to just 33.0 attempts per game after Boston blitzed the league with an NBA-record 48.2.

Boston countered that stingy perimeter defense by having Porzingis cut toward the basket instead of popping out to the arc after setting screens. The first-quarter plays in Game 4 resulted in a pair of dunks for Porzingis. Perhaps it’s not a coincidence that he drilled his two triples of the series later in the contest; easily his most efficient of the series so far.

Denver Nuggets vs. LA Clippers
Series: Tied 2-2
Game 5: Tuesday, 10 p.m. ET (NBA TV)

Matchup:Nikola Jokic vs. Clippers help defenders (and rebounders)

The stunning final play in Game 4, with Denver’s three-time MVP hoisting an airball from deep, only to have Aaron Gordon dunk home the miss just before time expired, was the perfect example of the conundrum the Clippers face.

On that sequence, Clippers center Ivica Zubac played fantastic individual defense on Jokic to induce the miss. Two-time Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard was great there, too, coming over to double Joker at seemingly the ideal time. But that meant LA’s two top rebounders were stuck watching the game’s deciding moment from 26 feet away.

Jokic’s mastery puts all defenses in a bit of a trance. One indication of LA’s attention being divided on D: The Clippers, who had the NBA’s best defensive rebounding percentage during the regular season (73.4%), own the second-worst defensive rebounding mark in these playoffs (47.2%). Often in this series, the Clippers have been able to get the initial stop, only to struggle finishing the defensive possession.

“You pay a lot of attention to [Jokic] and you kind of lose sight of all the other guys and things that you want to take away,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue told reporters Monday. “So there’s slippage with how we want to guard certain players and what we want to do.”

Houston Rockets vs. Golden State Warriors
Series: Warriors lead 3-1
Game 5: Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. ET (TNT)

Matchup: Draymond Green vs. Alperen Sengun

You could home in on any number of players here. Jalen Green‘s been mercurial throughout the series. Golden State’s Brandin Podziemski has been an enormous difference-maker as a ball handler. Even Rockets big man Steven Adams was so impactful in Game 4 — he was a Rockets-best plus-16 in the three-point loss — that Steve Kerr elected to use the Hack-a-Shaq method against him in the fourth quarter, prompting Rockets coach Ime Udoka to pull Adams off the floor.

But choosing any other players or matchups would be overly cute, given how vital the duel between Green and Sengun has been.

The Rockets’ chance to potentially tie the series Monday essentially came down to that pairing, with All-Star big Sengun spinning into a free throw floater over the former Defensive Player of the Year’s outstretched right arm. But the shot clanged off the rim before being grabbed by Jimmy Butler III, setting off a massive celebration at Chase Center led by Green himself.

The play between the two has been physical throughout the series. And it’s noteworthy that Sengun was dominant in Game 5 (31 points, 10 rebounds, five assists), but did much of his damage against the Warriors during the time Green was forced to sit out with five fouls. That was part of what made Green’s end-of-game stop on him such a phenomenal play: Both because of time left on the clock, and because of the possibility that he would foul out of a game that had the potential to go to overtime.

The key play was highly symbolic of how things have gone the past three games between the star big men. Since lighting up Green as a primary defender for 17 points and 1.21 points per play in Game 1, Sengun has scored just 14 points and 0.53 points per play against Green in Games 2 though 4, according to ESPN Research.

Los Angeles Lakers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves
Series: Timberwolves lead 3-1
Game 5: Wednesday, 10 p.m. ET (TNT)

Matchup: Luka Doncic vs. driving Wolves

No club has attacked a defender more relentlessly than the Wolves have against Doncic.

Through the first four games of the series, Minnesota has driven at him 60 times, the most of any player this postseason so far. On Sunday, the Wolves went at him on 15 separate occasions and logged a hefty 109 points per 100 possessions when doing so.

It was simple yet smart offense for the Wolves; particularly in the fourth quarter on Sunday, when Wolves star Anthony Edwards diagnosed the Lakers as “gassed,” after each of L.A.’s five starters played the entire second half. Edwards had his way with 43 points on the afternoon, but he also used his scoring ability as a way to draw Doncic and other defenders late before dishing the ball for easy looks. (His last basket came at the 7:42 mark in the fourth quarter.)

In one instance, with six and a half minutes left, Doncic lunged at Edwards from the right wing, leaving Jaden McDaniels wide open on the backside for a bounce pass, drive and shot off the glass over Lakers guard Austin Reaves.

Targeting Doncic worked wonders for the Celtics in last season’s NBA Finals. It not only created good looks for Boston; it also figured to leave a little less in his tank for the other end of the floor, where Doncic is lethal as a ball handler.

Dallas Mavericks GM Nico Harrison has repeated that “Defense wins championships” when discussing the Doncic trade. Regardless of your opinion on Harrison’s rationale, the Wolves are doing their best to capitalize on Doncic’s defensive shortcomings in their pursuit of a title.