The 82-game marathon that is the NBA season is almost complete. The final day of the regular season is this Sunday, with the Play-In tournament beginning next Wednesday and the NBA Playoffs officially starting Saturday, April 19th.
With that said, what can we expect from the most thrilling part of the NBA year? Here are three predictions for the 2025 NBA playoffs.
3) At least three first round series will go seven games
The East’s top ten seeds have been decided for the last couple weeks now. The West still has a ways to go until the final games on Sunday, but no matter how the third through eighth seeds are ordered, we are set up for a wild first round in both conferences.
In the East, the Cavaliers and Celtics should have no issues with whoever comes out of the play-in, as the Magic, Hawks, Heat, and Bulls have too many flaws to be taken seriously as contenders. However, the combination of the Knicks, Bucks, Pacers, and Pistons offers a lot of intrigue.
As things stand right now, New York would play Detroit in round one, and Indiana would play Milwaukee in a rematch of last year’s first round series that went six games. The Knicks lost the season series this year with the Pistons at 1-2, and the Bucks beat the Pacers in the season series 3-1, but the Pacers sent them home last year, and these two teams have a budding rivalry.
Both series offer a lot of intrigue and are evenly matched. Out West, the first round matchups as of this writing would be Thunder vs. Timberwolves, Rockets vs. Warriors, Lakers vs. Grizzlies, and Nuggets vs. Clippers. That is a lot of star power in the first round going up against each other. Oklahoma City and Minnesota split the season series this year, including a thrilling comeback win by the Wolves on February 24th.
A young but hungry Houston squad would go up against championship-tested Golden State. LA and Memphis have battled in the playoffs before, but a rematch would feature playoff killer Luka Doncic in purple and gold. Lastly, the Nuggets and Clippers would see Nikola Jokic go up against Kawhi Leonard for the second time in the playoffs.
Across both conferences, the first round offers a lot of intrigue. In the West especially, outside of the Thunder, everyone else is on a level playing field and this could mean multiple long series. Expect a first round full of fireworks.
2) Conference Finals matchups: Celtics vs. Cavaliers, Thunder vs. Lakers, both series go seven games
This prediction may not come off as “bold”, but I expect the final four teams to be Boston, Cleveland, Oklahoma City, and LA.
In the East, the Cavs and Celtics have separated themselves from the pack as the class of the conference. Cleveland has played at a historic level all season, leading the league in offensive rating (121.6) and second in net rating (+9.6). Boston is one of two teams in the league that are top five in offensive and defensive rating and are the defending champions.
The two teams split the season series 2-2 and this series would feature a lot of star power in Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, and Evan Mobley going up against Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Derrick White. Cleveland would have home court advantage, but Boston’s championship pedigree will put them to the test. I expect that series to go the distance.
In the West, the Thunder and Lakers will duke it out for the right to go to the Finals. OKC won the season series 1-1, but the two teams split with Luka Doncic in a Lakers uniform.
The Thunder have been the NBA’s best during the regular season led by likely MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. OKC ranks in the top five in offensive and defensive rating and leads the league in net rating at +12.4. OKC beats their opponents by an average of almost 12 PPG and are looking to become the fourth team ever to outscore their opponents by one thousand points in a season.
As for the Lakers, they have the best trio in basketball in Doncic, LeBron James, and Austin Reaves. Doncic and James are the two best playoff performers of this generation. They are 22-12 since February 1st and are in the top ten in net rating in that same span. This series would be a matchup of youth vs. experience, and I also expect this to go the distance.
1) The Boston Celtics will become back to back NBA champions
We have not seen a back to back champion since the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018, but that will change this year. The Celtics will emerge as this year’s champion.
This year’s road will likely be tougher for Boston than it was last year, as they lost only three playoff games en route to the title. The Celtics will not have home court throughout the postseason, especially if they run into the Cavs in the conference finals or the Thunder in the Finals. Both teams will give them a run for their money.
They have the exact same championship core in Tatum, Brown, White, Porzingis, Holiday, and Horford. They can beat you with defense or offense, evidenced by their top five ranking in both categories. Head coach Joe Mazzulla is one of the NBA’s best. They are arguably the most battle-tested amongst the playoff teams. Boston knows what it takes to go far.
This is the best version of Jayson Tatum that we have seen, and he may not get any MVP love, but he will be highly motivated this time around given his Finals MVP snub last year. All the talk all year has been about who will dethrone the Celtics, and with everyone coming for their title, expect their motivation to be even higher and their grip to tighten with back-to-back rings.
