The NBA Playoffs Are Here

Edition #235

The NBA Playoffs are finally here. I’ve been waiting for this moment.

At the start of the season, I predicted the Knicks to win this whole thing. I said that they were the most complete lineup in basketball. I was even high on the 76ers, and pretty low on the Warriors.

Well, I’ve been proven wrong, at least, I think.

In the east, the Cavaliers take #1. In the west, the Thunder have clinched #1. Here’s how both conferences line up.

Eastern Conference:

PLAYOFFS:

1 Cavaliers

2 Celtics

3 Knicks

4 Pacers

5 Bucks

6 Pistons

PLAY-IN:

Magic

Hawks

Bulls

Heat

Western Conference:

PLAYOFFS:

1 Thunder

2 Rockets

3 Lakers

4 Nuggets

5 Clippers

6 Timberwolves

PLAY-IN:

7 Warriors

8 Grizzlies

9 Kings

10 Mavericks

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First off, I just want to address this.

This NBA season has been extremely weird. Luka Doncic, traded to the Lakers, even though he is one young stud. At 26 years old, he played crazy for the Mavericks, and he would have never left for the Lakers if he had the choice. It was always Dallas for him.

"After that video, I was, like, 'There's no way I'm playing this game,'" Doncic said. "It was so many emotions."

More than this, the Nuggets just fired Michael Malone, even though, he’s the winningest coach in Nuggets history! He won this team a championship, and even led them to a playoff position this season! Plus, the Memphis Grizzlies fired their coach Taylor Jenkins, just 11 days before this news, even though the Grizzlies had a near guaranteed playoff spot.

So, anything can happen this NBA Playoffs season. Maybe even the Mavericks come and win the whole thing (though we know that that’s probably not going to happen). That’s what we thought with the Luka Doncic and trades too, though.

Here are my predictions for the 2025 playoffs, and let’s begin the show!

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EASTERN CONFERENCE:

Play-In:

7 Magic vs 8 Hawks: Atlanta Hawks WIN!

9 Bulls vs 10 Heat: Miami Heat WIN!

8 Hawks vs 10 Heat: Miami Heat WIN!

1st Round:

1 Cavaliers vs 8 Heat: Cleveland Cavaliers win 4-1

2 Celtics vs 7 Hawks: Boston Celtics win 4-0

3 Knicks vs 6 Pistons: Detroit Pistons win 4-3¹

4 Pacers vs 5 Bucks: Indiana Pacers win 4-3 (This is going to be one of the best series in this year’s playoffs.)

Conference Semifinals:

1 Cavaliers vs 4 Pacers: Cleveland Cavaliers win 4-2

2 Celtics vs 6 Pistons: Boston Celtics win 4-3

Conference Championship:

1 Cavaliers vs 2 Celtics: Cavaliers win 4-3

WESTERN CONFERENCE:

Play-In:

7 Warriors vs 8 Grizzlies: Golden State Warriors WIN!

9 Kings vs 10 Mavericks: Sacramento Kings WIN!

8 Grizzlies vs 9 Kings: Memphis Grizzlies WIN!

1st Round:

1 Thunder vs 8 Grizzlies: Oklahoma City Thunder win 4-0

2 Rockets vs 7 Warriors: Houston Rockets win 4-2

3 Lakers vs 6 Timberwolves: Los Angeles Lakers win 4-1

4 Nuggets vs 5 Clippers: Denver Nuggets win 4-3

Conference Semifinals:

1 Thunder vs 4 Nuggets: Oklahoma City Thunder win 4-3

2 Rockets vs 3 Lakers: Houston Rockets win 4-2

Conference Championship:

1 Thunder vs 2 Rockets: Oklahoma City Thunder win 4-2

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The Thunder will play the Cavaliers in the finals. I’m going to give it to the Thunder. This team is pretty young but is well build all around the floor. This team has everything a basketball team should have.

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Alright, now I’m going to do a quick preview section for each team.

Cavaliers:

This team has been clutch all season long and is built on depth and shooting. What they lack is perimeter size, and that’s going to be a problem against teams like the Celtics—which, as I mapped out, they may face in the conference championship.

Celtics:

The Celtics currently enter with the best odds of winning the championship, but what’s really standing in their way is making sure their team’s core players are completely healthy. That has proven to be a challenge this season, which is also why I have them losing in the conference championship, but this is playoff basketball.

Knicks:

We all know the Knicks are a good team with a great roster. The problem is, that they don’t show up against Boston or Cleveland and are a combined 0-8 against them. The Knicks were also 15-23 against >.500 teams this season.

Pacers:

Tyrese Haliburton is so back and fares better against .500 teams with a record of 20-18. The Pacers went 1-3 against the Bucks this year, but the Cavs went 1-3 against the Pacers this year, meaning that the Pacers have what it takes to be the best team in the NBA. Can they and will they do it?

Bucks:

This is the team that won the NBA Cup this season, but they’ve been inconsistent all year long. There is a chance we see Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo play together, and when they both play, they’re pretty darn good—you could even say that they were the highest-scoring duo this season.

Pistons:

Aah. The Bad Boy Pistons. Reminder, this team was 14-68 last season, and under JB Bickerstaff, they have gone places. Cade Cunningham has been pretty hard to handle for defenses all season long, so it’s a huge question. Detroit is second in fast-break points. The Pistons aren’t expected to go very far in the playoffs, and this is a huge success for this team. They’re in the playoffs, though, so a few games would be pretty nice to win.

Magic:

Injuries have hit this Magic team extremely hard, and they lost Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, and Jalen Suggs for more than 20 games. Suggs is out for the season. The Magic have the worst offense of any of the 20 postseason teams. There’s a lot of hope for next season, but things aren’t going as well right now. If they find their way out of the play-in, it’s Cleveland or Boston. I wouldn’t take any chances on Orlando this year.

Hawks:

The Hawks somehow got the #1 pick and drafted Zaccharie Risacher with the #1 pick, and this year, they’re back in the playoffs. They have a great shot to make it in, with Orlando’s Jalen Suggs out. Regardless, we know what Trae Young can do with the basketball. That’s all they have to trust.

Bulls:

The Bulls somehow have made the play-in for the 3rd year in a row, and continue to rebuild on the fly. This is an extremely fun group to watch, but they’re not making it past the play-in, just like the last 2 years. They also have +100000 odds to win the title. Uh.

Heat:

No more is this Miami Heat team led by Jimmy Butler (he’s on the Warriors now). The question for this team is, how far will Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo take them? The Heat are the worst playoff/play-in team in the fourth quarter. They too have +100000 odds to make it, and while this team has to put together weird playoff runs ranging from huge runs to upsets, they are not as talented as a team should be in the playoffs.

Thunder:

Honestly, this team has everything a championship-winning team should have. All they need to do is execute in the playoffs, and they will do what they set out to do at the start of the season. The Thunder broke the point differential record, even though they didn’t have Chet Holmgren playing for them.

Rockets:

This team barely has any playoff experience, partially because the Warriors barely made the playoffs last year instead of them. Ime Udoka knows what he’s doing though, and many expect big things from this Rockets team. Can they solve the half-court offense problem? This team needs consistent contributions from EVERYONE if they want to win.

Lakers:

Star players fill this team. LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Dalton Knecht, and so much more. There has also been a lot of drama around this team, including foiled trades. All that they need to do is get the chemistry functioning. After that, they are good to go. The Lakers are in need of a bit of size, but if they take all of the rebounding pressure off Jaxson Hayes, and distribute it to everyone, there is a very good chance that the Lakers make a deep run.

Nuggets:

Goodbye Michael Malone. The Nuggets made that shocking move with only 3 games left in the season. David Adelman took the throne and has been doing great with the team so far. Denver’s starters add a plus-7.5 net points per game and their bench adds minus-3.8. Jamal Murray was one of the huge reasons the Nuggets won it all in 2023. Can he play like Jamal Murray this postseason?

Clippers:

No more Paul George this time around. The Clippers now have Bogdan Bogdanovic and Ben Simmons, 2 guys they got at the deadline that made great impacts. After sealing the win against the Warriors, the Clippers locked down a playoff spot, which is really good for them. Best of all? Leonard is finally coming back to his form. If the Clippers want any chance, he needs to stay healthy.

Timberwolves:

Another team that lost a superstar. Goodbye Karl-Anthony Towns. Welcome Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo, who have both made HUGE impacts for the team, even though they started off pretty slow. The Timberwolves have everyone working together behind Anthony Edwards. Great approach on the scoring side.

Warriors:

Alas, Jimmy Butler and Stephen Curry. The new dynamic duo. This team has been one of the hottest teams over the past few weeks and barely missed the playoffs. If the Warriors want to win, they just have to keep doing what they’ve been doing, and no doubt they’ll get past the play-in and first round. What comes after, though, will keep things unsettled.

Grizzlies:

No Taylor Jenkins, the winningest coach in franchise history, and they’ve been doing worse ever since. This is going to be a hard postseason for the Grizzlies, but they have sharp power. As long as they all play perfectly way, they have a good chance to get past the play-in. What happens after that remains to be foreseen.

Kings:

Not sure what sort of a weapon this team is going to be, but the kings did lose Fox this year to the Spurs and that sucks for sure. They probably don’t have the best chance to make it out of the play-in, but at least they made it here.

Mavericks:

This team is not worth talking about.

1. Sorry Tommy Beer! Gonna have to give it to the Pistons this time! And you know why yourself…