NBA Playoffs 2025: Second Round Preview and Biggest Questions

After an exhilarating two weeks of first-round play filled with Game 7s and series sweeps, the second round of the 2025 NBA playoffs is set to get underway.

The No. 1 Cleveland Cavaliers, following a dominant regular season, swept the Miami Heat in the first round to become the first team in the East to reach the conference semifinals. On Sunday, the Cavaliers will face Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers, who eliminated the Milwaukee Bucks from the playoffs for the second consecutive season.

The Boston Celtics, the 2024 NBA champions, are moving closer to a potential repeat Finals appearance. Boston will first need to overcome a determined New York Knicks team on Monday, after the Knicks emerged from a tough first-round series against the Detroit Pistons.

In the Western Conference, after a grueling seven-game series against the LA Clippers, the Denver Nuggets will meet the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder. This matchup, beginning Monday, features a showdown between MVP candidates Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic. The Minnesota Timberwolves will play the Golden State Warriors after the Warriors defeated the Houston Rockets in Game 7 on Sunday.

Before the second round tips off, let`s break down the biggest questions for each matchup, including which underdog is most likely to advance and which player matchup is the most intriguing.

Eastern Conference

Cleveland Cavaliers (1) vs. Indiana Pacers (4)

In a battle of two elite offenses, which will prevail?

The difference between these two teams over the past few months isn`t as large as their regular-season records might suggest. Since January 1, the Cavs hold a 35-14 record, while the Pacers are 34-14. However, Cleveland led the Eastern Conference all season largely due to an elite offense that topped the NBA in scoring with 121.9 points per game. This is the second-best mark for any team in the last 40 years, trailing only the Pacers` 123.3 points in 2023-24. In the first round of the playoffs, the Cavaliers (136.2) and Pacers (118.0) ranked as the No. 1 and No. 2 offenses, respectively, by points per 100 possessions.

Both teams favor a fast pace, and the outcome of this series could well hinge on which offense manages to establish greater dominance.

The Pacers will make their second straight ECF if _______.

Haliburton successfully dictates the flow of this series against Cleveland`s All-Star backcourt. Indiana enters this series with more recent deep playoff experience than most of the Cavaliers` core. The Pacers` success largely depends on Haliburton`s performance. He has already delivered significant playoff moments in the last two years, defeating the Knicks at Madison Square Garden last season and hitting a game-winning layup in Game 5 against the Milwaukee Bucks this season to send them home.

The Cavaliers are currently not commenting on the status of two-time All-Star Darius Garland, who missed the final two games of the first round with a sprained left big toe. If Haliburton gets comfortable, starts spreading the floor, and forces Cleveland`s bigs to the perimeter, the Pacers could put the Cavaliers in challenging situations.

Prediction: Expect the Cavaliers to win and win convincingly. While the Pacers won the season series, that is misleading. Two of those wins occurred in April after the Cavs secured the top seed and were resting starters. The Pacers` first win happened before the trade deadline deal that brought De`Andre Hunter to Cleveland and with Ty Jerome sidelined. A full-strength Cavaliers team is significantly better than the Pacers and capable of beating them at their own game. My official pick is Cavs in six games, but they could potentially take this series in five.

Boston Celtics (2) vs. New York Knicks (3)

After going 0-4 against the Celtics in the regular season, what will be the Knicks` biggest adjustment?

New York desperately needs to find a better method to collapse on the Celtics` shooters than they employed during the regular season. No team used drop coverage against Boston as frequently as the Knicks, and Tom Thibodeau`s team paid a high price for it, allowing 21 made 3-pointers per game with the Celtics hitting 43.5% from deep in those four losses. Increased minutes for backup Mitchell Robinson, who possesses the agility to hedge higher on screens, will be crucial, as will adjustments to their defensive schemes.

The Celtics` biggest concern in this series is _____?

Jrue Holiday`s availability. Holiday missed the last three games of the first-round series against Orlando due to a hamstring injury. He was a significant factor in the regular-season matchups with New York, averaging 16 points and three assists on 67% shooting in three games. Perhaps most importantly, he is one of the Celtics` primary defensive options against Jalen Brunson, who scored 30 or more points five times in six games during the first round. According to matchup data, Holiday defended Brunson for 80 possessions in the regular season, limiting him to 3-for-6 shooting for six points during that span.

Prediction: The Knicks have struggled against the Celtics, losing eight of their last nine meetings. They are also coming off a demanding series against the Detroit Pistons. While New York will present a tougher challenge than Orlando did in Round 1, the Celtics possess too much offensive firepower with Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and excellent depth, including Sixth Man of the Year Payton Pritchard. They are also strong defensively. Boston won`t sweep New York, but I anticipate them finishing the series with relative ease. An exact series total of six games seems like a plausible outcome.

Western Conference

Oklahoma City Thunder (1) vs. Denver Nuggets (4)

How do Murray and Jokic solve OKC`s league-leading defense?

They could start by reviewing the film from their last encounter: a 140-127 Nuggets victory in Oklahoma City on March 10. This was Jokic`s only efficient shooting performance in four games against the Thunder, a dominant showing where he scored 35 points on 15-of-20 shooting and dished out eight assists. Murray also scored 34 points that night, exceeding his combined total from the other two games he played against Oklahoma City this season. He will require assistance from Jokic and other teammates to free him from Lu Dort, who is among the league`s best defenders at navigating screens.

Which MVP candidate will have the bigger impact on this series?

It must be Jokic if the Nuggets are to have any hope of pulling off the upset. The Thunder are undeniably the more talented and deeper team, evidenced by Oklahoma City`s league-best 68 wins and their record-breaking point differential for a season. However, the Thunder are notably well-equipped to contain Jokic, featuring two defensive-minded 7-footers in Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren, alongside several guards and wings who excel in disrupting passing lanes. Conversely, Denver lacks an All-Defensive caliber player to take the primary assignment on Gilgeous-Alexander.

Prediction: Last summer, I predicted the Thunder would win the championship this year, and nothing I`ve seen has changed my mind. However, any team featuring `Playoff Jamal Murray` and Nikola Jokic poses a threat not just to win games, but to win a series. While finding significant betting value in this series is challenging, I do believe Denver will secure at least one victory. A five-game series feels like the most reasonable prediction. The teams split the regular season series 2-2, but I would be surprised if Denver wins that many games in this playoff matchup.

Bonus!

The underdog most likely to advance is _____.

Whoever is not favored in the Timberwolves-Warriors matchup. By seeding, this would technically be Golden State in an unusual 6-7 pairing—only the third in NBA history. Minnesota has already won a series as the underdog against the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round, achieving this without home-court advantage. The Timberwolves also have a considerable rest advantage over Golden State, having finished their series last Wednesday. The Warriors have played two demanding games against the Houston Rockets since then, plus navigating the play-in tournament. At some point, the cumulative effect of these games is likely to catch up with Golden State.

What is the most intriguing player matchup in the second round?

It has to be Gilgeous-Alexander versus Jokic. The last time the top two finishers in MVP voting met in the playoffs was James Harden and Russell Westbrook in 2017. That year, due to the NBA`s brief awards show format, the results weren`t known during the series. It`s possible this time the MVP trophy could be presented during the series, similar to 1995, when David Robinson received his MVP trophy before Game 2 of the Western Conference finals against reigning MVP Hakeem Olajuwon. Olajuwon famously responded with 41 points and 16 rebounds as his Rockets won in San Antonio.