After an exhilarating two weeks of first-round play filled with Game 7s and series sweeps, the second round of the 2025 NBA playoffs will get underway.
The No. 1 Cleveland Cavaliers, after a dominating regular season, swept the Orlando Magic in the first round and became the first team in the East to claim a spot in the conference semifinals. On Sunday, the Cavaliers will take on Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers after they knocked out the Milwaukee Bucks from the playoffs for the second season in a row.
The Boston Celtics, the 2024 NBA champions, move one step closer to a repeat Finals appearance. But Boston will first have to face off Monday against a gritty New York Knicks team, which is coming off a tough first-round series against the Detroit Pistons.
In the West, after a grueling seven-game series against the LA Clippers, the Denver Nuggets will meet the No. 1-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in an MVP showdown beginning Monday between Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic. The Minnesota Timberwolves await the winners of Game 7 between the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets (Sunday, 8:30 p.m. ET, TNT)
Before we kick off the second round, our NBA experts break down the biggest questions for each matchup, including which underdog is most likely to advance and which player matchup they’re most excited for.
Schedule and news | Round 2 expert picks | Offseason guide
Eastern Conference
Cleveland Cavaliers (1) vs. Indiana Pacers (4)
In a battle of two elite offenses, which will prevail?
The gap between these two teams over the past few months hasn’t been as wide as their regular-season records would indicate.
Since Jan.1, the Cavs are 35-14; the Pacers are 34-14. Still, Cleveland has led the Eastern Conference all season because of an elite offense that led the NBA in scoring with 121.9 points per game. That’s the second-best mark for any team in the past 40 years, behind the Pacers’ 123.3 points in 2023-24. The Cavs (136.2) and Pacers (118.0) were the No. 1 and No. 2 offenses, respectively, by points per 100 possessions during the first round of the playoffs.
Both teams want to push the pace, and this series could be decided by which offense establishes itself as more dominant. — Jamal Collier
The Pacers will make their second straight ECF if _______.
Haliburton can dictate the flow of this series against Cleveland’s All-Star backcourt. Indy comes into this series as the more experienced team, advancing deeper in last year’s playoffs than most of the core members of the Cavs. And the Pacers will go as far as Haliburton takes them. He’s already produced some big playoff moments in the past two years — besting the Knicks at Madison Square Garden last season and sending the Milwaukee Bucks home in Game 5 of this season’s first round with a game-winning layup.
The Cavs are not talking about 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 forcing Cleveland’s bigs to the perimeter, the Pacers can get the Cavs into some uncomfortable positions. — Collier
Best bet: Cavaliers -1.5 games (-180)
Put me down as the one who expects the Cavaliers to win and win convincingly. Yes, the Pacers won the season series, but that is misleading.
Two of those wins came in April after the Cavs had clinched the top seed and was starting reserves. And the Pacers’ first win came before the trade deadline deal that sent De’Andre Hunter to Cleveland and with Ty Jerome out. The Cavaliers team at full strength is significantly better than the Pacers and can beat them at their own style.
My official pick is Cavs in six games, but I could see them taking this series in five. — Andre Snellings
More bets for Cavaliers-Pacers
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 way to collapse on the Celtics’ shooters better than it did during the regular season.
No club played as much pick-and-roll drop coverage against Boston as the Knicks did, and Tom Thibodeau’s club paid handsomely for it, surrendering 21 made 3s per game with the Celtics hitting 43.5% from deep in those four defeats.
A heavier presence of backup Mitchell Robinson, who has the agility to come higher up on screens, will be key, as will schematic changes on defense. — Chris Herring
The Celtics’ biggest concern in this series is _____?
Jrue Holiday‘s availability. Holiday missed the past three games of the first-round series against Orlando with a hamstring injury. He was a huge difference-maker in the regular-season meetings with New York, averaging 16 points and three assists on 67% shooting in three games.
Perhaps most important: He’s one of the Celtics’ top defensive options for Jalen Brunson, who scored 30 or more five times in six games during the first round.
According to NBA.com’s matchup data, Holiday defended him for 80 possessions, limiting Brunson to 3-for-6 shooting and six points in that regular-season span. — Herring
Best bet: Exact series total games — six (+295)
The Knicks have struggled against the Celtics, losing eight of their past nine matchups.
They’re also coming off a hard-fought series against the Detroit Pistons. While New York will give Boston more of a challenge than Orlando did in Round 1, the Celtics are simply too potent offensively with Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and excellent depth — including Sixth Man of the Year Payton Pritchard.
They’re also stout defensively. Boston won’t sweep New York, but I envision it closing the series with relative ease. — Eric Moody
Western Conference
Oklahoma City Thunder (1) vs. Denver Nuggets (4)
How do Murray and Jokic solve OKC’s league-leading defense?
They can start by watching the tape of the last time these teams met: a 140-127 win for the Nuggets in Oklahoma City on March 10.
It was Jokic’s only efficient shooting outing in four meetings with the Thunder, but it was a dominant performance, as he scored 35 points on 15-of-20 shooting and dished out eight assists. Murray scored 34 points that night, more than he had combined in the other two games he played against Oklahoma City this season.
He’ll need help from Jokic and other teammates to free him from Lu Dort, who is as good as any defender in the league at fighting over or through screens. — Tim MacMahon
Which MVP candidate will have the bigger impact on this series?
It better be Jokic if the Nuggets are going to have any chance to pull off the upset.
The Thunder are the much more talented and deeper team, as evidenced by Oklahoma City cruising to a league-best 68 wins and shattering the NBA record for point differential in a season.
But the Thunder are as well-equipped as anyone to contain Jokic, featuring a pair of defensive-minded 7-footers in Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren, as well as several guards and wings who are pests in the passing lanes. Denver is also lacking an All-Defensive candidate to take the primary assignment on Gilgeous-Alexander. — MacMahon
