Jake Yono 

JY Journalism

4/15/25

My 2025 NBA Playoff Predictions

The National Basketball Association is in a very compelling time currently, as the level of basketball on the court and talent from each player is going to shine the most compared to the regular season of 82 games, where I have a different argument on my page linked here (The NBA Must Shorten Its Season). In this article, I will focus on my playoff predictions, which teams I have going deep into the playoffs, and any surprises the NBA legacy media may have bet against. Dating back to February 27th around the trade deadline, and now only Miami has shifted positions in the east and must face Atlanta to enter the playoffs as an 8 seed friday night and in the west 2 seed at the time Memphis has dropped down to 9th, Denver and the LA Lakers exchanged spots from 3rd to 4th with Luka Doncic while Houston moved up to the #2 seed from the 5 seed and the LA Clippers took that spot and finally Dallas dropped from the 8 spot after the Luka Doncic deal, this all found in my (NBA Trade Deadline) article proves just how dormant and little action there is in the NBA. Now, with our established seeding and a couple more play-in games to go to determine 8-seeds between Miami and Atlanta and Dallas and Denver, let's get to where I think the 2025 NBA playoffs will be heading.

Beginning in my home conference the east all 6 top seeds from last season have returned, 1 seed Cleveland should handle either Atlanta or Miami in 5 games as they lead the association in PPG and Miami or Atlanta are not going to be able to keep up with this firepower led by Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, and their dominant rotation which despite only consisting of 8 key players has a lot of talent and experience involved. Moving on #2 seed, the Boston Celtics, which have the longest active streak of playoff appearances dating back to 2015, will be facing off against the Orlando Magic, which earned their seed by defeating the 10-seed Atlanta in the play-in round. Although Orlando does have the best defense in the NBA in terms of opponent points per game, I still see the defending champs beating the inexperienced playoff-deficient team in Orlando in 6 games because the tandem of Tatum and Porzingis is going to be one to watch. Next we will turn to my Detroit Pistons against the New York Knicks in a matchup that is fairly evenly matchup in my eyes as Detroit has more depth while New York has more stars, Draftkings sportsbook has New York taking it in 5 at -2500 for them to win at least 3 games in the series and +265 for the series to end 4-1 Knicks (NBA Betting Odds Draftkings). I am not going to heavily favor my home team here, but these odds are a little bit off in my opinion, as Detroit was 2-1 in the regular season series. I believe Detroit will win in 7 games, as the key matchup between Cade Cunningham and Jalen Brunson will be won by Cade, but if Brunson wins, New York will win the series. In the 4 and 5 match-up, Detroit was battling with these divisional opponents all season, Indiana and Milwaukee, but what concerns me is that in the regular season, they only went 1-6 with 1 Indiana win, so they should start with New York. To keep it clear and simple, I think Khris Middleton, Damian Lillard, and Giannis are too tall of an order for Myles Turner, Pascal Siakam, and Tyrese Haliburton, and they will take the series in 5. Now in the 2nd round, Milwaukee is going to face Cleveland, where I see a potential upset in a 6-game series where the Bucks will defeat the Cavaliers, as this is where their playoff hopes ended last season, and the seasons before that have nothing to show. Detroit must play Boston in which they lost 3 of 4 regular season games to them and I see Boston going back to the conference finals as they will defeat Detroit in 6 games, there's nothing to frown upon for Detroit tough as they are the worst team record wise with 14 wins (The Detroit Lions had more victories then them in 15) in NBA history the previous season to make the playoffs the next. In the eastern conference finals it will be a classic showdown between the Bucks and Celtics and one where i see Milwaukee winning in 7 games but players will half to step out of their roles in Bobby Portis, Brook Lopez, and Kevin Porter Jr. which will be the star of this years playoffs, they will half to outperform Boston’s Derrick White, Payton Prichard, and Jrue Holiday which has more playoff experience with Portar Jr. This role player battle should be won by Boston giving them the nod for a finals berth.

With the East complete, let's get out to the Western Conference. First, firepower, OKC will defeat either Memphis or Dallas, who have both declined since the trade deadline. With Golden State climbing their way into the 7th spot from 10th at the trade deadline I see experience winning out over the Rockets as this is their first playoff appearance since 2020 whereas Golden State has Jimmy Butler now with finals experience along with Curry and Andrew Wiggins but key big man Johnthan Kamminga will be the X-Factor in this series against a Rockets team similar to Detroit which they have a star guard in Jalen Green but the rest of the team is a bit shaky, that’s why I have Golden State Winning in 6. For the Nuggets Clippers series, LA has a lot of talent but like I said prior, experience in these playoffs is key and that is what the Denver Nuggets have, even though they have the same record if LA Denver won the finals 2 years ago but lost to Minnesota in the 2nd round last season in 7 games and they should take care of LA in 5. Now for the Lakers Vs. Timberwolves series, this one should go down to game 7 as Minnesota has more talent, but LA has always been somewhat there since their 2020 ring. I’m going to say LA will take it, but with the group's lack of playing together and the significance of Anthony Davis, this could all go south, but with the talent on their roster, I believe it can just barely beat out Anthony Edwards and Minnesota. In the 2nd round between OKC and Denver, I could see the Thunder getting challenged but not defeated by Denver in a 6 game series where the guys surrounding Jokic falter by OKC’s defence which is 3rd in the NBA and the numbers have shown when the Joker is not scoring at his per usual rate the team suffers and I see that happening here. This Timberwolves and Warriors series is going to be entirely dependent on Julius Randle, Jaden McDaniels, and Naz Reid, who stepped up heavily last postseason, but these are on-and-off players, and I think Golden State will win in 6. In the western conference finals I truly believe Golden State can beat an inexperienced Thunder team as they have 24 combined finals appearances compared to OKC’s 2 and I still think it will be a close 7 game series within game 7 being a low scoring game statistically speaking with the Warriors Claiming their spot in the finals to take on the Celtics for a 2022 finals repeat.

Closing the NBA Playoffs, the 2 teams with the most finals experience on their roster will be going head to head in an intense battle. I am not jumping on the bandwagon here, but I see Golden State taking Boston in 7 games. The key to victory in this series is if the Warriors can eliminate Jaylen Brown and match up Porzingis with Kevon Looney and Kamminga, and if Jrue Holiday doesn’t take off, Golden State can win their 5th title in 10 years, tying the streak the Lakers had in the early 2000-2010 period (NBA Champions). That’s going to conclude my 2025 NBA playoff predictions. These playoffs should be an interesting one to watch, as a lot of upsets and star players and bench players are going to arise in their quests to win the Larry O’Brien Trophy.