NBA playoffs 2025: Preview of the second round, biggest questions

After an exciting two-week games in the first round with game 7 and series sweps, the second round of the NBA playoffs from 2025 is underway.

The No. 1 Cleveland Cavaliers swept the Orlando Magic in the first round after a dominant regular season and was the first team in the east to demand a place in the conference semi -final. On Sunday, the Cavaliers compete against Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers after switching off the Milwaukee Bucks from the playoffs for the second season in a row.

The Boston Celtics, the NBA champions 2024, move a step closer to a repeat final. But Boston has to face a coarse-grained New York Knicks team for the first time on Monday, which has a hard series in the first round against the Detroit Pistons.

In the west, the Denver Nuggets, after a strenuous series with seven games against the La Clippers in an MVP showdown in an MVP showdown from Monday between Shai Gilgeous-Aalexander and Nikola Jokic, will be defeated the Golden State Warriors against the Houston Rockets on Sunday.

Before we start in the second round, our NBA experts set up the biggest questions for every matchup, including which underdog is most likely to progress and which player Matchup is most enthusiastic.

Timetable and News | Round 2 Experts selection | Offseason guide

Eastern Conference

Cleveland Cavaliers (1) against Indiana Pacers (4)

Which will prevail in a battle of two elite crimes?

The gap between these two teams in the past few months has not been as wide as their records of the regular season would show.

The CAVS 35-14 have been since January 1; The Pacers are 34-14. Nevertheless, Cleveland led the Eastern Conference through an elite criminal offense throughout the season, which caused the NBA with 121.9 points per game. This is the second best brand for each team in the past 40 years, behind the 123.3 points of the Pacers in 2023-24. The CAVS (136.2) and Pacers (118.0) were the crimes No. 1 and No. 2 in the first round of the playoffs by points per 100 possessions.

Both teams want to drive the pace forward, and this series could be decided with which the offensive is established as a dominant. – Jamal Collier

The Pacers will do their second ECF in a row if _______.

Haliburton can dictate the river of this series against Cleveland's all-star baking court. Indy comes to this series as an experienced team and meets in the playoffs of the past year more deeper than most core members of the Cavs. And the pacers will go to Haliburton. In the past two years, he has already produced some large playoff moments in the Madison Square Garden last season and send the Milwaukee Bucks in game 5 of the first round of this season with a game-winning layup.

The Cavs do not talk about the status of the two-time all-star Darius Garland, which missed the last two games of the first round with a bricked Big Toe. When Haliburton makes itself comfortable, spread the ground and forces Cleveland's large to the size, the Pacers can put the CAVs into some unpleasant positions. – Collier

Best bet: Cavaliers -1.5 games (-180)

Set me as the one who expects the Cavaliers win and win convincingly. Yes, the Pacers won the season series, but that's misleading.

Two of these victories came in April after the Cavs had won the top seeds and started reserves. And the first victory of the Pacers came before the trade closing business, which sent De'andre Hunter to Cleveland and with Ty Jerome. The Cavaliers team with full strength is considerably better than the Pacers and can beat them in their own style.

My official selection are cavs in six games, but I could see how to take this series in five people. – Andre Snellings

More bets for Cavaliers-Pacer

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Boston Celtics (2) against New York Knicks (3)

What is the biggest adaptation of the Knicks after leaving 0-4 against the Celtics in the regular season in the regular season?

New York urgently has to find a way to better collapse the shooters of the Celtics than in the regular season.

No club played as much pick-and-roll-drop reporting against Boston as the Knicks, and Tom Thibodeau's club paid for it and showed that 21s per game achieved 3s per game, with the Celtics achieved 43.5% from these four defeats from profound.

A more difficult presence of Backup Mitchell Robinson, who has mobility to get higher on screens, will be crucial, as will the schematic changes in defense. – Chris Herring

The greatest concern of the Celtics in this series is _____?

Availability of Jrue Holiday. The vacation missed the last three games of the first round against Orlando with a thigh injury. He was a great differentiator in the regular season meetings with New York with an average of 16 points and three templates in 67% in three games.

The most important thing is perhaps the most important thing: it is one of the top defensivations of the Celtics for Jalen Brunson, who scored 30 or more in six games in six games in the first round.

According to NBA.com's Matchup data, Holiday defended him against 80 possessions and limited Brunson to 3-against-6 shootings and six points this regular season. – herring

Best bet: Exact Series Total Games – Six (+295)

The Knicks fought against the Celtics and lost eight of their last nine games.

You also have a highly competitive series against the Detroit Pistons. While New York Boston will give a greater challenge than Orlando in round 1, the Celtics with Jayson Tatum, Jayl Brown are simply too strong and excellent – including the sixth man of the year Payton Pritchhard.

They are also defensive. Boston will not sweep New York, but I imagine that it closes the series relatively easily. – Eric Moody

More bets for Celtics-Knicks

Western Conference

Oklahoma City Thunder (1) against Denver Nuggets (4)

How does Murray and Jokic solve the defense of the league in the OKC league?

You can first view the band the last time when these teams got to know each other: a win from 140-127 for the Nuggets in Oklahoma City on March 10th.

It was Jokic's only efficient shooting trip in four meetings with the thunder, but it was a dominant performance because he achieved 35 points in 15-of-20 shooting and exit eight templates. Murray combined 34 points that night, more than he in the other two games he had played against Oklahoma City this season.

He will need help from Jokic and other teammates to free him from Lu, who is as good as every defender in the league in the fight for or through screens. – Tim Macmahon

Which MVP candidate will have the greater influence on this series?

It is better joking when the nuggets have the chance to enforce the surprise.

The thunder is the much more talented and deeper team, as Oklahoma City points to the best 68 victories of the league and shakes the NBA record for Point differential in one season.

But the thunder is as well equipped as everyone that contains Jokic, with a few defensive 7 footers in Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren as well as several guards and wings that are pests in the passing pests. Denver also lacks an all-defensive candidate who takes over the main order for Gilgeous-Alexander. – MacMahon

Best bet: Exact Series Total Games – Five (+175)

In summer I predicted that the thunder would win everything this year and nothing that I saw has changed my previous opinion. However, every team with 'Playoff Jamal Murray' and Nikola Jokic is a threat of not only winning games, but also the series. It is difficult to find value in this series, but I like that Denver gets at least one game, and the +175 seems to be a reasonable payment if thunder can win 4: 1. The thunder could sweep or Denver could win more than one game, but five games feel like the smartest bet for me. The teams shared the series of the season 2-2, but I will be surprised when Denver wins in this. – Steve Alexander

More bets for Thunder-Nuggets

Bonus!

The outsider is most likely _____.

Who is not preferred in Timberwolves-Warors Matchup. According to Saat, that would be Golden State in an unorthodox 6-7-match-NUR the third in NBA history. Minnesota has already won a series as an outsider against the Los Angeles Lakers in round 1 and did this without the advantage of the home place. The Timberwolves also have a massive resting advantage over Golden State after closed the Lakers last Wednesday. Since then, the Warriors have played two strenuous battles against the Houston Rockets and also had to fight in the Play-in tournament to come here. At some point I suspect that all these games will catch up with Golden State. – Kevin Pelton

What is the most fascinating player game in the second round?

Can I say Gilgeous-Alexander and Jokic? The last time that the two best finisher were played in the playoffs in the playoffs in the playoffs in the MVP vote. This year the results were not yet in the short-lived Awards ARA of the NBA. This time this time it is possible that the trophy could be distributed during the series, such as in 1995, when David Robinson was presented with MVP before the Western Conference of the Western Conference finals against the reigning MVP Hakeem Olajuwon. Olajuwon reacted with 41 points and 16 boards when the Rockets won in San Antonio. – Pelton