Predictions for Every Set 2025 NBA Playoffs Round 2 Series

The NBA Playoffs' first-round series have been decided, and we now know all the matchups for the next one.

The Indiana Pacers and Cleveland Cavaliers are both through to the conference semifinals. As are the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics. In the West, the Denver Nuggets will face the Oklahoma City Thunder, while the Golden State Warriors will take on the Minnesota Timberwolves.

And now, it's time to predict who'll be alive when this round ends.

Based on what we saw throughout the regular season and, more importantly, how each team is playing now, here are our predictions for what will happen in this year's second round.

The Indiana Pacers' attack isn't as prolific as it was last season, but they still have enough firepower to keep this series competitive.

Confidence in that take obviously starts with Tyrese Haliburton, who's averaging 17.6 points and a league-best 11.6 assists in the playoffs.

Against the sometimes spacey defense of Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell, he should be able to keep stacking up big assist games.

And in at least two games, teammates like Pascal Siakam, Myles Turner, Andrew Nembhard and Aaron Nesmith will hit enough of the open shots created by Haliburton for Indiana to win.

But Cleveland also has Jarrett Allen and Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley behind Mitchell and Garland. That backline was good enough for the Cavs to finish in the top 10 defensively in the regular season.

And it will be good enough to win this series.

Cleveland doesn't have to have a spectacular defense to advance again. Its offense is undoubtedly its strength. And it just scored an otherworldly 138.4 points per 100 possessions in the first round.

The firepower on this Cavs team is off the charts. Mitchell and Garland are both high-end scorers and creators. Mobley's offense blossomed in the year he won DPOY. Allen provides the rim runs that keep attention and bodies occupied inside. And there's plenty of shooting among the role players around those four.

They won't run over the Pacers quite like they did the Heat, but Cleveland will still win this series.

Prediction: Cavaliers in 6

The New York Knicks' first-round series ended in six games, but it was an absolute slugfest with the Detroit Pistons. And as the shallower roster heading into their second-round matchup with the Boston Celtics, that could be important before long.

Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart and OG Anunoby were first, second and ninth, respectively, in total minutes this season. And if those three, Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns have to keep playing heavy minutes against a team as dynamic on both ends as Boston, they're legs could start to feel heavy early in the series.

The Celtics, meanwhile, have tons of length and defensive versatility to throw at New York's perimeter players. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown both looked locked in throughout their series against the Orlando Magic, a team with a stout defense.

And even with Jrue Holiday nursing a hamstring injury, it feels like Boston will be the deeper team in this matchup.

New York has enough talent to push the reigning champs and keep most of these games competitive, but Boston's quest to repeat should survive the conference semifinals.

Prediction: Celtics in 6

The Denver Nuggets had maybe the hardest-fought first-round series in the playoffs, at least up until their Game 7 blowout of the Los Angeles Clippers?

Their reward? A 48-hour turnaround to face the historic Oklahoma City Thunder (who just set the record for single-season point differential) in the 1-4 matchup.

All conventional wisdom suggests OKC should win (and should probably win pretty comfortably). They have several of the league's best perimeter defenders to throw at Jamal Murray. Jalen Williams, Alex Caruso and Cason Wallace will all get their shots at him.

They have the deeper roster. As some observed during the first round, the Thunder's second unit may have given the starters a better series than the Memphis Grizzlies did.

They can play big (with Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein together) or small (with either surrounded by tons of shooting).

And they have the eventual 2024-25 MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, going against a team without a ton of great defensive options to throw at him.

But the Nuggets still have the best player in the world in Nikola Jokić. And while Chet and Hartenstein are built to slow down plenty of centers, neither is the kind of bruising type (like Ivica Zubac) he sometimes struggles with.

They also have the battle-tested and championship-minted two-man game of Jokić and Jamal Murray. If there's any single action that might be able to solve the puzzle that is OKC's defense it might be that.

But it's hard to imagine that puzzle coming together more than twice in a seven-game series. This matchup should be competitive, but the Thunder should still get through to the conference finals.

Prediction: Thunder in 6

In a lot of ways, the Minnesota Timberwolves feel like the better, more experienced version of the Houston Rockets team that the Golden State Warriors just knocked out of the playoffs.

Minnesota, like Houston, can play not just big, but jumbo, lineups. Those bothered Golden State through much of a seven-game series with the Rockets. The Timberwolves have a high-volume, athletically gifted shooting guard like Jalen Green, though Anthony Edwards provides about 150 percent of Green's production and impact. They have plenty of athleticism at the forward and wing spots, too. Players like Jaden McDaniels and Julius Randle can cause some matchup problems.

All of that, in combination with Minnesota's depth (Donte DiVincenzo, Naz Reid and Nickeil Alexander-Walker all could've started for other playoff or play-in teams), makes it feel like the T'Wolves are in good shape to return to the conference finals.

Of course, Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green certainly won't make it easy. Experience, championship equity and their own defensive prowess should be able to secure at least a couple wins.

But Houston's second-place record, notwithstanding, it wasn't the challenge the Timberwolves are about to be.

Prediction: Timberwolves in 6