As the NBA playoffs head into the conference finals, the battles between teams are becoming more intense.
The 2025 NBA Playoffs began April 19, 2025, and will continue to sometime between June 13 – 22. Already there have been intense battles, upsets, and great performances. The Denver Nuggets, last year’s NBA champions, recently fell to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The NBA playoffs began in 1947, and has been held every year since. Sixteen teams make the playoffs, with eight from the Eastern Conference and eight from the Western . Throughout the playoffs, teams face off in a best of seven series.
The “Battle of the Gardens” consisted of the New York Knicks against the Boston Celtics. This series was given its name because the New York Knicks play in Madison Square Garden (MSG), and the Boston Celtics play in TD Garden. The rivalry, similar to the Red Sox vs. Yankees, is one of the most intense, longest running in all of sports. Many believe when star Celtic Jayson Tatum left after game four of the series with a ruptured Achilles tendon, the series was no longer winnable. This injury changed the momentum not only for the players in the game, but the fans who supported Tatum and the Celtics.
PJ Andrews, track coach at Williston and Celtics fan, thinks the Knicks would have taken the series either way.
“I think after Tatum got hurt the Celtics played better in game five because their season was riding on that win and without Tatum they were able to spread the ball around,” Andrews said. However, Coach Andrews added, “Losing Tatum is obviously a momentum killer and the Knicks seemed to let their feet off the gas to be able to win at home … I think with or without Tatum the Celtics wouldn’t have been able to keep up.”
In game four of the conference semifinals on May 13, 2025, Tatum went for a loose ball against the Knicks. Near the three point line, when he planted with his right leg, he ruptured his Achilles. Immediately after the injury Tatum had a successful surgery; it is expected he will miss the 2025-26 season.
As teams battle through these next weeks, many players have been grabbed the spotlight. One of the top players in the playoffs, according to ESPN has been Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (SGA), point guard for Oklahoma City Thunder. Throughout this postseason, he has played eleven games, averaging 36.6 minutes a game, 29 points per game, 5.9 rebounds, and 6.4 assists. This performance, alongside his teammates, has gotten the Thunder into the Western Conference Finals. Owing to SGA’s performance in the offseason, he is one of the top candidates for this years NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.
Jason Park, a recent alum, has Curry as his favorite player in the playoffs.
“Curry’s gravity and how much attention the defense must pay to him shows how versatile and important he really is,” Jason said. “As the teams pay so much attention, it shows how the teams view him in fear just like teams do with Lebron.”
The series is now down to the final four: The Indiana Pacers, New York Knicks, Minnesota Timberwolves, and The Oklahoma City Thunder.
Nate Ellis a junior boarder, has his money on the Thunder.
“With the run that the Thunder are having I don’t see the Timberwolves coming back in the series, and there is no way that the Knicks or Pacers beat them,” he said.
Andrew Peters on Bleacher Report, thinks the Thunder are going to win.
“A championship has felt well within the realm of possibility for the Thunder since the start of the season, but after compiling an NBA-best 68-14 record, it seemed even more realistic heading into the postseason,” Peters said.
