BOS

NBA Insiders

Apr 13, 2025, 10:00 PM ET

The 2025 NBA playoffs are set! An exciting final week saw the Eastern Conference bracket finalized on Friday. The West wasn’t set until the last game, an overtime clash between Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors and Kawhi Leonard and the LA Clippers. There are now officially 20 teams fighting for a chance to win the Larry O’Brien trophy, five of which have never won it all.

In the East, the Cleveland Cavaliers claimed the top seed after a dominating, 64-win regular season. But the reigning champions, the Boston Celtics, landed close behind in the No. 2 spot, hungry for a back-to-back Finals win. No team has repeated since the Warriors in 2017 and 2018, making this one of the longest droughts without a repeat champion in NBA history.

The West was a chaotic mess down to the final minute of the regular season. When the Clippers took down the Warriors, claiming the No. 5 seed, and the “opportunity” to face three-time MVP Nikola Jokic‘s Denver Nuggets, the No. 6 seed and guaranteed playoff spot went to the Minnesota Timberwolves, who will face off against LeBron James and the No. 3 Los Angeles Lakers. The 7-seed Warriors now have to face Ja Morant and the 8-seed Memphis Grizzlies in the play-in.

The play-in tournament begins Tuesday, with the two No. 7 vs. 8 games, and the first round starts Saturday. Until then, our NBA insiders break down all 20 teams — the good, bad and ugly: their seasons in review, best-case scenarios and key aspects to watch for the play-in and first round.

Note: NBA title and first-round odds for 2025 provided by ESPN BET.

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ATL