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CHC 2 MIA 1
HOU 4 TB 8
BAL 8 MIL 4
DET 5 STL 1
NYM 5 BOS 1
ARI 1 LAD 3
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IND 138 NY 135
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EDM 3 DAL 6
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Trelleborgs 0 VS Falkenbergs 4
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2025 NBA playoffs: Conference semifinals takeaways
The second round of the 2025 NBA playoffs is here, and our NBA insiders have you covered for every game of the Eastern and Western Conference semifinals.
The No. 4 seed Indiana Pacers kicked off the East semis by taking a 2-0 lead over the No. 1 seed Cleveland Cavaliers and never looked back, completing the series Tuesday night to become the first team to advance to the Eastern Conference finals.
Without Jayson Tatum, the No. 2 seed Boston Celtics held off the No. 3 seed New York Knicks in Game 5 on Wednesday night. But it wasn't enough as the Knicks, in their largest playoff win in franchise history, eliminated the Celtics in Game 6 in Madison Square Garden to move on to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2000.
In the West, the No. 4 seed Denver Nuggets forced a Game 7 against the No. 1 overall seed Oklahoma City Thunder with a win at home Thursday night.
The Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Golden State Warriors in Game 5 on Wednesday night to move on to the Western Conference finals. The Wolves await the winner of the Thunder-Nuggets series.
As teams continue to chase the Larry O'Brien Trophy, here's what matters most in both conferences and what to watch for in all four series.
That the Knicks, who would have faced a Game 7 on the road with a loss, weren't going to leave things to chance any longer. The short-handed Celtics landed a solid jab in Game 5 without superstar Jayson Tatum to stave off elimination. Still, New York threw a devastating knockout punch in the second quarter Friday, outscoring Boston 38-17 to take a massive 27-point advantage into the second half. The Knicks kept saying throughout the series that they hadn't played their best basketball, even after a trio of double-digit comeback victories. But the second period -- a mix of physicality, desperation and incredible shotmaking -- was close to that level. And it was enough to extinguish what was left of the defending champs.
So many things will be worth watching in this postseason rematch between longtime rivals. It will be challenging to draw anything conclusive from the regular-season series since the teams didn't play each other after the All-Star break, and because center Mitchell Robinson -- perhaps the most important X factor in the Knicks' second-round win over Boston -- missed their previous matchups. How does the fast-paced Pacers' attack perform against the Knicks' methodical one? More than anything, after each team had incredible comebacks in the first two rounds, which club plays better in clutch time?
The Pacers got brilliant performances from their stars while the Cavs watched their best players struggle, and it made the difference during this Eastern Conference semifinal series. Tyrese Haliburton was phenomenal, scoring 28 points while racking up eight assists, and he also got help from Pascal Siakam's 21 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Meanwhile, the Cavs got up-and-down performances from their core four. Donovan Mitchell gutted out 35 points despite a bad left ankle, but he shot 8-of-24 from the field. Jarrett Allen scored nine points, Evan Mobley finished with 24 but scored only four points in the fourth quarter, and Darius Garland shot 4-of-16 and finished with 11 points, putting a stamp on a disappointing finish for Cleveland. The Cavs won 64 games during the regular season, but they became the fourth 60-win team in NBA history to lose a best-of-seven series in five games or fewer prior to the conference finals.
