With the beginning of the NBA playoffs just a few weeks away, lots of mix will start before each conference’s play-in tournament and subsequent playoffs.
Until then, Top-Heavy East and Jam-packed West will solve themselves, with the 16 qualified teams that want to recreate the runs that the runner Dallas Mavericks and the Final Champion Boston Celtics did a season ago.
During the eastern conference, Cleveland’s 57-14 brand has Cavaliers as fight for Franchiset’s victory with a season of 66, which was put in the 2008-09 campaign. Even losing four of their last five matches, Cleveland still leads second place Celtics with five matches. Despite Cavalier’s historic regular seasonal run to this point, the east still goes through Boston.
Eastern Conference Challenge: Boston Celtics
When Boston Celtics lifted Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy after June in June’s dominant playoff run, a sigh of relief came over the franchise when the team finally got its title in Jayson Tatum/Jaylen Brown.
Nine months later, it would come as a surprise for no one to find Celtics playing late summer again. Sure, Cleveland’s path to the probable top seed at the conference has been impressive, but what will Stunt Boston’s chances of reappearing on the league’s biggest stage?
Since a main scraping home loss to Dallas Mavericks on February 6, Celtics has won 16 out of 19 matches and continues to gain strength. Tatum is in the middle of another All-Star season, which leads Boston with 27.1 points, 8.7 returns and 5.9 assists per match. Brown has followed his final MVP performance with a 22.8 PPG clip. The only concern for half of Boston’s two -headed monster is a remaining right knee injury for Brown, which has cost him four of Celtics’ last five matches. Nevertheless, Kristaps Porzingis, Derrick White, Payton Pritchard and Jrue Holiday know what is required to make a new depth through the conference.
Vegas does not seem too worried about Boston’s second place sowing either, with Fanduel that currently gives Celtics the best odds (-135) to win Öster.
Eastern Conference Pretender: New York Knicks
March 19, 2025; San Antonio, Texas, USA; New York Knicks forward Karl-Anthony Towns (32) reacts during the second half against San Antonio Spurs at the Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Pictures New York Knicks closes in to cope with a third look after the season, an impressive performance after missing the playoffs for nine of its last ten seasons. At 44-26, New York has a convenient grip on the East’s No. 3 seed, but is 12½ matches behind Cleveland and 7½ behind Boston. So what will keep knicks back from challenging the powers of the East? Themselves.
The aged criticism of Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau is that he runs his teams in the ground with incredible methods and exaggerated minutes played by his starters. This year is no different. New York’s five leading score-shaft Brunson (who has missed three weeks with an ankle damage), Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby and Josh Hart-each average at least 35 minutes per match. Compare that with Cleveland star Donovan Mitchell, who tops Cavaliers with just over 31 MPG.
Thibodeau has been around the league long enough to understand that tired legs can cause problems during the season, but it took New York assistant Rick Brunson to convince Thibodeau to clear the bench late in Saturday’s blowout victory over Washington Wizards.
Knicks has the star power to play with someone in the east, but they will need a healthy core to fight.
Western Conference Contender: Oklahoma City Thunder
November 11, 2024; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder Guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) defends a unit of Los Angeles Clippers Guard James Harden (1) during the second quarter at the Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Pictures Sure, this is not about a limb, but how can you claim that 59-12 Thunder will not be among the toughest outs in next month’s playoffs? Oklahoma City’s .831 Winning percentage is about to end as the NBA’s sixth best ever, and the highest brand since the 73 victory 2015-16 Golden State Warriors.
Last year, OKC could easily have been noticed as a pretender on this list. Thunder compiled a season of 57 wins but bent in the second round as No. 1 seed to Dallas Mavericks. Flush to the close conclusion of this campaign, and Oklahoma City has the probable league MVP in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (32.9 ppg), along with budding stars in Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren. Thunder strikes his step with an 11-1 mark in March, and the team is ranked in the top five in both points as scored and allowed per match.
But perhaps the most important factor in this year’s Thunder is something they did not have in last season’s playoffs – experience.
Western Conference Pretender: Memphis Grizzlies
March 21, 2025; Ingrlewood, California, USA; Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. (13) Drive past the Los Angeles Clippers Center Ivica Zubac (40) during the first half on Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Pictures Last season was a year to forget for Memphis, where the club lacked the playoffs for the first time in four seasons after putting out a record of 27-55. Since he does not want to promote the bad taste in the grizzlies mouth into this year’s mail season, the group will have to find ways to make basketball without superstar yes morant.
Morant has handled a movement of injuries and has played in just 43 of Memphi’s 71 matches. Grizzlies is 28-15 with morant and 15-13 without him. The exciting sixth year guard has missed Memphi’s last four matches with a hamstrings injury and currently has no timetable for a return. The grizzlies have dropped three in a row and have collected only 41 and 42 second half points in the last two losses against Trail Blazers and Clippers.
At 43-28, Memphis has still played well enough to find itself in the fifth place in the West, but only 2½ matches separate the group from the Play-in tournament-a event that Grizzlies does not want to find themselves in, especially without Morant’s help.
