The 2025 NBA conference finals have tipped off, with four teams fighting for a spot in the Finals.
The No. 1 seed Oklahoma City Thunder, after a tough seven-game series against the Denver Nuggets, kicked off the Western Conference finals Tuesday night. They defeated Anthony Edwards and the visiting No. 6 seed Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 1 behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander‘s 31 points.
In the East, the No. 4 seed Indiana Pacers completed an improbable comeback against the No. 3 seed New York Knicks on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden after Tyrese Haliburton made a tying field goal at the buzzer of the fourth quarter to force OT. The Knicks and Pacers will look to make their first Finals appearance since 1999 and 2000, respectively.
As these elite teams face off, our NBA insiders break down their biggest takeaways from every matchup and what to watch for in both conference showdowns.
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Eastern Conference
Game 1: Pacers 138, Knicks 135 (OT)
In the aftermath of the latest wild Indiana Pacers comeback of these NBA playoffs, Tyrese Haliburton, who is quickly placing himself in the pantheon of New York City villains, glanced at a few assembled reporters and team personnel in the locker room and smiled.
“It’s gotta be the shoes,” he said.
Haliburton, a student of NBA and Knicks-Pacers history, knew exactly what he was doing. In another era of NBA basketball, Michael Jordan — before he became a New York supervillain — did a Jordan shoe campaign with Knicks superfan Spike Lee built around that line.
And on a night where so many former legends from this rivalry’s past — from Reggie Miller to Larry Johnson to Patrick Ewing to Lee himself — were inside Madison Square Garden, Haliburton and the Pacers authored yet another remarkable escape from defeat with a performance that won’t be forgotten anytime soon.
Over the past 27 NBA playoffs, teams had a 0-1,414 record when trailing by at least nine points in the final minute of the fourth quarter or overtime, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Now, make that 1-1,414, after Wednesday night’s suddenly thrilling Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals between the Pacers and Knicks.
“We just continue to do it time and time again,” Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith, the catalyst of this comeback, said afterward.
To say that the sellout crowd inside Madison Square Garden was stunned by the Pacers erasing a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit to escape with a 138-135 overtime victory is an understatement. But for anyone watching this NBA postseason, it’s not entirely surprising that Indiana pulled off this unbelievable accomplishment.
As Nesmith said, the Pacers have made a habit of it.
“This is very difficult to do,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said, “but it’s a 48-minute game.”
No team has embodied that mantra more than Indiana in these playoffs. There was the comeback from down seven with 34.5 seconds to go to beat the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round. There was another from down seven in the final 50 seconds in the conference semifinals against the Cleveland Cavaliers. But this finish, with the Knicks fan base fresh off the jubilation of reaching this round for the first time in a quarter century — and New York seemingly putting the game out of reach through the first 45 minutes — is Indiana’s most impressive yet.
Jalen Brunson got wherever he wanted on the floor. Karl-Anthony Towns was hitting from 3-point range. Mitchell Robinson was unstoppable on the boards.
But the Pacers, as Carlisle said, are constantly putting pressure on their opponents with full-court defense virtually the whole game. They play at a frenetic pace that forces their opponents to speed up with them. And Haliburton credited Indiana’s front office for keeping this roster almost completely intact after last year’s run, giving the Pacers a rare commodity in today’s NBA: continuity.
The end result? A series of comebacks, each one more improbable than the last. And this one included perhaps the most improbable shot of all of them: Haliburton’s game-tying jumper to end regulation that hit the back of the rim and went up in the air before dropping through the hoop.
“I felt like it got stuck up there,” Haliburton said with another smile.
The Knicks, and their fans, wish it would have. Instead, it dropped through the hoop and helped turn the game into the latest unforgettable playoff moment between these two franchises, who have played the most playoff games (49) of any two teams in the NBA since their first meeting in 1993. And, because of how regularly the Pacers have escaped from these spots the past few weeks, only one thing is certain:
No matter the lead, the Pacers aren’t beaten until the clock strikes zero. — Tim Bontemps
2:21
Haliburton recounts Pacers’ comeback with SVP
Tyrese Haliburton joins Scott Van Pelt to break down the Pacers’ incredible comeback over the Knicks in Game 1.
Biggest takeaways for the Pacers:
Never count the Pacers out. Despite trailing by nine points with 58.1 seconds, Indiana stormed back with a furious rally in the fourth quarter to steal Game 1, thanks to another improbable Haliburton shot. The Pacers have now won three games this postseason when down by seven or more points in the final minute. Only one other team in NBA history has pulled off one playoff win in that scenario (the Thunder in 2014). Aaron Nesmith hit six 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, tied for the most in a single playoff quarter in NBA history, and Haliburton nearly knocked down another game winner, with a step-back jumper at the buzzer at the end of regulation, but his foot was on the line and it was ruled a 2-pointer to force overtime. Still, Haliburton became the first player since tracking data began (1998) to record three game-tying or go-ahead field goals in the final five seconds of the fourth quarter or overtime, according to ESPN Research. — Jamal Collier
Biggest takeaways for the Knicks:
You’ll rightfully hear folks make comparisons to Reggie Miller’s eight points in nine seconds to help the Pacers knock off New York at the Garden back in 1995’s Game 1. Simply put, the Knicks blew a massive opportunity to begin this series — the type of game you aren’t supposed to drop, especially on your home floor.
Yes, big comebacks have been the Pacers’ calling card this postseason. (The Knicks’ calling card too.) But New York was dominant in the minutes where superstar guard Jalen Brunson wasn’t on the floor, and given the Pacers’ perceived depth advantage in this matchup, that isn’t something we should necessarily expect to happen repeatedly in this series.
The Pacers drew within two, 94-92, with 10 minutes to go in the fourth as Brunson picked up a fifth personal foul, forcing coach Tom Thibodeau to send him to the bench. The Knicks then went on an improbable 14-0 run in the 2½ non-Brunson minutes that followed, putting them up 16 and seemingly putting the contest out of reach.
But between the turnovers and the defensive breakdowns, they didn’t effectively close the door. And it could prove costly, just like it did back in 1995, when Miller helped the Pacers steal Game 1 that year. — Chris Herring
Game 2: Pacers at Knicks (Friday, 8 p.m. ET, TNT)
What to watch:
Do the Pacers have any answer for Brunson? Even in a disastrous defeat, the Knicks should be encouraged by how easily their leading scorer got to his spots in Game 1. It seemed like every guard and wing in Indiana’s rotation got some time defending Brunson — and not one of them could reliably slow the All-NBA guard. Brunson finished with 43 points on 15-for-25 shooting, plus a game-high 14 free throw attempts. It was the eighth 40-point game of his playoff career, setting a new franchise record.
The Pacers’ litany of Brunson defenders reads like a deleted scene from “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.” Andrew Nembhard wasn’t quick enough to stick in front of Brunson. T.J. McConnell wasn’t big enough. Ben Sheppard wasn’t strong enough. And Nesmith fouled too frequently. However, the Pacers never found their “just right.”
Indiana’s best defense against Brunson was to get him in foul trouble, forcing him off the court for a large portion of the fourth quarter. But that’s not a repeatable formula against a small guard who doesn’t foul often; Brunson has now played in 78 games this season and recorded five or six fouls in just six of them (8%). Odds are, he’ll be on the court for every important minute for the rest of the series.
Perhaps that won’t matter if Nesmith continues his impression of peak Stephen Curry at the end of games. But Brunson’s offensive mastery seems a lot more sustainable, as Indiana never found an answer for his drives or pull-up jumpers in Game 1. Unless the Pacers stumble upon a new solution, he might have several more 40-point efforts. — Zach Kram
Western Conference
Game 1: Thunder 114, Timberwolves 88
Biggest takeaways for the Thunder: Oklahoma City’s defense bought the Thunder a half before their scorers settled into a rhythm. The Thunder trailed by only four points at halftime despite All-Star duo Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams combining to shoot only 4-of-21 from the floor. Then, that tandem seized control, outscoring the Timberwolves by themselves in the third quarter and combining to score 21 to allow Oklahoma City to take a double-digit lead. Chet Holmgren scored nine of his 15 points in a flurry early in the fourth quarter to keep Minnesota at a comfortable distance. The Thunder defense, the league’s top-ranked unit, remained relentless throughout the game. Oklahoma City held Minnesota to 34.9% shooting from the floor and forced 19 turnovers that the Thunder converted into 31 points. — Tim MacMahon
Biggest takeaways for the Timberwolves: If you told the Timberwolves that they would control the first half and have Gilgeous-Alexander miss nearly twice as many shots (17) as he made (10) before Tuesday, they would have liked their chances in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals. There was one problem: For how effective their defense was, their offense was equally inept. If you take away Julius Randle’s 28 points on 9-for-13 shooting, Minnesota mustered just 60 points on 20-for-70 shooting (28.6%).
After building a 48-44 lead through the first two quarters, it was hardly a game after halftime. The Wolves led 60-56 with 7:22 to go in the third, and the Thunder responded with a 17-2 run to open up a double-digit cushion heading into the fourth. Minnesota’s bench support was particularly lacking, with Naz Reid, Donte DiVincenzo and Nickeil Alexander-Walker combining to shoot just 7-for-36 (5-for-28 from 3). Minnesota’s 23-year-old superstar Anthony Edwards tweaked his left ankle in the first half and finished with 18 points on 5-for-13 shooting. The Wolves have much work to do for Game 2, or they’ll be staring at a 0-2 deficit heading back home for Game 3. — Dave McMenamin
1:26
Anthony Edwards far from best as Timberwolves lose Game 1
From a technical foul to aggravating an ankle injury, Anthony Edwards had a mixed performance in Game 1 vs. the Thunder.
Game 2: Timberwolves at Thunder (Thursday, 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
What to watch: Whether Minnesota can find a way to score in the paint. The Timberwolves managed just 20 paint points, tying the fewest by any team during this year’s playoffs. Minnesota was averaging 51.6 points in the paint and was coming off 72 while closing out the Golden State Warriors in Game 5 last Wednesday — a playoff high for any team.
Remarkably, Oklahoma City pulled that off while downsizing. Thunder coach Mark Daigneault played his double-big frontcourt of starters Isaiah Hartenstein and Holmgren fewer than eight minutes together — far less than the 14.2 they’ve averaged in the playoffs, per NBA Advanced Stats. And after using Jaylin Williams to defend Nikola Jokic in the conference semifinals, Daigneault went to the smaller Kenrich Williams as a backup center.
What Oklahoma City lacked in size, the Thunder more than made up for with a swarming defense and packing the paint. Oklahoma City dared the Timberwolves to make 3s, much like the Nuggets did the Thunder in the last round. After Minnesota shot 5-of-11 from downtown in the opening quarter, the Timberwolves went 10-for-40 (25%) the rest of the way.
Paradoxically, then, Minnesota’s best hope of scoring inside might be hitting more shots from outside. The Timberwolves will surely do so. Minnesota has made 35% on 3s in the playoffs after ranking fourth in the league at 38% during the regular season. We’ll see how accurate the Timberwolves need to be to pull the Thunder defense out of the paint. — Kevin Pelton
