With the 2024-25 NBA season having drawn to an end, all eyes now turn towards the play-offs.
This season has truly been one for the books seeing the defending champions Boston Celtics challenged in the Eastern Conference by emerging powers such as the Cleveland Cavaliers and out in the West by a young Oklahoma City Thunder team.
This year has also seen the Detroit Pistons, who finished bottom of the league last year, cement their fine season with a sixth-place finish in the East to secure their spot in the play-offs.
Read on as TIBS News breaks down some of the teams to keep an eye on this post-season.
Boston Celtics
Of course the reigning champs will be the favourites going into the play-offs. Making no real changes from last year’s winning team, head coach Joe Mazzulla has acted on the saying ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’.
Finishing second in the Eastern Conference this season with a record of 61 wins and 21 losses, the Celtics finished the season with eight wins from their last 10 games to gain momentum at the right time ahead of the post-season.
With Jayson Tatum, Derrick White and Jaylen Brown in their ranks, the coaching staff seem to have it easy when deciding who to turn to offensively. But the resurgence of Kristaps Porzingis sums up Boston perfectly. The Celtics center seems to be back to his New York Knicks days, hitting long threes and causing disruption on the defensive end.
Mazzulla’s players who all play big minutes are seemingly the same: gifted offensive players who are willing to dig in and play gritty defence too – which, in my opinion, makes Boston a tremendously hard team to beat in the play-offs.
Oklahoma City Thunder
Led by the projected MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder are looking to do the business this year.
With a front court of Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein, Oklahoma blend the new and old styles of basketball. Holmgren does not play the typical big-man role, causing opposing teams trouble when trying to decipher how to guard their two bigs.
It is not only their front court though that makes the Thunder special, the back court of Lu Dort, Jalen Williams and Gilgeous-Alexander makes it very hard for a team to break down their perimeter defence.
Finishing with the league’s best record of 68-14 also underlines the threat the ball club poses this post-season.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Starting the 2024-25 season on a 15-game win streak, the Cleveland Cavaliers made an announcement to the league that they are here to play this season.
The Cavs went on to better their winning streak in February then they won 16-straight, beating teams by an average of 13 points. This ability to string consecutive wins together will of course be essential going into the play-offs and knowing they can do this convincingly will give Cleveland immense confidence this post-season.
As well as having a number of double-digit win streaks this year, the Cavaliers also have the highest offensive rating in the league, finishing first with 122 points-a-game. The imposing presence of their two big men Evan Mobley and Jared Allen creates a real wall on the defensive end and combined with the perimeter defence of Darius Garland makes Cleveland hard to break down defensively.
All these players can also go the other way too, with Garland leading the team in assists at seven a game and Allen leaving the league in true shot percentage at 72.4%. However, the real offensive focal point is of course their shooting guard, Donovan Mitchell. Having a somewhat ‘quiet’ season, averaging 24 points-a-game and dropping to 30.9% usage, the Cleveland guard is a live wire and can explode for stupid numbers on any given night.
In the play-offs, keep an eye on Mitchell as he can turn a series around with one performance, like his 70 point game for the Cavs in January 2023.
Houston Rockets
From finishing 11th in the West last year – and missing the play-offs – to finishing second this year with a record of 52-30, the Houston Rockets have made a real turnaround and will be an interesting team to watch in this year’s post-season.
The Rockets have seemed to have found their grit this year earning themself the reputation of being a hard team to beat, but why is this? Well, the team is extremely young and their roster goes deep, with the average age being 23.6 years old, they seem to have a young rising star or established player as back-up in each position.
This youthfulness has allowed head coach Ime Udoka to implement a fast-paced style, attacking the rim constantly and challenging for offensive boards, finishing first in rebounds-a-game. A real reason for this is the size and versatility of the team, Dillon Brooks plays at small forward after playing as the power forward for the Memphis Grizzlies, meaning he’s grown used to playing big.
Also, Steven Adams and Alperen Sengun are regularly on the court at the same time, creating real pressure on teams to box out and deal with these two large men when rebounding. Sengun is also the focal point of the offence, nicknamed ‘Baby [Nikola] Jokic’ the Turk’s skill is immense and the game seems too easy for him at some points averaging 19 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.
Combine this with their two young and emerging slashers, Jalen Green and Amen Thompson, the Rockets look scary on the offensive end. Veteran and former champion, Fred VanVleet gives the young team direction and experience but knows to push the tempo with his young and very athletic team-mates. This team will be extremely fun to watch in the play-offs.
Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers may seem to be on a downward slope this season but do not count this team out in the post-season. After landing Luka Doncic in the trade that shocked the basketball world, the new-look Lakers are looking like serious contenders for this year’s grand prize.
With LeBron James still producing at age 40 and doing LeBron James things, the clutch gene in the forward’s body won’t be going away anytime soon. Combine that with big-time player Doncic, the Lakers will be a real dark horse in elimination games and especially game 7s.
Austin Reeves has also taken a big jump this year, carrying a large load offensively leading to the 26-year-old guard averaging 20 points-a-game shooting just under 49% from the field, James has seemed to have found a strong role player to pick up the slack.
Now the big question will be, will the Lakers be missing Anthony Davis? The answer? No. Doncic led the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA Finals last year and will be looking to make a real statement this year to the team that traded him, so expect to see a fired-up Doncic this post-season. Also, when comparing Davis to Doncic, the Slovenian guard averages just shy of 31 points-a-game compared to 26 for Davis in 10 games less.
Don’t count the Lakers out as they could be a real dark horse this year.
So, who will win?
These are just a few teams that you should keep an eye out but there are many more I haven’t been able to mention, but rest assured this year’s play-offs will be an exciting watch and will most certainly deliver.
I can see the Boston Celtics retaining their title as NBA champion but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Oklahoma City Thunder sneak it.
Who do you think will win the championship this year?
