The 2025 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2024–25 season. The Oklahoma City Thunder, led by the reigning MVP and scoring leader Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, finished the season with a league-best record, giving them the first seed in the Western Conference. The Eastern Conference's best record was held by the Cleveland Cavaliers, who finished with a record under their star Donovan Mitchell. Both teams, along with the Boston Celtics who entered the postseason as the defending champions, were seen as the championship contenders.
The reigning runner-up Dallas Mavericks lost to the Memphis Grizzlies in the play-in tournament, while the Celtics unexpectedly lost to their rival New York Knicks with star guard Jalen Brunson in six games. The Knicks advanced to the conference finals for the first time in 25 years, but lost to the Tyrese Haliburton-led Indiana Pacers in another upset after six games, as the latter defeated both the Milwaukee Bucks and Cavaliers in five games, with the Bucks eliminated in the first round for the third consecutive year. The Pacers advanced to the Finals for the first time since 2000.
In the Western Conference, the Lakers lost in the first round to the Minnesota Timberwolves, in which star guard Luka Dončić appeared in his first playoff series with the Lakers since his unexpected trade from the Mavericks earlier that year. The Thunder swept the Grizzlies and defeated the Nikola Jokić-led Denver Nuggets on their way to the Western Conference finals, defeating the Timberwolves in five games and advancing to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2012. With the Thunder and Pacers competing against each other in the Finals, the NBA saw its seventh consecutive unique champion, the longest streak in history.
The Thunder, who had won 18 more games than the Pacers, were heavily favored in the 2025 NBA Finals, but the series went to a decisive game seven, the first in the Finals since 2016. The Thunder won the game 103–91 after Haliburton tore his Achilles tendon in the first quarter. Gilgeous-Alexander was named Finals MVP after averaging 30 points per game during the playoffs. The Thunder's championship was their first since 1979, when they were known as the Seattle SuperSonics. The Pacers' postseason run, which included five 15-point comebacks and four game-tying or game-winning shots by Haliburton, is considered one of the most surprising in NBA history.
Overview
Updates to postseason appearances The Oklahoma City Thunder entered the playoffs with the best record in the Western Conference for the second consecutive season and also finished with their best regular-season record in franchise history. They also won the Maurice Podoloff Trophy for clinching the best record in the NBA for the first time in franchise history. The Cleveland Cavaliers entered the playoffs for the third consecutive season and also clinched the number one seed in the Eastern Conference for the first time since 2016, and the first time without LeBron James on their roster. The Boston Celtics entered the playoffs for the eleventh consecutive season, the longest such streak in the NBA. The Milwaukee Bucks entered the playoffs for the ninth consecutive season. The Denver Nuggets entered the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season. The Miami Heat entered the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season. They also became the first 10-seed to advance from the play-in tournament into the playoffs. The Minnesota Timberwolves entered the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. The New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers, and Los Angeles Clippers entered the playoffs for the third consecutive season. The Indiana Pacers and Orlando Magic entered the playoffs for the second consecutive season. The Golden State Warriors returned to the playoffs after losing in the play-in tournament the previous year. The Memphis Grizzlies returned to the playoffs after missing the postseason the previous year. The Houston Rockets entered the playoffs for the first time since 2020. The Detroit Pistons entered the playoffs for the first time since 2019. The New Orleans Pelicans and Dallas Mavericks missed the playoffs after making the postseason the previous year. The Phoenix Suns missed the playoffs for the first time since 2020. The Philadelphia 76ers missed the playoffs for the first time since 2017. The Brooklyn Nets, Sacramento Kings, and Atlanta Hawks missed the playoffs for the second consecutive season. The Utah Jazz, Toronto Raptors, and Chicago Bulls missed the playoffs for the third consecutive season. The Washington Wizards and Portland Trail Blazers missed the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. The San Antonio Spurs missed the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season. The Charlotte Hornets missed the playoffs for the ninth consecutive season, currently the longest active playoff drought in the NBA.
Play-in tournament The Atlanta Hawks competed in the play-in tournament for the fourth consecutive season. The Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat competed in the play-in tournament for the third consecutive season. The Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors competed in the play-in tournament for the second consecutive season. The Memphis Grizzlies competed in the play-in tournament for the first time since 2021. The Orlando Magic and Dallas Mavericks competed in the play-in tournament for the first time in franchise history.
Notable occurrences With their overtime road victory over the Atlanta Hawks in the No. 8 seed game, the Miami Heat became the first-ever 10-seed to advance from the play-in to the playoffs. The Dallas Mavericks became the first team since the 2019–20 Golden State Warriors to miss the playoffs after reaching the NBA Finals the previous season.
First round The Thunder's 51-point victory against the Grizzlies was the largest margin of victory in a Game 1 in NBA history. The Pistons' Game 2 victory over the Knicks was their first playoff win since 2008, ending a 15-game postseason losing streak, the longest in NBA history. The Pistons, however, now own the record for the most consecutive home defeats in playoffs history at 10 straight with their three home losses in the first round. The Cavaliers made 11 three-pointers in the second quarter of their Game 2 victory over the Heat, setting a postseason record. The Thunder overcame a 26-point halftime deficit in their Game 3 victory over the Grizzlies, the largest such comeback in NBA postseason history. With the Thunder sweeping the Grizzlies, this marks the 49th straight playoffs where a sweep occurred; the last time this did not happen was in 1976. The Cavaliers' 55-point victory over the Heat in Game 4 was the largest series-clinching win in NBA history. The Cavaliers' 122-point differential in their series against the Heat was the largest in NBA history. Aaron Gordon's Game 4 game-winner was first known game-winning buzzer-beater putback dunk in NBA playoff history. By defeating the Lakers, the Timberwolves won a playoff series in consecutive seasons for the first time in franchise history. After losing to the Timberwolves, the Lakers were eliminated in the first round as a third seed or higher for the first time in franchise history. The Knicks–Pistons series was the second playoff series in NBA history to feature four consecutive games decided by 3 or fewer points. The Nuggets–Clippers series was the first of the 2025 playoffs to have a Game 7, making it the 26th consecutive NBA postseason to feature a Game 7. The last time a Game 7 did not occur in the playoffs was 1999. This was the 154th game 7 in NBA playoffs history. With the Rockets forcing a Game 7 against the Warriors, this is the first playoffs since 2020 to feature two Game 7's in the first round. This is the third postseason where LeBron James was eliminated in the first round. The seventh-seeded Warriors defeated the second-seeded Houston in seven games, marking the seventh instance in NBA history of a 7th-seeded team defeating a 2nd-seeded team in the first round, following previous instances in 1987, 1989, 1991, 1998, 2010, and 2023. Additionally, this was only the third time and the second time in three seasons that such an upset occurred in a best-of-seven series, as well as the first time it occurred in seven games and the second time it occurred within the maximum number of games (1998). The Warriors became the first team to defeat the second-seed team three times as the seventh-seeded team, following previous instances in 1989 and 1991.
Conference semifinals In the Eastern Conference, the same teams from the previous playoffs represent the final four teams this year. However, the match-ups are different, with the Cavaliers playing the Pacers and the Celtics facing the Knicks. Last year it was the Celtics facing the Cavaliers and the Knicks versus the Pacers. The Western Conference Semifinals match-up between Oklahoma City and Denver features the top two MVP favorites in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokić. The last time this occurred was in the 2017 first round when James Harden's Rockets defeated Russell Westbrook's Thunder in five games. Westbrook won the MVP that season, while Harden finished a close second. This is just the third time in NBA history a sixth seed is facing a seventh seed in the Conference Semifinals. The other times this occurred were in the 1987 WCSF between the Rockets (6) vs SuperSonics (7) and the 2023 WCSF between the Warriors (6) vs Lakers (7). In Game 1 against the Knicks, the Celtics set the NBA playoff record for most missed 3-point shots in a game (45). With his Game 1 game-winner, Aaron Gordon became the first player in the play-by-play era (since 1996–97) to hit a game-winning shot in the final five seconds of a game on the road multiple times in a single playoff run. All four Game 1's of the Conference Semifinals were won by the road team, the first time this has happened in NBA history. In Game 1 and 2 in their series vs. the Celtics, the Knicks were the first team to comeback from 20 points or more in back-to-back playoff games in NBA history. In addition, the Celtics were the first team to blow back-to-back 20 point leads in the playoffs. The Cavaliers and the Celtics became the first teams since the 1992–93 Phoenix Suns to trail 0–2 before the conference finals as a 60-win team. The Thunder scored 87 points in the first half of Game 2 against the Nuggets, setting an NBA playoff record for most points scored in a first half, and tying the NBA playoff record for points in a half set by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1978 WCSF. The Pacers led by 41 points at halftime of Game 4 against the Cavaliers, tying the playoff record set by Cleveland in Game 2 of the 2017 Eastern Conference Finals. The Cavaliers were the first Eastern Conference team to win 62 games or more and not make the Eastern Conference Finals. With the Cavaliers and Celtics both eliminated, this marked the first time since 2007 that two 60-win teams failed to reach the conference finals. The elimination of the Boston Celtics guarantees that there would be a 7th different NBA champion in the last 7 years, the first time this has happened in NBA history. The Nuggets-Thunder series was the second-most lopsided series to go seven games in NBA history, following the Celtics-Hawks first round series in 2008.
Conference finals This was the fifth straight season where all four teams competing in the conference finals were different seed numbers (1, 3, 4, 6). With the Boston Celtics losing to the New York Knicks in the preceding conference semifinals, this was the sixth straight conference finals without the defending NBA champions. Neither the first-seeded team nor the second-seeded team made the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2021.