NBA insiders
The 2025 NBA conference finals are coming to an end. The Oklahoma City Thunder closed out the Western Conference finals Wednesday, and the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks are potentially a game away from wrapping up their series.
The No. 1 seed Thunder took a commanding 2-0 lead in the West finals against the sixth-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves before getting blown out in Game 3 at Target Center. But the Thunder bounced back to take Game 4 in a back-and-forth battle before winning the series in Game 5 in dominant fashion Wednesday.
In the East, the No. 4 seed Indiana Pacers took a 2-0 lead against the 3-seed New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. But the Knicks rallied on the Pacers’ home court in Game 3 after a fourth-quarter surge from Karl-Anthony Towns. The Pacers responded by taking Game 4 at home, and the Knicks handily defeated Indiana in Game 5 on Thursday to force Game 6.
Our NBA insiders break down their biggest takeaways from the matchups and what to watch going forward.
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Eastern Conference
Game 5: Knicks 111, Pacers 94
To win three games, you first have to win one.
That’s an academic point, but it certainly rang true Thursday night inside Madison Square Garden. And for the Knicks to become just the 14th team in NBA history to rally from a 3-1 deficit, Game 5 provided a simple task: win one home game.
Thanks to a comprehensive effort, the Knicks claimed a 111-94 wire-to-wire triumph to send the Eastern Conference finals back to Indianapolis for a Game 6 on Saturday night.
Numerous dominoes had to fall for New York to extend this series. Almost all of them did.
The team captain, Jalen Brunson, had a terrific, efficient offensive game and gave a far better effort on the defensive end. Mitchell Robinson, after a rough Game 4 while getting the start, was brilliant, highlighting a much more connected and locked-in defensive intensity across the Knicks’ rotation. Once again, Karl-Anthony Towns showed that Indiana doesn’t have a clear matchup for him. New York’s supporting cast far outstripped Indiana’s.
From the play-in tournament to the NBA Finals, ESPN has you covered throughout the postseason.
Now, the Knicks kept their season alive for at least a couple more days, and with it, their hopes of returning to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999. Much of the pressure now shifts to Pacers — arguably for the first time in Indiana’s past two playoff runs, and certainly since Game 7 against the Knicks last year.
The Pacers have one chance on their home court to get to a place they haven’t been in a quarter-century.
To clinch a Finals berth Saturday, they’ll need a far better effort for their suddenly cold star and the cast around him. Tyrese Haliburton, coming off a historic offensive showing in Game 4, had eight points on 2-for-7 shooting and was a nonfactor most of the night. Same for Aaron Nesmith, Andrew Nembhard and Myles Turner; the trio combined for just 14 points with eight turnovers.
The Pacers allowed the Knicks to dictate the terms of Game 5: a slog that saw Indiana score under 100 points for the first time in these playoffs. And New York, not Indiana, was the team racing out on fast breaks, in large part because the Pacers gave up 20 turnovers.
The series shifts to what arguably is the most fun situation on the board: a 3-2 lead for the original underdog in the series, heading home for a clinching Game 6. And, given that these teams have faced off in more playoff games (54) since 1993 than any two franchises in the NBA, it’s only fitting that that’s how this series is shaping up. — Tim Bontemps
Biggest takeaways for the Knicks:
After a crushing Game 4 defeat in which the Knicks saw their season get pushed to the brink, Brunson fielded a postgame question about the fact that Haliburton and the Pacers were targeting him relentlessly on defense.
“I’m not doing enough,” he said. “There has to be a difference on my part when it comes to that.”
On Thursday, in a must-win scenario, there was.
Brunson was far better on defense, and so were the Knicks as a whole, as they forced 19 Indiana turnovers, the most the Pacers have committed in a game all postseason.
In particular, Brunson and the Knicks were aggressive with Haliburton. One game after the star guard lit New York up with a historic stat line, the Knicks held him in check and limited the Pacers to 40% shooting.
The club has a clear recipe now for winning games in this series, as it has won both times it managed to hold Indiana to 100 points or fewer. — Chris Herring
Biggest takeaways for the Pacers:
The Pacers knew they were going to get the Knicks’ best shot Thursday night, and coach Rick Carlisle noted before the start that closeout games were always the most difficult to win. But the Pacers couldn’t withstand a desperate Knicks team in Game 5, and now the series shifts to Indiana for a chance to close out the series. The Pacers never got out of the gate on offense, shooting 40.5% as a team with their most turnovers in a game this postseason (20), and their starters combined for 37 points, the second fewest by any team in a game this postseason. — Jamal Collier
Game 6: Knicks at Pacers (8:00 p.m. ET, TNT/Max)
What to watch: A bunch went right for the New York offense Thursday. Brunson scored 32 points. Towns displayed his multilevel scoring ability. The bench played well, winning the minutes even when Brunson went to the bench.
But the Knicks also had all of that at various points earlier in this series, and they still fell behind 3-1. So what made Game 5 different?
Simple: New York’s defense held up its end of the bargain, holding Indiana to a 98.9 offensive rating before garbage time. According to Cleaning the Glass, it was the worst single-game showing for the Pacers in the postseason. This was the latest data point in an unflinching trend. The Pacers are now 0-4 when they score fewer than 110 points per 100 possessions in a playoff game, but 11-0 when they exceed that number.
The big question for Game 6 is whether New York stumbled upon a new strategy to slow the Pacers that much, or, conversely, if the Knicks merely entered Game 5 with much more urgency playing at home and facing elimination. Human nature can be a decisive intangible in the playoffs.
There is some evidence in favor of that latter argument. Indiana’s anomalous turnovers indicate a lack of focus, and Haliburton was extremely passive, following up one of the best individual stat lines in playoff history with an uncharacteristically quiet performance. Bennedict Mathurin, who scored 21 points, looked like the only Pacer competing with as much intensity as the entire Knicks roster; presumably, that will even out when Indiana is back home and playing to avoid a Game 7.
But there were also more encouraging, sustainable signs from New York’s defense, including better ball pressure on Haliburton and stifling rim defense from Robinson. The Pacers actually shot OK from distance during the competitive portion of the game — unlike in Game 3, when struggles from deep cost them a win at home — but were a ghastly 46% on shots in the paint. That’s a testament to the Knicks’ defensive effort and cohesion, which they’ll need to maintain at this high level to keep Indiana’s offense in check and force a Game 7 back at the Garden. — Zach Kram
Western Conference
Game 5: Thunder 124, Timberwolves 94
When the Thunder made the NBA Finals for the first time in 2012, it was safe to assume it would be the start of a run. Then James Harden had a contract dispute and was traded. Then Kevin Durant hurt his right foot, and Russell Westbrook hurt his right knee.
It’s been 13 years, with plenty of heartache as stars left and a full-scale rebuild.
On Wednesday, Oklahoma City took nothing for granted as the youngest team in the NBA celebrated winning its first trophy as a group. The team will want so much more heading into the Finals but also understand the moment.
“Nothing is promised,” a vanquished Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “When you’re in the moment you’ve got to go for it. They’re positioned to go for it right now.”
The right now is important. Indeed, the Thunder feel like they have a runway. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who has gotten two MVP trophies in the past week, noted the youth in the team’s core. But Finch’s words are meaningful, too.
The Thunder approached this series with urgency. They approached the season with urgency. The way they will approach the Finals — with 80 wins in 98 games this year — is a certainty. — Brian Windhorst
Biggest takeaways for the Thunder:
Behold the power of the Thunder at their best.
It would be difficult to be more dominant than Oklahoma City was during the first half. As usual, it started with a swarming, smothering effort on the defensive end. The Cancun weather will feel nice and cool after what the Thunder put the Timberwolves through while building a 33-point lead, forcing 14 turnovers while holding Minnesota to 12-of-38 shooting.
The Thunder’s trio of stars all scored in double digits by the break. Gilgeous-Alexander (20 points, five assists) accounted for 32 points in the first half, matching the Timberwolves’ total. Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren each added 15 points.
The second half was simply a stage setter for the Western Conference finals trophy presentation.
It won’t be the last trophy the Thunder hoist this season if they can play at this level during the Finals. — Tim MacMahon
Biggest takeaways for the Timberwolves:
Minnesota was in this same spot a year ago — trailing 3-1 in the Western Conference finals heading into Game 5 — and the game was over before it started, with the Dallas Mavericks leading 35-19 after the first quarter.
Wednesday was somehow worse.
The Wolves trailed 26-9 heading into the second quarter in Oklahoma City — it was the fewest points in any postseason quarter in franchise history. Anthony Edwards scored six; the rest of the Minnesota roster combined to muster just three more on 1-for-15 shooting.
Even though Minnesota did fight back from down 25 points to beat OKC in overtime during the regular season, this one was over by halftime. The Wolves were down 65-32 at the break, with more turnovers (14 — the most in any half this year, regular season and playoffs included) than made field goals (12). When the Thunder pushed their lead to 37 in the second quarter, it was the largest deficit the Wolves faced all season, edging the 36-point hole they found themselves in against the New York Knicks in December.
It was a bitter end to a Cinderella run for Minnesota, one of the hottest teams in the league for months, which made it as far as it did as the No. 6 seed in the ultra-competitive West. From March 2 through the start of the conference finals, Minnesota went 25-6. Then, in five games against the Thunder, the Wolves lost four of them, including three at Paycom Center by a combined 71 points.
If the Thunder are going to be the team Minnesota has to get through to win the West for years to come — and it certainly appears that way — the Wolves have their work cut out for them.
Their young tandem of Edwards and Jaden McDaniels was a level below the Thunder’s Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams in this series. And with contract decisions to be made on Julius Randle, Naz Reid and Nickeil Alexander-Walker this summer, their effectiveness — or lack thereof — against Oklahoma City has to be considered. — Dave McMenamin
Finals Game 1: Pacers or Knicks at Thunder (June 5, 8:30 p.m. ET, ABC)
What to watch:
Regardless of whether the Indiana Pacers finish off the Eastern Conference finals or the New York Knicks complete a comeback from down 3-1 in the series, Oklahoma City will enter the Finals with home-court advantage and as the overwhelming favorite.
The Thunder won 17 more games than the Knicks and 18 more than the Pacers, and while that’s not definitive — both East teams have taken down 60-win teams in the conference semifinals, and the 50-win Denver Nuggets gave Oklahoma City its toughest test to date — that’s a huge head start.
The Thunder swept both East finalists 2-0 in the regular season and will have the rest edge because their series started a day earlier. If New York can extend the series, all the better for Oklahoma City, which didn’t have to push hard in the conference finals because of repeated blowouts (including the Timberwolves’ lone win).
Gilgeous-Alexander was the only Thunder player to average more than 34 minutes against Minnesota. By contrast, three Pacers and five Knicks have topped that mark thus far in an East series filled with close games, including overtime in Game 1.
Lastly, there’s the history at stake for Oklahoma City, seeking its first title since the franchise moved from Seattle in 2008. Gilgeous-Alexander could become the first MVP to win the title since Stephen Curry for the 2014-15 Golden State Warriors. No player has won MVP of both the regular season and the Finals since LeBron James went back-to-back with the Miami Heat in 2011-12 and 2012-13. — Kevin Pelton