These NBA Playoffs Still Belong to the Thunder, Celtics and Cavs
Until proven otherwise, one of the league's dominant trinity is still probably going to win the 2025 championship.
Generally speaking, Round 1 of the 2025 NBA Playoffs has been quite entertaining. The Knicks-Pistons and Warriors-Rockets series have had their share of controversies and dust-ups; the Nuggets and Clippers were going back and forth with Jokić and Kawhi; even the lopsided series had their moments. In a season that has long promised to speak volumes about the future of the league, the first round gave us a glimpse of all the different branching possibilities that could end up playing out when all is said and done.
But before we get too excited about the outcomes the next seven-ish weeks may hold, the top story of the playoffs remains the same: The runaway best teams all year — OKC, Boston and Cleveland — are still alive, thriving and almost certainly on a set of eventual collision courses for the title, to the exclusion of everyone else.
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