The full slate for the “Fantastic Four” of the 2024/25 National Basketball Association season was set last Sunday (May 18) following the only Game 7 of the semi-final round between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Denver Nuggets. The matchup saw a ding-dong battle in the first half, but the superior Oklahoma City defence took control in the seconds half and snuffed out the Denver offence, thereby facilitating the Thunder’s cruise to a dominating 125-93 victory.

The Thunder are now matched up with the Minnesota Timberwolves, who took care of the Golden State Warriors in five games, and the Western Conference Finals got underway on Tuesday. Similar to the Game 7 on Sunday against the Nuggets, the first-half scoring was very close (44-48), with the Timberwolves holding a slight lead, but the second half was a whole different ball game, as the winningest team in the league this season overpowered their opponents, scoring 70 points compared to their 40. The Thunder had a convincing 114-88 win over their opponents, and their league-leading defence again proved to be the most significant factor.

The Thunder and Timberwolves are meeting for the first time at this stage of the season and Minnesota has made the conference finals for the second straight year but have never been to the NBA Finals, while the Thunder bowed out in the conference semi-finals last season (losing to the Dallas Mavericks), and their last trip to the Finals was in the 2015/16 season, where they lost to the Warriors.

The Timberwolves have been the most consistent and convincing team during this postseason, and Anthony Edwards has showed up. The 23-year-old already ranks No 10 in playoff history in points per game (27.4), above some legends like Kobe Bryant, Stephen Curry, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. However, the Thunder ranked No 1 in defensive rating during the regular season and has carried that into the playoffs. These teams split the regular season matchups 2-2, but Edwards averaged 22.4 points on 36.4 per cent shooting during those games, thereby proving the strength of Oklahoma City’s defense.

On the other hand, the league’s Most Valuable Player, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, averaged 35 points, 7.3 rebounds and 6.8 assists in the four contests against the Timberwolves, while shooting 55.6 per cent from behind the arc. His efforts were integral to Oklahoma City’s league-leading 68-14 record and their record-breaking average regular season win margin of 12.9 points, bettering the previous mark that had stood for more than a half-century. The Los Angeles Lakers outscored teams by 12.3 points per game in the 1971/72 season, and that record stood until the exploits of the Thunder this season.

The Thunder still remains the JustBet favourite to win their first-ever championship, but the Timberwolves are no pushover. This series is likely to go six or seven games, but the bookmakers may have made the right call by selecting Oklahoma City to advance to the Finals.

In the east, the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks had already dispatched the Cleveland Cavaliers (1-4) and the Boston Celtics (2-4), respectively, last week, and they tipped off the Eastern Conference Finals on Wednesday. The Knicks appeared to have Game 1 in hand, leading by nine points with less than a minute left to play, but despite 43 points from the Clutch Player of the Year, Jalen Brunson, and 35 points from Karl-Anthony Towns, they found a way to lose. The Knicks held a seven-point lead at half-time, but thanks to a dominant second half by the Pacers and a trillion-to-one lucky bounce on a last second shot by Tyrese Haliburton, Indiana forced overtime and went on to steal the 138-135 victory, thereby wrestling home court advantage from the Knicks. New York will try to make amends tonight.

This is a rematch from the second round of last year’s playoffs when the Pacers overcame a 3-2 series deficit against the Knicks and won Game 7 in Madison Square Garden. Indiana was then trounced 0-4 in the conference finals by the Celtics, who advanced to win the championship series. The Knicks and Pacers have met nine previous times in the playoffs, and the Pacers have won five of the last eight, including the last three. New York is making its first appearance in the conference finals round since 2000, where they were upended 2-4 by Indiana.

For the better part of this season, JustBet, along with most other bookmakers, assumed it was a foregone conclusion that the Celtics and Cavaliers would be the matchup at this juncture, but the Knicks and Pacers spoiled that party. Indiana was one of the deepest and most explosive teams in the NBA during the regular season, and it has been on full display during these playoffs. In the postseason, most teams employ only a couple of players off the bench, but the Pacers’ head coach, Rick Carlisle, has continued to rely on a 10-man rotation, exhausting their opponents to submission late in games. The depth of the Pacers could be an issues for the Knicks, who depend heavily on their starting five.

The Knicks can ill afford to fall behind by 20-plus points like they did in two games in the just-concluded series against the Celtics. They need to keep the games close until Brunson can take over in the closing minutes, as it appears he is undefendable when the game is on the line. The Knicks are in the conference finals for the first time in 25 years, back when current Head Coach Tom Thibodeau was an assistant under Jeff Van Gundy, and they appear to be hungry, but the Pacers may have the edge and should see this through in seven games.

That said, Boston’s dream of a repeat is dead, the “king” (LeBron James) of the NBA has been eliminated, the No 1 seed in the East was sent on early vacation, dynasties have crumbled, parity is alive and well, and the NBA will have a different champion for the seventh straight year, something that has never happened in the history of the league. Of the four teams left standing, none have won a championship since the NBA/ABA merger in 1976, and only the Knicks can boast of ever winning the big game, but that was in 1973.

If nothing else, the 2025 NBA postseason has proved that the unexpected is to be expected. Each team needs to win four games to get to the big dance and nothing is ever guaranteed, especially in the NBA.

JustBet continues to offer attractive betting options on all popular sports and events (including virtual games) as soon as they become available. Please visit one of the over 130 locations (or visit www.supremegames.com/#/prelive) for details and place your bets on the prediction of your choice for maximum winnings…… Get in the GAME!

Winner Eastern Conference

NBA 2024/25

Team Odds

New York Knicks 1.28

Indiana Pacers 1.50

Western Conference Winner

NBA 2024/25

Team Odds

Oklahoma City Thunder 1.64

Minnesota Timberwolves 2.12

*Note: Odds are subject to change