![\"Shai](\"https:\/\/cdn1.thecomeback.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/05\/shai-gilgeous-alexander.jpg\")
<\/a>Shai Gilgeous-Alexander after a series win against the Denver Nuggets on May 18, 2025. (Alonzo Adams\/Imagn Images.)<\/p>\nThe Thunder posted the league\u2019s best record (68-14) this season and swept the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round, but needed all seven games to knock off the Denver Nuggets in the second round. They also sparked lots of debate in NBA circles, with the league trying to highlight them with prime TV slots<\/a>, suggesting they think this team might be a force for a while.<\/p>\n Oklahoma City\u2019s defense-focused efforts (101.6 points allowed per game this postseason, best in the league) have also led to some low-scoring games with poor shooting percentages. That was especially seen in Game 4 of their series against Denver, which Stephen A. Smith declared had a first half that was \u201call lowlights<\/a>.\u201d Many of the stories about their individual players have been about defense, too, including how Alex Caruso was key to<\/a> locking down Nikola Joki\u0107 in Game 7 of that series. But this is still a team with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who\u2019s scored 30-plus points in his last three games, and they can pour in buckets when they need to.<\/p>\n There have been many underdog runs in these NBA playoffs, but Minnesota\u2019s stands out. The Timberwolves not only took down higher-seeded teams with bigger-name stars (the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors), but beat both in five games. That hasn\u2019t necessarily garnered them much attention, but their destruction of memes like Shannon Sharpe\u2019s \u201cLakers in 5<\/a>\u201d and ESPN\u2019s unanimous pick of the Lakers over them<\/a> has been impressive.<\/p>\n Minnesota does a lot of things well. The Timberwolves are second to the Thunder with 106.8 points per game allowed this postseasons. They\u2019re also fourth in field goal percentage (second of remaining teams) with a 46.5% mark. Key players to watch are Anthony Edwards, of the \u201cface of the NBA<\/a>\u201d debates, and Rudy Gobert, who\u2019s having a great run of overcoming criticism and memes<\/a>.<\/p>\n For the Western Conference Finals, pregame show NBA Countdown begins one hour before tip-off for each of these games. An\u00a0InsightCast alternative broadcast with data and statistical analysis will air on ESPN2 (Games 1 and 4) and ESPNEWS (Game 2 and 3). And this series can be streamed on all ESPN platforms, including ESPN+.<\/p>\n NBA Eastern Conference Finals<\/p>\n New York Knicks (No. 3 seed, 51-31 regular season, 8-4 postseason) vs. Indiana Pacers (No. 4 seed, 50-32 regular season, 8-2 postseason), TNT Sports<\/p>\n Game 1: Wed. May 21, at Madison Square Garden, New York, TNT 8 p.m. * If necessary<\/p>\n TNT series commentators: Kevin Harlan, Stan Van Gundy, Reggie Miller; Allie LaForce (Reporter) This series features two teams many didn\u2019t expect to be standing at this point. The Knicks took down the Detroit Pistons in the first round, then the Boston Celtics in the second, sparking quite the run<\/a> of takes<\/a> with some of their comebacks<\/a> (and the Celtics<\/a>\u2018 blown<\/a> leads<\/a>) in the latter series.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the Pacers handled the Milwaukee Bucks in five games in the first round, but were ruled out by many against the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round. 11 ESPN pundits unanimously picked against them<\/a>, but they won the series in five games. This sets up a rematch of not only a second-round series last year (Indiana won in seven), but also one of the most-famed playoff rivalries of the 1990s<\/a> (with its own<\/a> 30 for 30).<\/p>\n For this matchup, the Pacers come in with the more high-powered offense. This postseason, they\u2019re second<\/a> (to Cleveland) in points per game (117.1), first in field goal percentage (50.1%) and three-point percentage (40.6%), and first in assists per game (29.7). And while star Tyrese Haliburton has come under<\/a> fire<\/a> at times, he dropped 31 points (on 10-of-15 shooting) in their series-clinching win against the Cavaliers last week, and leads the league<\/a> with 9.3 assists per game these playoffs.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n On the other side, the Knicks have had a strong defense thus far. They\u2019ve allowed 110.6 points per game to date (fifth in the playoffs, but third of remaining teams and three spots ahead of the Pacers). Jalen Brunson in particularly is shining for them on both ends (including with 23 points, six rebounds, and six assists in their clincher against the Celtics), and even earning some \u201cgreatest Knick ever<\/a>\u201d lines. We\u2019ll see what he and his team can do in this series.<\/p>\n For the Eastern Conference Finals, pregame show\u00a0Inside The NBA will begin one hour before tip-off each game. Each game will conclude with a postgame show. This series will be simulcast on TruTV and streamed on Max.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s a look at the announcing assignments for the NBA 2025 Conference Finals, beginning May 20, 2025. All…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":46410,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1431,12536,7,126,152,6,2528,1007,1278,11,191,179],"class_list":{"0":"post-46409","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba-playoffs","8":"tag-2025-nba-playoffs","9":"tag-announcing-schedules","10":"tag-basketball","11":"tag-indiana-pacers","12":"tag-minnesota-timberwolves","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-nba-on-abc","15":"tag-nba-on-espn","16":"tag-nba-on-tnt","17":"tag-nba-playoffs","18":"tag-new-york-knicks","19":"tag-oklahoma-city-thunder"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114542967753754194","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46409\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Game 2: Fri. May 23, at Madison Square Garden, New York, TNT 8 p.m.
Game 3: Sun. May 25, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, TNT 8 p.m.
Game 4: Tue. May 27, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, TNT 8 p.m.
Game 5: Thu. May 29, at Madison Square Garden, New York, TNT 8 p.m.*
Game 6: Sat. May 31, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, TNT 8 p.m.*
Game 7: Mon. June 2, at Madison Square Garden, New York, TNT 8 p.m.*<\/p>\n
Inside The NBA on TNT: Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O\u2019Neal, Kenny Smith, Draymond Green (Games 1 and 2)
ESPN Radio: Sean Kelley, Cory Alexander, Katie George<\/p>\n<\/a>Tyrese Haliburton after his Pacers beat the Cleveland Cavaliers to clinch that series on May 13, 2025. (Ken Blaze\/Imagn Images.)<\/p>\n