The second round of the NBA postseason is underway, and the underdogs have already made their stamp on the 2025 NBA playoffs. It must be the most exciting NBA playoffs I’ve witnessed in the past 10 years. I assumed we were spoiled with some exciting games to kick off the first round and could expect a boring, near-scripted second round. I hope I’m not jinxing it, but it seems like we may have an even more thrilling second round in store for us with a couple underdogs shocking the world.
This year’s playoffs are the type of playoffs that turns NBA haters into fanboys. Adam Silver has to be jumping out of his race car bed every morning with excitement for his league. Let’s start with my least favorite team in the league, the Pacers. They knocked out my Bucks in classic Bucks meltdown fashion in the first round, even though I’m man enough to say we weren’t good enough to do anything substantial this year anyway. Yes, it still makes my blood boil writing about it right now, but I think that shows my maturity and character to start off with the Pacers as my first point. At least that’s what I’m telling myself.
As I briefly mentioned, the Pacers played well in the first round of the NBA playoffs and cruised past the bucks with a 4-1 series final. They finished the series in near-buzzer beater fashion, with Tyrese Haliburton exploding in the 4th quarter and hitting the game winning shot in game 5. It hurts to include this highlight, but a good writer must give context.
They were set to play the higher seed Cavaliers with a tough road ahead of them. The Cavs had the second best regular season record in the NBA this year and were expected to handle the Pacers easily. They may have underestimated the Pacers and the player voted “Most underrated player in the league”, Tyrese Haliburton. In a blink of an eye, the Pacers are now up 2-0 with Hali hitting another buzzer beater (I’m just happy the Bucks weren’t the only laughingstock at Hali’s expense). Just take a look at his celebration after hitting the game-winning shot. Although I despise him and his weirdo Father, I’m not sure how to properly hate on him after celebration like this one.
The Pacers are showing that coaching, teamwork and overall gritty play are valuable in the games that count. Speaking of grit, let’s move on to the Knicks. I enjoy writing about them a bit more than the Pacers for no specific reason at all. No other way to put it; this team is awesome and is everything the Knicks fanbase has been searching for. Jalen Brunson in my opinion is one of the most clutch players of the league. But let’s be frank, he’s not surrounded by unbelievable talent, no disrespect. This is why it’s even more impressive that they’re up 2-0 against the massive favorite Celtics. Jalen Brunson hit us with one of the dirtiest crossover game winners I’ve ever seen to finish off the Pistons in the first round and he hasn’t stopped there. This is when Mike Breen coined the phrase “The Brunson Burner”. This call is nothing short of electric.
In round 2, the Knicks have prevailed and accomplished two massive comebacks to shock the Celtics and their spoiled fans. They step up in big time games and most importantly big-time moments. Mikal Bridges ruined Jayson Tatum’s dreams by stuffing his game-winning attempt at the end of game 2. This time, an electric call by Kevin Harlan.
Everyone loves a good underdog story. Well, we currently have two of them in the second round of the 2025 NBA playoffs. I’m pumped to see how each series plays out and am hoping both underdogs can hang on. Hell, it would be nice for the Nuggets to take a turn in Game 3 against the Thunder so we can have 3 underdogs to root for (if you can call a Jokic lead team an underdog). Either way, we’re lucky to witness what we have so far thus postseason. If you’re not at least a semi-NBA fan after these playoffs, this league may not be for you.