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The 2025 NBA regular season was good, actually

Robert Zeglinski   For The Win

Welcome to Layup Lines, For the Win's basketball newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Have feedback for the Layup Lines Crew? Leave your questions, comments, and concerns through this brief reader survey. Now, here's Robert Zeglinski.

Hi friends! Welcome back to Layup Lines. Thanks for hanging out with us as we get set for the NBA's 2025 play-in tournament and the playoffs themselves starting this coming weekend. We'll do our absolute best to do these next two months proper justice.

But before we dive into the postseason fun, I don't want to lose sight of what we witnessed during this regular season. Don't let the hating legends who don't watch the games on TNT (looking at you, Shaq) or anyone else concern-trolling about NBA television ratings fool you into believing something that isn't true.

This was one of the most chaotic, memorable, and satisfying NBA regular seasons I can remember. Of course, I'm referring to both the on-court play AND all the inherent drama that has felt like an unstoppable whirlwind in recent weeks. The NBA could never be in "THIS LEAGUE" territory if it didn't feel like a soap opera with some of the finest athletes on the planet.

Where do I start?

The Dallas Mavericks traded generational talent Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, the biggest brand in American sports, because they apparently didn't like his work ethic and thought he was a tad ... portly for a franchise player. As the Lakers look revitalized with Doncic's gifts in the fold, I'm sure this won't back to bite Dallas. The Boston Red Sox could say the same thing when they gave away Babe Ruth, after all.

Fresh off his third MVP campaign last year, all-time great Nikola Jokic was somehow better than ever. He had the NBA's first-ever 30-20-20 game. A 61-point triple-double late in the season is the highest-scoring triple-double in league history. He became the first-ever player to finish in the top three in points, rebounds, and assists. And he accomplished all of this while his Denver Nuggets were clearly torn asunder internally by a toxic front-office-to-coaching relationship.

Yet, despite Jokic's genius this year, he likely won't win his fourth MVP.

That's thanks to the silky smooth Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who led the Oklahoma City Thunder to an unfathomable 68 wins — one of the highest single-season marks of all time and 18 ahead of the Nuggets — while consistently dominating night in and night out as the game's most efficient perimeter scorer.

If the Thunder's sheer greatness wasn't enough, it was gratifying seeing first-year Cleveland Cavaliers Kenny Atkinson turn the Cavaliers into a bona fide juggernaut in the East. Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland were a revelation as an All-Star backcourt. Evan Mobley backstopped an elite defense. Ty Jerome became one of the NBA's best sixth men at the helm of a deep bench. At a certain point, it was obvious the Cavaliers may have always had this kind of brilliance in them.

They just needed someone like Atkinson to steer them into clear waters.

If these topline storylines weren't enough, the Houston Rockets and Detroit Pistons — two cities with passionate basketball fans — finally made the playoffs again after extended droughts. A healthy Kawhi Leonard made the Los Angeles Clippers look like title contenders again. Steph Curry's Golden State Warriors looked like a different team after acquiring Jimmy Butler. Despite occasionally alarming inconsistencies, Anthony Edwards' Minnesota Timberwolves and Tyrese Haliburton's Indiana Pacers usually found a way to put on remarkable shows.

I can go on and on here, but let's not belabor the point. The level of basketball in the NBA this regular season (and its drama) was the finest I can remember in some time. Full stop. I don't want to speak for anyone else, but I think any true hoops head would agree with this assessment.

If this was the basketball the NBA gave us over five months and 2,460 games between 30 teams, I, for one, cannot wait for the playoffs. We're set up to bask in the best time of year over the next few months, dearest readers.

You better buckle up.

A Wild Postseason On Tap

Alright, I won't beat around the bush anymore. Let's talk playoffs.

After a photo finish to the West regular season on Sunday, both postseason fields in both conferences are officially set. However, we don't know who will play the Thunder, Rockets, Cavaliers, and the defending champion Boston Celtics until this week's play-in tournament concludes. With that said, I'll make predictions for the four series we already know are definitely happening.

Here's what my totally correct crystal ball says:

(West) No. 3 Los Angeles Lakers vs. No. 6 Minnesota Timberwolves: Lakers in 6

The Timberwolves are feisty. They're one of only four NBA teams with a top 10 offense and defense, with the other three squads all winning at least 60 games. But they still have no real answer for matchup problem Luka Doncic, who should help the Lakers overwhelm Minnesota by the end of the series. Though, maybe not having a real big-man lob threat will make Doncic easier for the Timberwolves to defend. Eh, we'll see.

(West) No. 4 Denver Nuggets vs. No. 5 Los Angeles Clippers: Nuggets in 6

The Clippers are one of the league's hottest teams. Kawhi Leonard looks like his old self. On paper, Ty Lue has a big coaching advantage over Denver's David Adelman, who is facing his first-ever playoff series. However, I like the tactical adjustments and energy Adelman — a top coaching candidate if the Nuggets don't hire him themselves — has already instilled for a still-talented team that is finally playing connected. Home-court and Nikola Jokic's brilliance are enough for me to give Denver the edge here.

(East) No. 3 New York Knicks vs. No. 6 Detroit Pistons: Knicks in 7

Funnily enough, the Pistons won the season series over the Knicks 3-1. So, if New York thinks this will be a nice warmup ahead of a likely tilt with the Celtics in the second, it's got another thing coming. Ultimately, I think the combination of Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns will be too much for a Pistons team that doesn't really have a definitive answer for both. Yes, it helps that a potential seventh game would be at Madison Square Garden.

(East) No. 4 Indiana Pacers vs. No. 5 Milwaukee Bucks: Pacers in 5

A rematch of last year's first round with the same seeding, I think the Pacers are better than the Bucks. Maybe the calculus changes if Damian Lillard is cleared to return after sitting out for several weeks with a blood clot. But I'm not sure what kind of game shape he will be in after missing significant time and being asked to jump right into the foxhole of a playoff atmosphere. With respect to Giannis Antetokounmpo's greatness, I'll give Milwaukee a game. I need to see Lillard's status before I commit to anything more.

Shootaround

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