LeBron, Steph, SGA, Luka, Jaylen and Jalen: All you need to know about the NBA play-offs

They’re the best two months of the sporting year. The NBA play-offs are back.

Astonishing athletes, white-knuckle tension, and acts of heroism and buffoonery in almost equal parts. That, and more, will keep sports fans across the world fascinated, amazed and despondent.

Thunder star and MVP front-runner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.Credit: Getty Images

But, from the 16 teams and horde of superstar players, what storylines are worth watching?

Here’s a guide on what to look out for as the 94-feet of hardwood that serves as these teams’ offices prepares to settle all arguments for another year.

1. Are the Oklahoma City Thunder title ready?

Will SGA be A-OK? The presumptive league MVP has been spectacular this season. Averaging almost 33 points a game, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has cut a swathe through the NBA with a silky-smooth offensive game and an uncanny knack of getting to the free-throw line. For all but the odd day here and there, the Thunder stood tall as the best team in the Western Conference. But, once it all slows down in the play-offs and teams do all they can to get the ball out of SGA’s hands, can Jalen Williams, Isaiah Hartenstein, Chet Holmgren, Andrew Wiggins and co. generate offence under pressure? If the answer is yes, a trip to the finals awaits. The Lakers, Warriors and Clippers have it all over this crew when it comes to big-game experience.

2. New (and tough) kids on the block – Houston and Detroit

If only these mirror-image teams could play each other. The two most combative coaches in the league (Ime Udoka and J.B. Bickerstaff) have produced teams who play like they’re fighting for their next feed. The Rockets – led by Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun, have a bit more talent than the Pistons. But, oh momma, these Pistons are fearless. Cade Cunningham could possibly be the best player on the court when they face the Knicks in round one, while agent provocateurs Isaiah Stewart and Ron Holland are sure to bring plenty of noise, and the odd run-in with rival players. The Rockets and Pistons plan to drag their opponents into rock fights and see how long they want to be part of that scene. While the league has happily zigged along together for the past decade, this dual zag has to be admired.

Jalen Brunson and Knicks super fan Spike Lee.Credit: Getty Images

3. Have the Knicks improved on last year?

Have the New York Knickerbockers mortgaged the farm on the wrong crop? After a great run to the Eastern Conference semi-finals last season, a retooling that saw Karl-Anthony Towns come in for Julius Randle and the beloved Donte DiVincenzo and Mikael Bridges cross the Brooklyn Bridge for a raft of draft picks, the Knicks aren’t discernibly better. Towns can be lead-footed on defence and Bridges’ top-notch outings are common enough. The good news in Gotham? OG Anunoby is in career-best form, and captain Jalen Brunson is back from an ankle injury. Provided they get past Detroit in the first round (no certainty), they’ll be rank outsiders in a likely meeting with the Celtics in round two. If they don’t make the Eastern Conference finals, it could be curtains for coach Tom Thibodeau. Unlike nearby Broadway shows, there will be no encore.

Jimmy Butler in action against Memphis.Credit: AP

4. Can Luka and Jimmy get LeBron and Steph back to the top of the heap?

The trade of Luka Doncic from Dallas to the Los Angeles Lakers is still the most shocking piece of sports business in 2025. But it happened, and it’s about to get real. Doncic, he of the five first-team All-NBA selections in his first six years in the league, has unsurprisingly made a massive difference at the Lakers. He is a bona fide match winner, and coupled with the ageing but still dominant LeBron James, the Lakers have a deep play-off run in them. That duo rival Boston’s Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown as the best twosome there is. About 600km north of Los Angeles, lies another star duo that wasn’t at the start of this season. Steph Curry remains a basketball deity with the Golden State Warriors, and he now has a proven performer as his running mate. If Jimmy Butler reprises his role of “Play-off Jimmy” from numerous stellar post-seasons with Miami, and Draymond Green keeps his head in the game, another Warriors play-off push looms large. The LeBron and Steph era of the NBA has to end sometime. The 2024-25 performances of this wonderful duo means it’s not this year.

5. The Celtics – who will stop them winning it all again? Cleveland?

Cleveland had the best record in the Eastern Conference from the get-go, but does that mean they are the best team? Considering what the Celtics did last season and that they return with all the key personnel from that team, it is hard to say yes. Jayson Tatum has had another wonderful season, Jaylen Brown wasn’t Finals MVP last season by accident, Jrue Holiday is as wily a veteran as you’ll come across, Kristaps Porzingis (when fit) can suck the life out of an opponent at either end of the floor in minutes, and Derrick White is the best ancillary starter in the NBA. So the Cavs might be the No.1 seed in the East, but it’s obvious Boston are still the team to beat. Provided they make the finals again, Boston should start as favourites no matter who they face.

Clipper point guard James Harden’s play-off history is mixed at best.Credit: Getty Images

6. The Clippers? Nothing would be a shock

You’re a better chance of predicting Donald Trump’s next plan to reset the world economy than to say with confidence what the OTHER Los Angeles team will do. Another James Harden post-season disappearing act is in play as, sadly, is another Kawhi Leonard injury. On the flip side, if Ivica Zubac and Norm Powell continue on their merry way and the big two fire, anything – including toppling the Thunder – is on the table. Also, let’s not forget Ben Simmons. Unless something positive happens, these might be the last times we see him on an NBA court. Nobody wants that, but unless he reverts to the days of being a competent NBA player (let alone the All Star calibre player he once was) that’s where we are headed. Wildly eccentric and unfathomably wealthy owner Steve Ballmer might just self-combust if the Clippers make waves.