Fantasy

NBA Pick'Em Bracket Challenge: Who picked who?

Check out who's taking who in the playoffs for NBA Pick'Em Bracket Challenge.

Matt DelVecchio, for NBA.com

April 21, 2025 4:56 PM

With vintage performances from Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler, Golden State stifles Houston's comeback effort to seize Game 1.

The NBA Playoffs are off and running, which means it’s time to get your brackets in for NBA Pick’Em Bracket Challenge. From all around the world, fans will be competing to see who can fill out the perfect bracket.

Pick the winning team from each round, as well as the amount of games each series will last, in hopes of running the gauntlet and completing the perfect bracket!

There’s still time to enter, so make sure to fill out your picks now for NBA Pick’Em Bracket Challenge.

With about 400,000 bracket registrations submitted worldwide and Game 1s in the books, there are some interesting insights from what fans for the NBA playoffs.

Eastern Conference, first round:

94% Celtics, 93% Cavaliers: To no surprise, the two powerhouses in the East are heavily picked to advance from the First Round and make their way to the Conference Semis.
57% Bucks: A majority of the world is leaning with Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks to take down the Pacers. With the Bucks already dropping Game 1 on Saturday, we could have an early upset brewing.
79% Knicks: Large percentage on the Knicks for two teams with an even 2-2 series matchup record. The Knicks entered their Dec. 7th matchup on a 16 game win streak vs. the Detroit franchise, however the Pistons won that game and even went on to win the next two later in the season.

Eastern Conference, semifinal:

88% Celtics, 82% Cavaliers: The fans are backing the 1- and 2-seed to clash in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Notables in 2nd: 10% Bucks, 5% Knicks

Eastern Conference Finals:

67% Celtics: Fans are predicting that the Boston Celtics get back to the NBA Finals and compete for back-to-back NBA championships.
21% Cavaliers
3% Knicks
3% Bucks
1% Pacers
1% Heat
0.5% Pistons
0.2% Magic

Western Conference, first round:

93% Thunder: The top team in the regular season for a reason! Most are confident that OKC advances out of the First Round.
81% Lakers: The Luka Dončić/LeBron James hype is real with the Lakers coming in as a massive favorite in the public’s eye to take down Minnesota and move on. Another team that find themselves down early in the series in what could be an early upset pick forming in the West.
67% Warriors: Even after falling to the 7-seed, the Golden State Warriors still have the trust from fans to make a run this year. They are up early in the series but do have the disadvantage of not owning home court, with Houston earning the 2-seed.
53% Nuggets, 42% Clippers: The biggest tilt in the public’s eye comes in this series with almost an even split. The slight majority trusts Nikola Jokić and a Nuggets team who just won it all only two years ago. But the the gap is marginal with a healthy Kawhi Leonard and a surging James Harden in the path. Denver won a close one on Saturday, giving them an early lead in the series.

Western Conference, semifinal:

74% Thunder, 63% Lakers: Some big percentages here as we get to who will reach the Western Conference Finals. The new-look Lakers are getting a lot of trust to make a deep run, as well as a young Thunder squad that is eager to prove it has what it takes to go all the way. With the Lakers down early in the First Round, anyone looking elsewhere from OKC/LAL could gain an edge to earn a spot in the Western Conference Finals.
20% Warriors: The Warriors come in as the second-best hope outside of the top two of OKC and LAL. The 7- seed couldn’t scare away the trust the public has in Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler III.
11% Nuggets, 10% Clippers: The early playoff tilt of these two teams shows that people who trust them emerging from that series may also trust them to make a run to the Conference Finals.
Timberwolves 7%, 5% Rockets: Out of all regions of the bracket, this section has the least lopsided favorite to move on, in what could be the gold mine of the NBA playoffs for fans picking an underdog (Lakers 63%, Warriors, 20%, Timberwolves 7%, Rockets 5%).

Western Conference Finals:

Thunder 38%, 35% Lakers: Unlike the East, we have a two-headed race on who the public thinks advances out of the West. An almost even split, which could lead to a ton of volatility for fans’ brackets.
12% Warriors: Been there, done that! The public has faith in Golden State as the third-most picked out of the West to reach the Finals.
4% Nuggets
4% Clippers
2% Timberwolves
1% Rockets
0.4% Grizzlies

2025 NBA Champion:

26% Celtics: The favorite from fans is Boston to win back-to-back NBA championships.
25% Lakers: Luka, LeBron, what more could you ask for?
20% Thunder: Best team in the regular season seems like a safe team to back to take home the Larry O’Brien trophy.
10% Warriors: The seeding didn’t scare away Warriors fans, especially with Jimmy Butler III in the fold.
5% Cavaliers: Maybe the biggest surprise here given how electric the Cavaliers’ season has been. Cleveland backers will look for a big advantage over the rest if the Cavs are able to take home the hardware.
2% Nuggets: 3x MVP and the previous NBA Champions are coming in with some support, ranking fourth out of Western Conference teams to win.
2% Clippers: Kawhi and Harden have recently shown that they are primed to make a run and fans are behind them.

Regional Highlights:

France: 47% Thunder to make NBA Finals: France is backing the boys in blue, with the majority taking OKC to win the West.

Great Britain: 42% Thunder to make NBA Finals: GB joins France with confidence in the regular season stars to make it out of the West.

Brazil:

89% Lakers to beat Timberwolves in Round 1.
39% Lakers to win the Western Conference Finals.
29% Lakers to win the NBA Finals.

Canada: 29% Thunder to win the NBA Finals. Canada is behind its country native, and MVP candidate, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his Oklahoma City Thunder to not only make it out of the West, but win the NBA championship.

Mexico: 29% Lakers to win the NBA Finals.

Japan: 29% Lakers to win the NBA Finals: Japan’s majority pick is backing LAL to get the job done.

Germany:

42% Thunder to advance to the NBA Finals.
67% Celtics to return to the NBA Finals.
28% Lakers to win the NBA Finals.

Turkey: 46% Rockets to beat the Warriors in the First Round. Alperen Sengun’s home country has the most confidence in this Rockets squad to advance to the Conference Semis.

Philippines: