With Sunday’s Game 7 book, the Oklahoma City Thunder dominates the Denver Nuggets, joining the NBA’s New York Knicks, Indiana Pacers and Minnesota Timberwolves in the last four NBA games, we can now clearly see the true difference maker along the Larry O’Brien trophy.
Here, in our playoff MVP session second semifinal update, we will be ranked eight players in two wild and unpredictable rounds.
2025 Playoffs (12 games): 28.8 points | 7.7 ast | 3.9 reb
After finishing the Detroit Pistons with an annoying three-pointer in the first round, Brunson's Encore led New York to the New York final by defeating defending champion Boston Celtics. He started the series slowly, but usually he grabbed it in the late stages.
This was especially true in games 1, 2 and 4, when the Knicks won the deficits of 20, 20 and 14 respectively.
Next, the all-NBA guard will face the Pacers, who averaged nearly 30 points and six assists in the regular season. Brunson and his teammates will seek revenge on Indiana's losses in the semifinals of last year's conference.
If things fall on the wires, the league's clutch player of the year will be ready. Brunson has made 14 clutch baskets in these playoffs. That's twice as many as Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander, who ranks second.
Previous Ranking: 4
1:00
Jokic thanks for his personal and team success this season
Nuggets star Nikola Jokic reflects on his personal performance and how his team has performed this season, after being eliminated in the playoffs.
2025 Playoffs (14 games): 26.2 pts | 12.7 reb | 8.0 ast | 2.0 STL
As teammate Aaron Gordon was severely restricted, Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr.
Still, this reality – and the overall loss of his team – does not necessarily hurt Jokic’s argument that he has high on this list. Of course, his overtime loss in Denver's third game was a painful 0-10, and he wasn't efficient in Game 4 when he got 2 of 2 from 3 times.
Jokic has won a good thunder group in history, and 24-year-old Christian Braun is his most effective partner in Game 7, and it all can be handled.
Previous ranking: 1
2025 Playoffs (10 games): 26.5 points | 8.0 reb | 5.9 ast | 38.5 3p%
The Wolves star bounced from a less efficient start to the Los Angeles Lakers, shooting 44% with nearly nine attempts per game in most Stephen Curry’s Super Golden State Warriors against the Los Angeles Lakers.
It is worth noting that in Edwards’ Game 5, every game in every game: He has contributed to others with his defensive focus, giving eight assists to the championship against the Lakers and 12 assists against the Warriors in the game.
Edwards will have to prepare for OKC’s swarm defense, the NBA’s best option to close one-on-one opportunities in the regular season, allowing only 0.81 points per game.
Previous Ranking: 5
2025 Playoffs (10 games): 28.4 points | 6.6 ast | 6.2 reb | 1.3 STL
The Thunder guard may be named the league's regular season MVP in the coming days, and his series against Denver has a great start and end. He struggled with his shots in Games 3 and 4, but then played 31, 32 and 35 in the last three games of the series. When OKC needs it most, he shoots no more than 52% from the field to improve his club.
If SGA is so far on the list, it is that he struggles hard in first-round efficiency. But if the best seed thunder breaks through, he can continue to make up for that against the Wolves and the finals.
Previous Ranking: NR
2025 Playoffs (10 games): 17.5 points | 9.3 AST | 5.5 reb
Haliburton rose 54% and almost 46% against top seed Cleveland Cavaliers after only 42% overall shooting percentage and beat the frustration in just five games after 27% below 3% in the first round.
This playoff is one of the biggest keys for Indiana star: Like Brunson, he came up with big shots to throw the game. In the last minute of the clutch scene, he scored 5-5 with the Pacers. In these playoffs, no one has more.
Previous Ranking: 10
6. Julius Randle, Minnesota
2025 Playoffs (10 games): 23.9 points | 5.9 reb | 5.9 ast | 50.9 fg%
Yes, this is the player who struggled in his first two playoffs. Randle shot 29.8% from the field in 2021 and 37.4% from the field in 2022.
But Randle has been excellent against Minnesota so far, shooting nearly 51% from the field and averaged 23.9 points in the playoffs (down behind Edwards) and the team's highest 5.9 assists (same as Edwards). Randle is now one of the NBA's best No. 3 opportunityists and now just looks relaxed, which could bring a huge dividend if OKC shines Edwards.
Previous Ranking: NR
1:28
Mitchell
Donovan Mitchell tries to explain what went wrong with the Cavaliers in the semifinal series.
2025 Playoffs (9 games): 29.6 points | 4.7 reb | 3.9 ast
Like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Mitchell gave it all, sometimes carrying his team's offense alone. The Cavaliers star leads all second-round scorers over 34 points per game.
But with his hopes to revive an ankle injury from a Cleveland club, the club's risk is easily bounced after a 64-win season, Mitchell's efficiency dropped sharply from the opening round, down from 46% to 24%, but in large-scale matches - but necessary - in the number of session semifinals.
Previous Ranking: 8
2025 Playoffs (5 games): 33.0 pts | 15.4 reb | 6.6 ast | 60.6 fg%
The Bucks' forward was such a great player in the first round and he deserved to be on the roster again, despite being far from the top given the increase in the semifinals of the conference.
If you forget the dominance of Damian Lillard, who was not injured, how injured is Kyle Kuzma: antetokounmpo averaged 33 points, 15.4 rebounds and 6.6 assists, and five assists in his five games against Indianapolis. He did this with nearly 60.6% shooting percentage.
Previous Ranking: 2