NBA & NHL 2025 Finals predictions

The 2025 NBA and NHL seasons are coming to an end. But not before each league has one final series. The Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA and the Florida Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers in the NHL.

But which 2 teams will claim their gold? Let's start with Pacers and Thunder. Pacers currently have a 12-4 postseason record. Defeating the Bucks 4-1, Cavaliers 4-1, and Knicks 4-2. The Thunder also have a 12-4 postseason record. Sweeping the Grizzlies in 4, battled a strong series against the Nuggets and winning it 4-3, and defeating the Timberwolves 4-1. Who are the biggest threat in each team?

Pascal Siakam for the Pacers has averaged 21.1 points per game and also led postseason rebounds at 5.8. The Pacers have definitely shown a dominance in offense. If they get momentum, they can get a very high score. Scoring 129 points in 1 game each in the Bucks and Cavaliers series. And even higher in the Knicks series scoring 138 points in the 1st game and 130 points in the 4th. Unlike the Thunder though, the Pacers have definitely kept a lot of games quite close. Winning the final Bucks game by only 1, winning the 2nd Cavs game by only 1, and the Knicks made the conference finals close. Pacers won the 1st game by 3, 2nd by 5, and 4th by 9.

Why do I think the Oklahoma City Thunder will be the threat in this series? Well for one, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or SGA averages nearly 30 points a game. Although he has a 47.1% field goal percentage while Siakam is slightly higher at 53.7%. The Thunder have finished games close too but also had some impressive blowouts. Such as a 51 point win in their first game against Memphis. A 43 point win in their 2nd game against Denver, a 28 point win in their first game against Minnesota, 42 point win in the 2nd and 30 point win in the 5th. Plus the Thunder will claim home court for the NBA finals.

I predict the Oklahoma City Thunder will defeat the Indiana Pacers in the NBA Finals in 6.

On to the NHL Stanley Cup. Where the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers will meet now for the 2nd year in a row. Last year, despite the Panthers having a 3-0 series lead, Edmonton made things exciting by winning 3 in a row and forcing game 7. However the Panthers would take a sigh of relief and win the cup. But with Edmonton getting home ice this time, can they flip things around?

The Florida Panthers have a 12-5 postseason record. Defeating the Lightning in 5, Maple Leafs in 7, and Hurricanes in 5. The Panthers overall have shown damn good dominance. Despite starting 0-2 in the Toronto series, they clawed their way back and won 4 out of 5 to move to their conference finals. Poor Carolina... someday they'll move past the conference finals. They just couldn't attack the stronger Florida Panthers. As for the Oilers, they also had a 0-2 start in the first round against the Kings. But once Pickard became the starting Goalie in that series, Los Angeles suddenly crashed and lost the next 4. Las Vegas definitely put in a bigger fight but Edmonton just happened to be on the higher scoring side. Even Dallas who had a solid performance in the postseason slipped away. They did make game 5 exciting but every time they scored, Edmonton responded. And I'm sure Dallas' coach is still punching himself for pulling his star goalie early in that game. Edmonton currently has a 12-4 postseason record.

Florida averages 3.9 goals per postseason game and allows 2.1 goals per game. Edmonton averages 4.1 goals per game and allowing 2.8 goals per game. For the Panthers, Aleksander Barkov leads in points at 17 and Sam Bennett leaves in goals at 10. For the Oilers, Connor McDavid has been DOMINANT with 26 points and 20 assists. Leon Draisaitl leads in goals at 7. He will definitely be the one to pay attention to most in the Stanley Cup. I think a big factor in this series will be power plays. Florida has collected a big whopping 279 penalty minutes while Edmonton has only 125. According to ChatGPT, the Florida Panthers have a 23.2% Power Play Efficiency ranking 6th and a big 87.9% Penalty Kill Efficiency which ranks number 1. Edmonton has a 30% Power Play Efficiency ranking 4th and a 66% Penalty Kill Efficiency ranking 14th.

I expect this to be an exciting series just like it was last year. I will pick the Edmonton Oilers to get revenge and bring the cup back to Canada in 7 games.