Nba Round 2 Matchups: Cavs-pacers, Celtics-knicks, Warriors-timberwolves And Thunder-nuggets

Defending champion Boston vs. title-starved New York. High-scoring Cleveland vs. high-scoring Indiana. The 2023 champion Denver vs. this year's favorite in Oklahoma City. And Golden State vs. Minnesota, pitting a current face of the NBA in Stephen Curry against an heir apparent in Anthony Edwards.

Welcome to Round 2 of the NBA playoffs.

It's already in progress, actually: Indiana went on the road and grabbed Game 1 of its Eastern Conference semifinal series against Cleveland on Sunday. The Boston-New York and Denver-Oklahoma City matchups open on Monday the Golden State-Minnesota series starts Tuesday.

"These are the most important times of the year," Celtics forward and reigning NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown said. "We've just got to come out and perform."

The star power has been whittled down from what it was at the start of the playoffs: LeBron James and Luka Doncic were ousted when the Los Angeles Lakers fell to Minnesota, James Harden and Kawhi Leonard saw their seasons end when the Los Angeles Clippers lost to Denver, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Milwaukee were eliminated by Indiana.