The Rivalry Begins (Season 1 NBA 2k25)

Simon Carver

Alright, welcome to the very 1st episode of the 2k Bros Podcast! Simon Carver here, and I’m sitting across from the man who once out-rebounded me in a lunchtime pickup game, Jimbo.

Jimbo

Ha! Still holding that over you, huh? Someday you’ll admit those were all lucky bounces, Simon. But hey—today, let’s talk about a real team that didn’t rely on luck: Phillip’s 76ers. Absolutely scorching run. Nine and one in the playoffs, swept the Pelicans in the Finals, and…I mean, just cooked every defense they saw.

Simon Carver

No kidding. And that scoring jump—53.3 points per game in the regular season all the way up to 74.4 in the playoffs? That’s absurd. You put that in real-life terms, it’s like suddenly waking up with Steph Curry’s shooting and Giannis’s finishing all at once.

Jimbo

Crazy offense. And it wasn’t just about shooting more—look at the efficiency. Field goal percentage went from 48 to 53 percent, and the three-point rate jumped to 40 percent from 36. That’s a team that found another gear once the stakes got real.

Simon Carver

That Finals MVP run K. Towns put together—I remember the numbers: 14.7 points, almost nine boards a night, and, what, 67 percent from the field? That’s cartoonish. And he went for 31 and 12 in Game 2 of the Finals. Jimbo, I swear, that’s the kind of heater I only managed in my back-alley garage league, and trust me, my jumper was more “abstract art” than “NBA 2K.”

Jimbo

I’ll take your word for it, Simon. But it wasn’t just Towns. You had Philly rolling through the bracket—knocking out the Nets, taking down the Knicks in the conference finals…then just steamrolling the Finals. That’s a team playing with house money and looking fearless the whole way through.

Simon Carver

And what stands out to me—yeah, the talent’s there, but so is the chemistry. You only get that kind of post-season explosion with a group that buys in all the way. That locker room must have felt electric, even if, you know, it’s just two guys staring at plasma screens in separate rooms.

Jimbo

Alright, let’s dig into what really made this 76ers run work. Everyone remembers the highlights, but man, the team stats tell the story. Jalen Williams, 13.3 points per game in the playoffs, 61% from the floor. And Paul George? Bumped all the way to 14.3 points and nearly 57% shooting—with 57% from three! That’s just wild.

Simon Carver

I always look at free throws when everything else looks superhuman. 89% from the line in the playoffs—that’s up from 81% in the regular season. That’s the kind of detail you only notice when you’re losing sleep over one-point losses.

Jimbo

Yeah, and ball movement—assists went from just over five to more than nine per game in the postseason. That screams confidence, right? Guys trust each other, keep moving it, and that’s when you get the easy buckets everyone wishes for but few teams actually make happen.

Simon Carver

You’ve gotta wonder how much of that was Phillip making tactical tweaks, you know? I mean, when the league resets after every season, and you can’t build dynasties—he’s on a fresh learning curve every year. But from what we’re seeing, he figured out how to get his scorers red-hot at exactly the right time. It’s almost…I don’t wanna say “luck”—he found the hot hand and then just kept feeding it, night after night.

Jimbo

That’s the puzzle. When you’re forced to start from scratch every season, chemistry can be a dice roll. But if you know how to get new guys moving, sharing the ball, rebounding with purpose—suddenly efficiency doesn’t just survive the reset, it explodes. That’s chess, not checkers.

Simon Carver

If only my high school cassette deck projects ran that smooth…I’d have a whole museum by now.

Jimbo

But on the other end—you had Joe and the Spurs. Eleven and three in the regular season, D. Vassell putting up nearly 17 and a half points, shooting 47% from the field and almost 46% from three. C. Holmgren locking down Defensive Player of the Year. That’s a squad that looked built to last, until, well, the wheels just came off in the playoffs.

Simon Carver

Yeah, and it wasn’t a gentle fizzle—it was a full-on offensive collapse. Scoring shredded from 51.2 PPG in the regular season to just 35.5 in the playoffs. Field goal percentage cratered to 34%, and three-point shooting slumped below 30%. I mean, playoff pressure exposes all the ugly seams, right?

Jimbo

Vassell goes 1-for-13 in a do-or-die game, and suddenly “Most Improved” feels like, uh, the cruelest joke in the sim. And it wasn’t just shooting—for some reason, assists almost vanished, rebounding dipped, and the offense looked stuck in mud.

Simon Carver

C. Holmgren still brought the defense, and Adams put up those boards, but—look, you know how sometimes you’re restoring a vintage cassette deck and the mechanism just jams, no matter how hard you jiggle it? That was Joe’s offense. I’ve had hissier days fixing tape decks that flowed better than that Spurs playoff offense.

Jimbo

Classic Simon analogy. But it's spot-on. Makes you wonder—can elite individual defenders cover up for an utterly ice-cold offense in these digital playoffs? Or are we learning, once again, that you still need a balanced squad, especially when every game is basically do-or-die?

Simon Carver

I mean…individual defense helps, but playoff basketball—whether you’re on wood or Wi-Fi—exposes shaky lineups. Every mistake gets just that much louder when your shooters go cold. Still, it’s early days. Joe’s not out of this rivalry yet, and these resets keep us all guessing.

Jimbo

That’s the magic. Next season, new teams, new drama, and, if we’re lucky, maybe Joe will finally topple Phillip’s run. Simon, as always, pleasure breaking it all down with you.

Simon Carver

Always a blast, Jimbo. Thanks for tuning in, everybody—we’ll catch you next time, Phillip will head to OKC, and Joe to Chicago to Run the Bulls . Enjoy your runs, avoid those cold streaks, and keep the banter coming. See ya, Jimbo.

Jimbo

Later, Simon. See you all next episode.