NBA East playoff preview capsules: Cavaliers-Heat, Celtics-Magic, Knicks-Pistons, Pacers-Bucks

Capsules on the Eastern Conference first-round series:

Season series: Cavaliers, 2-1.

Story line: It’s the classic — offense vs. defense. Cleveland was the highest-scoring team in the NBA this season and Miami finished seventh-best this season in points allowed. The Heat surely will feel like they have nothing to lose, after winning two elimination games — both on the road — just to get to Round 1. They’re the seventh team in the last 35 years to have a record of 37-45 (or worse) and make the playoffs. The Cavaliers have been atop the East all season, yet still aren’t the favorite to win the conference title. That’ll put a chip on the shoulder of a 64-win team.

Key matchup: Donovan Mitchell vs. Tyler Herro. Both elite guards, both elite scorers, both the leaders of their teams. Mitchell doesn’t need huge numbers to win the series. Herro doesn’t either, but must be effective for the Heat to have a chance at the upset.

Prediction: Cavaliers in 6.

Season series: Magic, 2-1.

Story line: For starters, there’s the obvious clash of styles. The Celtics made more 3-pointers and attempted more 3-pointers this season than any team in NBA history. The Magic led the league in terms of fewest 3-pointers made and 3-pointers allowed this season. Do not expect a series filled with 120-115 shootouts; the Magic gave up the fewest points in the NBA, the Celtics gave up the second-fewest. The season series was odd; Orlando won a close game Dec. 23 and enjoyed a blowout win in the final week of the regular season when Boston was sitting everyone.

Key matchup: Jayson Tatum vs. Paolo Banchero. The former Duke forwards are good friends — that won’t matter for the next week or two, Tatum insists — and it’s easy to see some similarities in the way they play. If Banchero is making 3s, Orlando is much tougher to beat. Tatum, only 27, is ninth among active players in playoff scoring.

Prediction: Celtics in 6.

Season series: Pistons, 3-1.

Story line: The Pistons’ reward for one of the best turnarounds from one season to the next in NBA history is a trip to Madison Square Garden to begin a their first playoff series since 2019. Detroit improved by 30 wins after going 14-68 in 2023-24. Now they have a chance to end the longest losing streak in postseason history, as the Pistons dropped 14 straight games since their last victory in the 2008 Eastern Conference finals. The Knicks, meanwhile, will reach the second round for the third straight season if they win this series.

Key matchup: Jalen Brunson vs. Cade Cunningham. The All-Star point guards are both masters at playing at their own pace. The difference is the Knicks boast the one who is a proven postseason performer, as last year Brunson became the first player since Michael Jordan to have four straight 40-point games in the postseason.

Prediction: Knicks in 6.

Season series: Bucks, 3-1.

Story line: A rematch of a first-round series from a year ago, when the Pacers knocked off a No. 3-seeded Bucks team that was hobbled to begin their run to the Eastern Conference finals. Indiana followed that up by winning 50 games for the first time since 2013-14, also the last time the Pacers opened a playoff series in Indianapolis. Still, the Bucks feel good about where they’re at after winning their final eight games of the regular season and clearing Damian Lillard for full basketball activity and a potential return during this series, after he missed the last month with deep vein thrombosis in his right calf.

Key matchup: Pascal Siakam vs. Giannis Antetokounmpo. Siakam was Indiana’s most effective player against Milwaukee during the regular season, averaging 24 points on 55% shooting. Antetokounmpo averaged 30 points, 12.3 rebounds and 7.5 assists against the Pacers, not far from his season averages of 30.4 points, 11.9 rebounds and 6.5 assists, which all placed in the top 13 of the league.

Prediction: Bucks in 6.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA

Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero celebrates after making a shot and drawing a foul during the second half of an NBA play-in tournament basketball game against the Atlanta Hawks, Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) looks on in the first half of an NBA play-in tournament basketball game against the Atlanta Hawks, Friday, April 18, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo reacts to a call during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the New Orleans Pelicans, Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)

Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) makes a pass over Cleveland Cavaliers forward Isaac Okoro (35) during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

New York Knicks' Jalen Brunson reacts after sinking a three-point basket during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Cleveland Cavaliers Friday, April 11, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell, right, passes the ball as he is guarded by San Antonio Spurs forward Sandro Mamukelashvili (54) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, April 4, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)

The head of PBS said Friday that President Donald Trump's executive order aiming to slash public subsidies to PBS and NPR was blatantly unlawful.

Public Broadcasting Service CEO Paula Kerger said the Republican president's order “threatens our ability to serve the American public with educational programming, as we have for the past 50-plus years."

"We are currently exploring all options to allow PBS to continue to serve our member stations and all Americans,” Kerger said.

Trump signed the order late Thursday, alleging “bias” in the broadcasters’ reporting.

The order instructs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other federal agencies to “cease Federal funding” for PBS and National Public Radio and further requires that they work to root out indirect sources of public financing for the news organizations. The White House, in a social media posting announcing the signing, said the outlets “receive millions from taxpayers to spread radical, woke propaganda disguised as 'news.'”

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funnels public funding to the two services, said that it is not a federal executive agency subject to Trump's orders. The president earlier this week said he was firing three of the five remaining CPB board members — threatening its ability to do any work — and was immediately sued by the CPB to stop it.

The vast majority of public money for the services goes directly to its hundreds of local stations, which operate on a combination of government funding, donations and philanthropic grants. Stations in smaller markets are particularly dependent on the public money and most threatened by the cuts of the sort Trump is proposing.

Public broadcasting has been threatened frequently by Republican leaders in the past, but the local ties have largely enabled them to escape cutbacks — legislators don't want to be seen as responsible for shutting down stations in their districts. But the current threat is seen as the most serious in the system's history.

It's also the latest move by Trump and his administration to utilize federal powers to control or hamstring institutions whose actions or viewpoints he disagrees with.

Since taking office in January for a second term, Trump has ousted leaders, placed staff on administrative leave and cut off hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to artists, libraries, museums, theaters and others, through takeovers of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Trump has also pushed to withhold federal research and education funds from universities and punish law firms unless they agree to eliminate diversity programs and other measures he has found objectionable.

Just two weeks ago, the White House said it would be asking Congress to rescind funding for the CPB as part of a $9.1 billion package of cuts. That package, however, which budget director Russell Vought said would likely be the first of several, has not yet been sent to Capitol Hill.

The move against PBS and NPR comes as Trump's administration has been working to dismantle the U.S. Agency for Global Media, including Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which were designed to model independent news gathering globally in societies that restrict the press.

Those efforts have faced pushback from federal courts, which have ruled in some cases that the Trump administration may have overstepped its authority in holding back funds appropriated to the outlets by Congress.

AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump holds up a signed executive order establishing the Religious Liberty Commission, during a National Day of Prayer event in the Rose Garden of the White House, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

FILE - The headquarters for National Public Radio (NPR) is seen in Washington, April 15, 2013. AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

FILE - Paula Kerger, President and CEO at PBS, speaks at the executive session during the PBS Winter 2020 TCA Press Tour at The Langham Huntington, Pasadena, Jan. 10, 2020, in Pasadena, Calif. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File)