2018 NBA playoffs
The 2018 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 2017–18 season. The playoffs began on April 14, 2018 and ended on June 8 at the conclusion of the 2018 NBA Finals.
Overview
- The Houston Rockets entered the playoffs with their best regular-season record in franchise history and appeared in their sixth consecutive postseason.
- The Golden State Warriors entered their sixth consecutive postseason, tying their franchise streak of 6 straight postseason appearances since the league's first six years of existence.
- The San Antonio Spurs entered their 21st consecutive postseason.
- The Toronto Raptors also finished with a franchise record for single-season victories, winning 59 games and finished with the best record in the Eastern Conference.
- The Minnesota Timberwolves qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2004 and snapped the league's longest active streak of seasons without a playoff appearance.
- The Philadelphia 76ers qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2012.
- Game 7 between the Boston Celtics and the Milwaukee Bucks ensured a 19th-straight postseason in which at least one Game 7 was played; 1999 was the most recent postseason to not feature a Game 7.
- Game 6 of the Celtics-Bucks series was the last game played at the Bradley Center.
- Game 2 of the Raptors vs Cavaliers series was the last game before the Air Canada Centre was renamed to Scotiabank Arena.
- For the first time since 1979 both Conference Finals series went to a deciding Game 7.
- In both Conference Finals series, the road teams won both Game 7s. In the other two instances in which both Conference Finals series went to a Game 7, the home team won each Conference Finals Game 7 in the 1963 and 1979 Playoffs.
- This was also the first time a team was swept in the NBA Finals since 2007. Like in 2007, the Cleveland Cavaliers were also the team that got swept in the 2018 NBA Finals.
Format
Each conference's bracket is fixed; there is no reseeding. All rounds are best-of-seven series; the team that has four wins advances to the next round. All rounds, including the NBA Finals, are in a 2–2–1–1–1 format. Home court advantage in any round does not necessarily belong to the higher-seeded team, but instead to the team with the better regular season record. If two teams with the same record meet in a round, standard tiebreaker rules are used. The rule for determining home court advantage in the NBA Finals is winning percentage, then head to head record, followed by intra-conference record.
Playoff qualifying
On March 7, 2018, the Toronto Raptors became the first team to clinch a playoff spot. On March 30, 2018, the Houston Rockets clinched the Western Conference ending a three-year run by the Golden State Warriors as the top seed. The Rockets clinched the best record in the NBA a day later on March 31, 2018. For the first time since the 1996–97 NBA season, two teams played their last game against each other for the 8th and final spot in the playoffs. The Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Denver Nuggets 112–106 in overtime to clinch the final playoff seed in the West. This also ended Minnesota's 13-year drought without a playoff appearance having last played in 2003–04 season. For the first time since the 2010–11 NBA season, the Los Angeles Clippers would miss the postseason following a loss to the Denver Nuggets on April 7, 2018. This is the first time since 1960 that none of the teams from New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago made the playoffs.Eastern Conference
Western Conference
Playoff bracket
Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in its conference, and the numbers to the right indicate the number of games the team won in that round. The division champions are marked by an asterisk. Teams with home court advantage, the higher seeded team, are shown in italics.First round
Eastern Conference
(1) Toronto Raptors vs. (8) Washington Wizards
| Tied 2–2 in the regular-season series |
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Wizards winning the first meeting in 2015.
| Washington leads 1–0 in all-time playoff series |
(2) Boston Celtics vs. (7) Milwaukee Bucks
| Tied 2–2 in the regular-season series |
This was the sixth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning four of the first five meetings.
| Boston leads 4–1 in all-time playoff series |
(3) Philadelphia 76ers vs. (6) Miami Heat
With the win, the Sixers won their first playoff series since 2012.| Tied 2–2 in the regular-season series |
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Heat winning the first meeting.
| Miami leads 1–0 in all-time playoff series |
(4) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (5) Indiana Pacers
LeBron James capped off his heroic Game 5 performance with a game-winning 3 at the buzzer to put the Cavaliers up 3–2 in the series. This was the fourth time James has hit a game-winning buzzer beater in the playoffs.| Indiana won 3–1 in the regular-season series |
This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with each team winning one series.
| Tied 1–1 in all-time playoff series |
Western Conference
(1) Houston Rockets vs. (8) Minnesota Timberwolves
| Houston won 4–0 in the regular-season series |
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Rockets winning the first meeting.
| Houston leads 1–0 in all-time playoff series |
(2) Golden State Warriors vs. (7) San Antonio Spurs
- Game 5 is Manu Ginóbili's final NBA game.
| Golden State won 3–1 in the regular-season series |
This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Warriors winning two of the first three meetings.
| Golden State leads 2–1 in all-time playoff series |
(3) Portland Trail Blazers vs. (6) New Orleans Pelicans
The Pelicans completed a sweep of the Trail Blazers for their 1st series win in the playoffs since the 2008 NBA Playoffs against the Dallas Mavericks as the New Orleans Hornets.| Tied 2–2 in the regular-season series |
This was the first playoff meeting between the Trail Blazers and Pelicans.
(4) Oklahoma City Thunder vs. (5) Utah Jazz
The Thunder trailed by as much as 25 points in the 3rd quarter. However, Russell Westbrook and Paul George combined for 47 second-half points to help keep their season alive. The Thunder outscored the Jazz 61-28 since the comeback started with 8:32 left in the 3rd quarter. The 25-point rally was their largest in franchise history and one of the biggest comebacks for a team facing elimination in playoff history.| Oklahoma City won 3–1 in the regular-season series |
This was the fifth playoff meeting between the SuperSonics/Thunder franchise and the Jazz, but the first since the Seattle SuperSonics relocated to Oklahoma City and became the Thunder in 2008. The two teams have split their previous four playoff matchups.
| Tied 2–2 in all-time playoff series |
Conference Semifinals
Eastern Conference Semifinals
(1) Toronto Raptors vs. (4) Cleveland Cavaliers
capped off a 38-point performance with a fadeaway bank shot floater at the buzzer to lead the Cavs to a commanding 3–0 series lead.| Cleveland won 2–1 in the regular-season series |
This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with Cleveland winning the first two meetings.
| Cleveland leads 2–0 in all-time playoff series |
(2) Boston Celtics vs. (3) Philadelphia 76ers
| Boston won 3–1 in the regular-season series |
This was the 21st playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning 12 of the first 20 meetings.
| Boston leads 12–8 in all-time playoff series |
Western Conference Semifinals
(1) Houston Rockets vs. (5) Utah Jazz
| Houston won 4–0 in the regular-season series |
This was the eighth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Jazz winning five of the first seven meetings.
| Utah leads 5–2 in all-time playoff series |
(2) Golden State Warriors vs. (6) New Orleans Pelicans
| Golden State won 3–1 in the regular-season series |
This was the second meeting in the playoffs between the two teams, with the Warriors winning the first meeting.
| Golden State leads 1–0 in all-time playoff series |
Conference Finals
Eastern Conference Finals
(2) Boston Celtics vs. (4) Cleveland Cavaliers
It marked the first time since the 1987–88 season that the Celtics made two consecutive Conference Finals. It was also the Celtics' first home loss of the postseason. Their loss at home after leading 3–2 in the series was the first time that had happened since 2009. This was the fifth time in NBA history that the road team won a Game 7 after the home team had won each of the first six games. LeBron James became the first non-Celtic to advance to 8 consecutive NBA Finals. This was the Cavaliers' first Game 7 road win and the first for an Eastern Conference team since the 2004–05 Detroit Pistons. It was also the second time in the Celtics' history that they had lost a playoff series where they had taken a 2–0 lead in.| Cleveland won 2–1 in the regular-season series |
This was the eighth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning four of the first seven meetings.
| Boston leads 4–3 in all-time playoff series |
Western Conference Finals
(1) Houston Rockets vs. (2) Golden State Warriors
Golden State rallied from a 17-point first quarter deficit by outscoring Houston 64–25 in the second half to force a Game 7. The Rockets' 25 second-half points tied a franchise record low for scoring in any half in the postseason.This is the Warriors' first game 7 road win since 1948 and first for the Western Conference team win game 7 on the road since the 2001–02 Los Angeles Lakers.
| Houston won 2–1 in the regular-season series |
This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Warriors winning the first two meetings.
| Golden State leads 2–0 in all-time playoff series |
2018 NBA Finals: (E4) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (W2) Golden State Warriors
| Golden State won 2–0 in the regular-season series |
This was the fourth meeting in the NBA Finals between these two teams, with the Warriors winning two of the first three meetings.
| Golden State leads 2–1 in all-time playoff series |