2012 NBA playoffs

Postseason tournament August 2023 NBA playoffs 2012 2011–12 April 28–June 21, 2012 16 Miami Heat 2 Oklahoma City Thunder Boston Celtics San Antonio Spurs Scoring leader(s) LeBron James (Heat) 30.3 PPG MVP LeBron James (Heat) 2011 2013 The 2012 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 2011–12 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat defeating the Western Conference champion Oklahoma City Thunder, 4 games to 1 in the NBA Finals. LeBron James was named NBA Finals MVP. The Dallas Mavericks were the defending champions, but lost in the first round to the Thunder in a four-game sweep. Overview Western Conference The Los Angeles Clippers made the playoffs for the first time since 2006, while the Utah Jazz returned after a one-year hiatus. It was also Utah's first postseason appearance without Jerry Sloan as head coach since 1988. Ironically, both teams would be swept by the San Antonio Spurs. The San Antonio Spurs entered their fifteenth consecutive postseason, continuing the longest active playoff streak at the time. The defending champion Dallas Mavericks entered their twelfth consecutive postseason, the second longest active playoff streak in the Western Conference. The Memphis Grizzlies earned home–court advantage for the first time in franchise history. Eastern Conference All eight teams were the same from 2011. They also all had records over .500, the first time since 2005. The Orlando Magic entered their sixth consecutive postseason, the longest active postseason streak in the eastern conference at the time. Their in–state rivals, the Miami Heat entered their fourth consecutive postseason. The Orlando Magic and Miami Heat gained notoriety for opening their postseason runs against the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks despite recent tragedies rocking their respective cities. The Orlando Magic opened their NBA Playoffs against the Indiana Pacers just 2 months after the killing of Trayvon Martin in nearby Sanford, Florida, just 30 miles from where they play their games at Amway Center (now called the Kia Center). Meanwhile, the Miami Heat opened their NBA Playoffs against the New York Knicks just 15 days after a drunk driver caused a devastating crash in southwest Miami-Dade County, just 18 miles from where they play their games at American Airlines Arena (now called the Kaseya Center) The Indiana Pacers opened the playoffs at home for the first time since 2004. The New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers entered their second consecutive postseason. First round For the first time since 2000, the Miami Heat and the New York Knicks met in the postseason, reigniting the Heat–Knicks rivalry. For the fourth time since 2006, a division winner (in this case the Atlantic Division champion Boston Celtics) opened the playoffs on the road. Despite not having home court advantage, the Boston Celtics beat the Atlanta Hawks in six games. The Hawks did not open the playoffs at home again until 2015. Game 1 of the Bulls–Sixers series was extremely notable as Derrick Rose tore his ACL in the waning minutes of the Bulls’ 103–91 victory. With their Game 3 loss to the Miami Heat, the New York Knicks lost their 13th straight playoff game, breaking Memphis' record from 2004 to 2006 for the longest playoff losing streak. However, they broke that streak with a Game 4 victory against The Heat at Madison Square Garden. With their Game 4 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the defending champions Dallas Mavericks were swept in the first round, becoming the third defending champion to be swept in the First Round after the Philadelphia Warriors in 1957 and Miami Heat in 2007, and second after Miami to be done so in a seven-game series. It was the first time the Mavericks were swept in a seven-game series, and only their second sweep since 1990. With their Game 5 win against the New York Knicks, the Miami Heat beat their arch rivals in a playoff series for the first time since 1997. During the series, however, the Knicks lost Baron Davis and Iman Shumpert to knee injuries. With their Game 5 win against the Orlando Magic, the Indiana Pacers won their first playoff series since 2005. The Magic did not return to the postseason until 2019. With their Game 6 win over the Chicago Bulls, the eighth–seeded Philadelphia 76ers became only the 5th eighth seeded team in NBA history to beat a top seed in the first round. Following the Grizzlies' 2011 upset of the 1st–seeded Spurs, this marked the first time in straight seasons an 8th–seed upset a #1 seed. In addition to losing Rose, the Bulls also lost Joakim Noah to injury during the series. This was the most recent occurrence of an eighth seed eliminating a top seed in the first round of the playoffs until 2023, when the eighth-seeded Miami Heat knocked out the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks. Game 7 of the Lakers–Nuggets series ensured a 13th straight postseason with at least one Game 7 played. The last without one was the 1999 NBA playoffs. With their Game 7 win over the Memphis Grizzlies, the Los Angeles Clippers won their first playoff series since 2006. Conference semifinals During their conference semifinals series against the Indiana Pacers, the Miami Heat lost Chris Bosh to injury (although he would return in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals). As a result, the Heat fell behind two games to one before reeling off three straight wins to beat the Pacers in six games. For the first time since 1999, back to backs were played in the conference semifinals, thanks to the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers sharing the same arena to avoid scheduling conflicts. It also marked the first time both Los Angeles teams appeared in the Conference Semifinals in the same season. As of 2023, this was the most recent occurrence of back to backs being played in the same postseason. With their Game 4 win over the Los Angeles Clippers, the San Antonio Spurs became the fourth team in NBA History (and first in the Western Conference) to go 8–0 through the first two rounds of the playoffs. The Heat in 2005, Cavs in 2009 and Magic in 2010, also went 8–0 through the first two rounds. In addition, all 3 lost Game 1 of their Conference Finals. The Spurs broke this trend with a Game 1 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals. Game 5 of the Thunder–Lakers series was Kobe Bryant's final NBA playoff game. In addition, this was also his final NBA Playoff appearance before his retirement in 2016. With their Game 7 win over the Philadelphia 76ers, the Boston Celtics returned to the Conference Finals for the third time in five seasons. With the loss, the Philadelphia 76ers suffered the same fate as last season's Memphis Grizzlies by beating a top seed, taking their fourth seed opponent to a Game 7, only to lose on the road. The 76ers did not return to the playoffs until 2018. Conference finals For the third consecutive season, the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics met in the postseason. With their Game 2 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder, the San Antonio Spurs won 20 straight games. As a result, they set an NBA record for the longest winning streak carried over from the regular season to the playoffs, which was broken with the Game 3 loss, and finished a win short of tying the longest unbeaten playoff run in a single postseason.Latzke Jeff Sefolosha sparks Thunder to 102–82 win over Spurs https://news.yahoo.com/sefolosha-sparks-thunder-102-82-win-over-spurs-073826987--spt.html 7 June 2012 Yahoo! News 1 June 2012 Game 5 of the Heat–Celtics series was notable for the return of Chris Bosh and the Boston Celtics overcoming a 2–0 series deficit to take a 3–2 lead going back to Boston. However, the Miami Heat would force a Game 7 thanks to LeBron James’ 45 point Game 6 performance in the Miami Heat's 98–79 win at TD Garden. With a Game 6 win over the San Antonio Spurs, the Oklahoma City Thunder returned to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1996 (when they were known as the Seattle SuperSonics). The Spurs, on the other hand, lost the series 4–2 despite leading 2–0. With a Game 7 win over the Boston Celtics, the Miami Heat returned to the NBA Finals for the second straight season. It marked the first time a LeBron James-led team beat the Boston Celtics in a playoff series despite trailing 3–2. With the loss, this was the second time that the Celtics lost a playoff series despite leading 3–2. The Celtics did not win another playoff series, let alone return to the conference finals, until 2017. Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals was Ray Allen's last game as a member of the Boston Celtics, effectively ending their “Big 3 era,” which began in 2007. NBA finals The 2012 NBA Finals had several noteworthy events. For the first time since 1998, no team from California or Texas represented the western conference in the NBA Finals. Ironically, the Oklahoma City Thunder eliminated the last three Western Conference finalists: the Dallas Mavericks, the Los Angeles Lakers, and the San Antonio Spurs, all in sequential order. For the first time in franchise history, the Miami Heat faced a team other than the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals. Game 1 of the 2012 NBA Finals was the first NBA Finals game ever played in the State of Oklahoma. The Thunder won this game 105–94. With a Game 5 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Miami Heat won their second NBA championship. By winning the 2012 NBA Finals, the Heat became the second team to win the NBA Finals by overcoming three series deficits (2–1 in the conference semifinals, 3–2 in the conference finals, and 0–1 in the finals) in the same playoffs. The last team to accomplish this feat was the 1995 Houston Rockets. It was also the third (and final time) under the 2–3–2 format that the home team won the middle three games of the NBA Finals. Connection with NBA lockout In May 2012, with the Bulls, Knicks, and Heat losing players to injuries, then-Commissioner David Stern initially said there was no connection between the injuries and the lockout that compressed the regular season to 66-game in 124 days; however, he later backed off those comments, saying more research was needed.Zillgitt Jeff NBA deals with postseason trauma as stars go down May 15, 2012 USA Today http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/story/2012-05-14/NBA-playoff-trauma-with-Derrick-Rose-Chris-Bosh-injuries/54964494/1 https://web.archive.org/web/20150114173905/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/story/2012-05-14/NBA-playoff-trauma-with-Derrick-Rose-Chris-Bosh-injuries/54964494/1 January 14, 2015 live Stern suggests shortened training camp may be reason for injury trend May 9, 2012 SportingNews.com http://aol.sportingnews.com/nba/story/2012-05-09/baron-davis-dwight-howard-derrick-rose-injury-david-stern-nba-playoffs-injuries https://web.archive.org/web/20120711013016/http://aol.sportingnews.com/nba/story/2012-05-09/baron-davis-dwight-howard-derrick-rose-injury-david-stern-nba-playoffs-injuries July 11, 2012 live Format NBA Playoffs#Format The 6 division winners and 10 other teams with the most wins from each conference qualified for the playoffs. The seedings are based on each team's record; however, a division winner is guaranteed to be ranked at least fourth, regardless of record. Tiebreak procedures The tiebreakers that determine seedings are: Division leader wins tie from team not leading a division Head-to-head record Division record (if all the tied teams are in the same division) Conference record Record vs. playoff teams, own conference Record vs. playoff teams, other conference (only in 2-way tie) Point differential, all games If there were more than two teams tied, the team that wins the tiebreaker gets the highest seed, while the other teams were "re-broken" from the first step until all ties were resolved. Since the three division winners were guaranteed a spot in the top four, ties to determine the division winners had to be broken before any other ties.http://www.nba.com/standings/team_record_comparison/conferenceNew_Std_Cnf.html 2011–2012 Conference Regular Season Standings NBA.com Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. April 15, 2012 April 15, 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20100405010059/http://www.nba.com/standings/team_record_comparison/conferenceNew_Std_Cnf.html April 5, 2010 dead Playoff qualifying Eastern Conference Seed Team Record ClinchedPlayoff berth Division title Best record in Conference Best record in NBA 1 Chicago Bulls 50-16 March 24 April 12 April 24 April 26 2 Miami Heat 46-20 April 3 April 15 — — 3 Indiana Pacers 42-24 April 13 — — — 4 Boston Celtics 39-27 April 14 April 18 — — 5 Atlanta Hawks 40-26 April 16 — — — 6 Orlando Magic 37-29 April 15 — — — 7 New York Knicks 36-30 April 23 — — — 8 Philadelphia 76ers 35-31 April 19 — — — — = Did not achieve Western Conference Seed Team Record ClinchedPlayoff berth Division title Best record in Conference Best record in NBA 1 San Antonio Spurs 50-16 March 24 April 14 April 23 — 2 Oklahoma City Thunder 47-19 April 1 April 7 — — 3 Los Angeles Lakers 41-25Los Angeles Lakers clinched #3 seed over Memphis Grizzlies based on winning Pacific Division. lower-alpha note_a April 15 April 24 — — 4 Memphis Grizzlies 41-25 April 18 — — — 5 Los Angeles Clippers 40-26 April 16 — — — 6 Denver Nuggets 38-28 April 18 — — — 7 Dallas Mavericks 36-30Dallas Mavericks clinched #7 seed over Utah Jazz based on 3–1 regular season series record. lower-alpha note_b April 19 — — — 8 Utah Jazz 36-30 April 22 — — — — = Did not achieve Notes lower-alpha 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. Home court advantage belongs to the team with the better regular season record, regardless of seed. (If two teams with the same record meet in a round, the tiebreakers used are head-to-head and record vs. opposite conference.) Teams with home court advantage are shown in italics in the chart below. First Round Conference Semifinals Conference Finals NBA Finals Eastern Conference Western Conference E1 Chicago* 2 E8 Philadelphia 4 E4 Boston* 4 E5 Atlanta 2 E3 Indiana 4 E6 Orlando 1 E2 Miami* 4 E7 New York 1 W1 San Antonio* 4 W8 Utah 0 W4 Memphis 3 W5 LA Clippers 4 W3 LA Lakers* 4 W6 Denver 3 W2 Oklahoma City* 4 W7 Dallas 0 E8 Philadelphia 3 E4 Boston* 4 E3 Indiana 2 E2 Miami* 4 W1 San Antonio* 4 W5 LA Clippers 0 W3 LA Lakers* 1 W2 Oklahoma City* 4 E4 Boston* 3 E2 Miami* 4 W1 San Antonio* 2 W2 Oklahoma City* 4 E2 Miami* 4 W2 Oklahoma City* 1* Division winner Bold Series winner Italic Team with home-court advantage First round All times are in Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4) Eastern Conference first round (1) Chicago Bulls vs. (8) Philadelphia 76ers #eee April 28 1:00 pm United Center, Chicago TNT Philadelphia 76ers 91 Chicago Bulls 103 Recap 24–28 18–25 24–26 25–24 Elton Brand 19 Derrick Rose 23 Brand, Holiday 7 each Joakim Noah 13 Iguodala, Turner 5 each Derrick Rose 9 21,943 Derrick Stafford, Jason Phillips, Michael Smith, Chicago leads series, 1–0 May 1 8:00 pm United Center, Chicago TNT Philadelphia 76ers 109 Chicago Bulls 92 Recap 25–28 22–27 36–14 26–23 Jrue Holiday 26 Joakim Noah 21 Lavoy Allen 9 Joakim Noah 8 Holiday, Turner, Williams 6 each Hamilton, Noah 5 each 22,067 Greg Willard, Courtney Kirkland, Rodney Mott, Series tied, 1–1 #eee May 4 8:00 pm Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia ESPN2 Chicago Bulls 74 Philadelphia 76ers 79 Recap 20–19 19–21 21–11 14–28 Carlos Boozer 18 Spencer Hawes 21 Carlos Boozer 10 Thaddeus Young 11 Richard Hamilton 7 Jrue Holiday 6 20,381 Joe Crawford, Tony Brothers, Eric Lewis, Philadelphia leads series, 2–1 May 6 1:00 pm Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia ABC Chicago Bulls 82 Philadelphia 76ers 89 Recap 15–24 27–20 21–20 19–25 Carlos Boozer 23 Spencer Hawes 22 Taj Gibson 12 Andre Iguodala 12 Boozer, Watson 4 each Jrue Holiday 6 20,412 Dan Crawford, Dick Bavetta, Marc Davis, Philadelphia leads series, 3–1 #eee May 8 9:30 pm United Center, Chicago NBA TV Philadelphia 76ers 69 Chicago Bulls 77 Recap 16–17 10–18 22–22 21–20 Jrue Holiday 16 Luol Deng 24 Spencer Hawes 14 Carlos Boozer 13 Jrue Holiday 4 C. J. Watson 7 22,093 Ken Mauer, Bill Kennedy, Leon Wood, Philadelphia leads series, 3–2 May 10 7:00 pm Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia NBA TV Chicago Bulls 78 Philadelphia 76ers 79 Recap 22–24 18–24 23–15 15–16 Deng, Hamilton 19 each Andre Iguodala 20 Luol Deng 17 Spencer Hawes 10 C. J. Watson 10 Andre Iguodala 7 20,362 Monty McCutchen, Ron Garretson, Sean Wright, Philadelphia wins series, 4–2 The Bulls came into the playoffs as the first overall seed for the second straight year. The 76ers, meanwhile, came into the playoffs as the team with the worst record in the playoffs. The Bulls made quick work of the 76ers, winning Game 1. However, with the Bulls leading by 12 with 1:20 to go in the fourth, Derrick Rose tore his ACL and he was ruled out for the playoffs, putting the Bulls championship hopes in serious jeopardy. The 76ers took the next three games to put the Bulls on the brink of elimination. In Game 3, Joakim Noah was injured when he stepped on Andre Iguodala's foot, ruling him out for the next two games. The Bulls staved off elimination by winning Game 5 at home. In Game 6, with the Bulls up 1 with 7 seconds to go, Ömer Aşık missed two crucial free-throws. Iguodala managed to rebound the ball and sprinted to the other side of the court. He got fouled by Aşık while going for a shot. Iguodala gave the 76ers the lead by making the free-throws. The Bulls, who were out of timeouts, had one last chance to force a Game 7 but C. J. Watson's halfcourt heave bounced off the back of the rim, giving the 76ers their first playoff series win since 2003. The Bulls, meanwhile, became the fifth first-seeded team to be upset by the eighth-seed. This marked the 76ers last playoff series win until 2018. Regular-season series Chicago won 2–1 in the regular-season series#fff February 1, 2012 2012 0201 CHIPHI Chicago Bulls 82 Philadelphia 76ers 98 Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia March 4, 2012 2012 0304 CHIPHI Chicago Bulls 96 Philadelphia 76ers 91 Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia #fff March 17, 2012 2012 0317 PHICHI Philadelphia 76ers 80 Chicago Bulls 89 United Center, Chicago, Illinois This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Bulls winning the first two meetings. +Previous playoff serieshttps://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=CHI&opp_id=PHI&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Chicago Bulls versus Philadelphia 76ers (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com March 8, 2016Chicago leads 2–0 in all-time playoff series#fff 1990 Chicago Bulls 4 Philadelphia 76ers 1 1990 Eastern Conference Semifinals #fff 1991 Chicago Bulls 4 Philadelphia 76ers 1 1991 Eastern Conference Semifinals (2) Miami Heat vs. (7) New York Knicks #eee April 28 3:30 pm American Airlines Arena, Miami ABC New York Knicks 67 Miami Heat 100 Recap 18–24 13–30 16–27 20–19 J. R. Smith 17 LeBron James 32 Carmelo Anthony 10 Udonis Haslem 8 Carmelo Anthony 3 Mario Chalmers 9 19,621 Dan Crawford, Ed Malloy, Gary Zielinski, Miami leads series, 1–0 April 30 7:00 pm American Airlines Arena, Miami TNT New York Knicks 94 Miami Heat 104 Recap 24–27 23–26 22–25 25–26 Carmelo Anthony 30 Dwyane Wade 25 Carmelo Anthony 9 Udonis Haslem 8 Baron Davis 6 LeBron James 9 19,684 Joe Crawford, Bennie Adams, Bill Spooner, Miami leads series, 2–0 #eee May 3 7:00 pm Madison Square Garden, New York City TNT Miami Heat 87 New York Knicks 70 Recap 19–19 17–21 22–16 29–14 LeBron James 32 Carmelo Anthony 22 Chris Bosh 10 Tyson Chandler 15 LeBron James 5 Baron Davis 3 19,763 Mike Callahan, David Guthrie, Eddie F. Rush, Miami leads series, 3–0 May 6 3:30 pm Madison Square Garden, New York City ABC Miami Heat 87 New York Knicks 89 Recap 18–20 26–18 17–26 26–25 LeBron James 27 Carmelo Anthony 41 Chris Bosh 9 Amar'e Stoudemire 10 Dwyane Wade 6 Anthony, Smith 4 each 19,763 Monty McCutchen, Derrick Collins, Tom Washington, Miami leads series, 3–1 #eee May 9 7:00 pm American Airlines Arena, Miami TNT New York Knicks 94 Miami Heat 106 Recap 24–28 20–27 23–26 27–25 Carmelo Anthony 35 LeBron James 29 Tyson Chandler 11 LeBron James 8 Mike Bibby 6 LeBron James 7 19,754 Greg Willard, James Capers, John Goble Miami wins series, 4–1 The Heat defeated the Knicks in Game 1 by 33 points. Game 2 was much closer, even without Knicks' starting rookie guard Iman Shumpert who suffered an ACL injury the previous game, but the Heat still won by 10. In Game 3 in MSG, the Heat found themselves on the wrong end in the first half, trailing by as much as 11 points, before closing the half with a 7–0 run. The Heat led by 2 after the 3rd quarter. However, LeBron James quickly sparked an 8–0 run to start the 4th quarter, giving them a 10-point lead. The Knicks never recovered. James himself outscored the Knicks in the fourth, 17–14. By losing Game 3, the Knicks set a new league record by losing 13 straight playoff games, their last win coming April 29, 2001, in their series versus the Raptors.http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/nba/gameflash/2012/05/03/31713_recap.html?&sct=hp_t2_a8&eref=sihp https://archive.today/20120716185412/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/nba/gameflash/2012/05/03/31713_recap.html?&sct=hp_t2_a8&eref=sihp dead July 16, 2012 James, Heat pull away to lead 3–0 over Knicks Associated Press SI.com May 4, 2012 In Game 4, Knicks' starting guard Baron Davis injured himself in the third quarter and had to be carried off the court on a stretcher. But led by Carmelo Anthony's 41, the Knicks won 89–87, escaping a sweep as Wade's potential series-winning 3 missed at the buzzer. In Game 5, the Knicks started strong but Miami took over the rest of the way. The Heat led by 11 at the end of the first half. The Heat never squandered the lead, effectively sealing the game and the series with a 3-pointer by Battier that gave the Heat a 14-point lead with a minute left in the game. The Knicks were led by Anthony's 35. Amar'e Stoudemire, meanwhile, was plagued by foul trouble. He fouled out with about 4 minutes left in the game. This is the last playoff match-up between Miami & New York until 2023. Regular-season series Miami won 3–0 in the regular-season series#fff January 27, 2012 2012 0127 NYKMIA New York Knicks 89 Miami Heat 99 American Airlines Arena, Miami February 23, 2012 2012 0223 NYKMIA New York Knicks 88 Miami Heat 102 American Airlines Arena, Miami #fff April 15, 2012 2012 0415 MIANYK Miami Heat 93 New York Knicks 85 Madison Square Garden, New York City This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Knicks winning three of the first four meetings. +Previous playoff serieshttps://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=MIA&opp_id=NYK&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Miami Heat versus New York Knicks (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com March 8, 2016New York leads 3–1 in all-time playoff series#fff 1997 Miami Heat 4 New York Knicks 3 1997 Eastern Conference Semifinals #fff 1998 Miami Heat 2 New York Knicks 3 1998 Eastern Conference First Round #fff 1999 Miami Heat 2 New York Knicks 3 1999 Eastern Conference First Round #fff 2000 Miami Heat 3 New York Knicks 4 2000 Eastern Conference Semifinals (3) Indiana Pacers vs. (6) Orlando Magic #eee April 28 7:00 pm Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis ESPN Orlando Magic 81 Indiana Pacers 77 Recap 21–22 30–22 13–19 17–14 Nelson, Richardson 17 each David West 19 Glen Davis 13 Roy Hibbert 13 Jameer Nelson 9 Darren Collison 5 18,165 Ken Mauer, David Jones, Leon Wood, Orlando leads series, 1–0 April 30 7:30 pm Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis NBA TV Orlando Magic 78 Indiana Pacers 93 Recap 21–24 23–18 13–30 21–21 Glen Davis 18 Granger, Hill, West 18 each Glen Davis 10 Roy Hibbert 13 Nelson, Redick, Richardson 3 each David West 4 18,165 Derrick Stafford, Bill Kennedy, Gary Zielinski, Series tied, 1–1 #eee May 2 7:30 pm Amway Center, Orlando, Florida NBA TV Indiana Pacers 97 Orlando Magic 74 Recap 23–14 21–24 32–17 21–19 Danny Granger 26 Glen Davis 22 Roy Hibbert 10 Quentin Richardson 10 Paul George 4 Jameer Nelson 5 18,846 Dan Crawford, Bennie Adams, Bill Spooner, Indiana leads series, 2–1 May 5 2:00 pm Amway Center, Orlando, Florida ESPN Indiana Pacers 101 Orlando Magic 99 Recap 22–19 24–25 27–17 16–28 12–10 David West 26 Jason Richardson 25 David West 12 Glen Davis 11 Darren Collison 9 Jameer Nelson 11 18,846 Mike Callahan, Ed Malloy, Violet Palmer, Indiana leads series, 3–1 #eee May 8 7:00 pm Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis NBA TV Orlando Magic 87 Indiana Pacers 105 Recap 19–28 28–22 24–19 16–36 Jameer Nelson 27 Danny Granger 25 Glen Davis 8 David West 8 Jameer Nelson 5 Darren Collison 6 18,165 Monty McCutchen, Marc Davis, David Guthrie, Indiana wins series, 4–1 The Pacers were considered the heavy favorites in the series as the Magic would try to defeat the Pacers without Dwight Howard. The Magic defied the odds in Game 1, as the Pacers went scoreless in the final 4 minutes of the game, allowing the Magic to go on an 11–0 run to finish the game and take a 1–0 series lead. The Pacers quickly took revenge, winning the next two games at home and on the road by an average of 19 points. Game 4 was close, with the game going to overtime. However, George Hill hit two free-throws with 2 seconds left to give the Pacers a 3–1 lead in the series. Game 5 was close throughout the first three quarters, with Magic taking a two-point lead heading to the 4th quarter. However, Indiana outscored the Magic 36–16 in the fourth to give the Pacers the series victory 4–1. This would be last playoff appearance for the Magic until 2019. Regular-season series Orlando won 3–1 in the regular-season series#fff January 24, 2012 2012 0124 ORLIND Orlando Magic 102 Indiana Pacers 83 Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis January 29, 2012 2012 0129 INDORL Indiana Pacers 106 Orlando Magic 85 Amway Center, Orlando, Florida #fff February 4, 2012 2012 0204 ORLIND Orlando Magic 85 Indiana Pacers 81 Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis March 11, 2012 2012 0311 INDORL Indiana Pacers 94 Orlando Magic 107 Amway Center, Orlando, Florida This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with each team winning one series apiece. +Previous playoff serieshttps://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=IND&opp_id=ORL&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Indiana Pacers versus Orlando Magic (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com March 8, 2016Tied 1–1 in all-time playoff series#fff 1994 Indiana Pacers 3 Orlando Magic 0 1994 Eastern Conference First Round #fff 1995 Indiana Pacers 3 Orlando Magic 4 1995 Eastern Conference Finals (4) Boston Celtics vs. (5) Atlanta Hawks #eee April 29 7:00 pm Philips Arena, Atlanta TNT Boston Celtics 74 Atlanta Hawks 83 Recap 18–31 17–18 18–16 21–18 Garnett, Rondo 20 each Josh Smith 22 Kevin Garnett 12 Josh Smith 18 Rajon Rondo 11 Joe Johnson 5 19,292 Mike Callahan, Marc Davis, John Goble, Atlanta leads series, 1–0 May 1 7:30 pm Philips Arena, Atlanta NBA TV Boston Celtics 87 Atlanta Hawks 80 Recap 24–24 17–20 20–22 26–14 Paul Pierce 36 Joe Johnson 22 Paul Pierce 14 Josh Smith 12 Kevin Garnett 5 Johnson, Smith 5 each 19,308 Scott Foster, Ed Malloy, Scott Wall, Series tied, 1–1 #eee May 4 7:30 pm TD Garden, Boston ESPN Atlanta Hawks 84 Boston Celtics 90 Recap 19–17 19–23 20–20 22–20 4–10 Joe Johnson 29 Paul Pierce 21 Marvin Williams 11 Rajon Rondo 14 Jeff Teague 6 Rajon Rondo 12 18,624 Monty McCutchen, Ron Garretson, Zach Zarba, Boston leads series, 2–1 May 6 7:00 pm TD Garden, Boston TNT Atlanta Hawks 79 Boston Celtics 101 Recap 19–32 22–32 22–26 16–11 Josh Smith 15 Paul Pierce 24 Josh Smith 13 Allen, Bass, Garnett 5 each Josh Smith 5 Rajon Rondo 16 18,624 Joe Crawford, Tony Brothers, Pat Fraher, Boston leads series, 3–1 #eee May 8 8:00 pm Philips Arena, Atlanta TNT Boston Celtics 86 Atlanta Hawks 87 Recap 21–15 19–25 24–26 22–21 Garnett, Pierce 16 each Al Horford 19 Bass, Garnett 7 each Josh Smith 16 Rajon Rondo 12 Josh Smith 6 19,319 Dan Crawford, David Jones, Tom Washington, Boston leads series, 3–2 May 10 8:00 pm TD Garden, Boston TNT Atlanta Hawks 80 Boston Celtics 83 Recap 23–20 18–27 22–20 17–16 Josh Smith 18 Kevin Garnett 28 Horford, Smith 9 each Kevin Garnett 14 Jeff Teague 6 Rajon Rondo 8 18,624 Derrick Stafford, Bill Kennedy, Eric Lewis, Boston wins series, 4–2 The Hawks had homecourt advantage for the series despite being the lower seeded team by having the better season-record of the two; the Celtics took the 4th-seed by winning their division title. The Hawks won Game 1 by nine points, but the Celtics took the next three games, pushing the Hawks to the brink of elimination. Games 2 and 3 were close victories for the Celtics with Game 4 being a blowout victory for them. Game 5 in Atlanta was a close one. In the final seconds, with the Hawks up by one, Rajon Rondo stole an inbound pass, giving the Celtics a chance to finish off the Hawks. However, Josh Smith stripped a Rondo pass intended for Kevin Garnett, letting the Hawks survive and force a Game 6. In Game 6, Garnett led the Celtics to an 83–80 victory and advance. The Hawks had a chance to tie the game through free throws. However, Al Horford missed his first free throw that could have cut the lead to one. It was the Hawks' only miss at the free throw line the entire night. He made his second to cut it to one and the Hawks quickly fouled Paul Pierce. Pierce made both free throws to extend Celtics' lead to 3. With a chance to tie the game, Jeff Teague fumbled a pass, sealing the series for Boston. Regular-season series Boston won 2–1 in the regular-season series#fff March 19, 2012 2012 0319 BOSATL Boston Celtics 79 Atlanta Hawks 76 Philips Arena, Atlanta April 11, 2012 2012 0411 ATLBOS Atlanta Hawks 86 Boston Celtics 88 TD Garden, Boston #fff April 20, 2012 2012 0420 BOSATL Boston Celtics 92 Atlanta Hawks 97 Philips Arena, Atlanta This was the 11th playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning nine of the first ten meetings. +Previous playoff serieshttps://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=ATL&opp_id=BOS&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Atlanta Hawks versus Boston Celtics (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com March 8, 2016Boston leads 9–1 in all-time playoff series#fff 1957 Boston Celtics 4 St. Louis Hawks 3 1957 NBA Finals #fff 1958 Boston Celtics 2 St. Louis Hawks 4 1958 NBA Finals #fff 1960 Boston Celtics 4 St. Louis Hawks 3 1960 NBA Finals #fff 1961 Boston Celtics 4 St. Louis Hawks 1 1961 NBA Finals #fff 1972 Atlanta Hawks 2 Boston Celtics 4 1972 Eastern Conference Semifinals #fff 1973 Atlanta Hawks 2 Boston Celtics 4 1973 Eastern Conference Semifinals #fff 1983 Atlanta Hawks 1 Boston Celtics 2 1983 Eastern Conference First Round #fff 1986 Atlanta Hawks 1 Boston Celtics 4 1986 Eastern Conference Semifinals #fff 1988 Atlanta Hawks 3 Boston Celtics 4 1988 Eastern Conference Semifinals #fff 2008 Atlanta Hawks 3 Boston Celtics 4 2008 Eastern Conference First Round Western Conference first round (1) San Antonio Spurs vs. (8) Utah Jazz #eee April 29 1:00 pm AT&T Center, San Antonio ESPN Utah Jazz 91 San Antonio Spurs 106 Recap 22–28 25–26 23–31 21–21 Paul Millsap 20 Tony Parker 28 Jefferson, Millsap 9 each Tim Duncan 11 Jamaal Tinsley 5 Tony Parker 8 18,581 Monty McCutchen, Dick Bavetta, Rodney Mott, San Antonio leads series, 1–0 May 2 7:00 pm AT&T Center, San Antonio TNT Utah Jazz 83 San Antonio Spurs 114 Recap 17–28 11–25 25–34 30–27 Howard, Jefferson 10 each Tony Parker 18 Enes Kanter 10 Tim Duncan 13 Gordon Hayward 4 Tony Parker 9 18,581 Derrick Stafford, Tony Brown, Bill Kennedy, San Antonio leads series, 2–0 #eee May 5 10:00 pm EnergySolutions Arena, Salt Lake City TNT San Antonio Spurs 102 Utah Jazz 90 Recap 30–28 22–22 23–18 27–22 Tony Parker 27 Harris, Jefferson 21 each Tiago Splitter 8 Favors, Jefferson, Millsap 11 each Manu Ginóbili 10 Harris, Hayward 5 each 19,911 Ken Mauer, James Capers, Leon Wood, San Antonio leads series, 3–0 May 7 8:00 pm EnergySolutions Arena, Salt Lake City TNT San Antonio Spurs 87 Utah Jazz 81 Recap 22–19 28–23 18–16 19–23 Manu Ginóbili 17 Al Jefferson 26 Stephen Jackson 6 Paul Millsap 19 Tony Parker 3 Devin Harris 7 19,911 Scott Foster, John Goble, Jason Phillips, San Antonio wins series, 4–0 The Spurs were touted the heavy favorites in the series, following their 10-game winning streak to end the regular season and their 3–1 season series victory over the Jazz. They quickly worked their way through the Jazz, scoring 31 points in the third quarter to blow the game open. They eventually won Game 1 106–91. In Game 2, the Spurs shot 10 three-pointers and shot more than 50% as they blew out the Jazz 114–83 to take a 2–0 series lead. Game 3 was close throughout the first half, with the Spurs leading only by 2 after the first half. However, the Spurs blew the game open in the second half and won by 12 to take a 3–0 lead in the series. The odds were stacked against the Jazz as no team in NBA history have managed to win a series after trailing 3–0. Notably, before Game 4 had even been played, Jazz forward Al Jefferson commented that he didn't think any team would defeat the SpursDevine Dan Al Jefferson can't see anyone beating Spurs https://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/al-jefferson-t-see-anyone-beating-spurs-says-185955935.html Yahoo! Sports 22 May 2012 In Game 4, it seemed like the Spurs would complete the sweep when they had a 21-point lead. However, the Jazz eventually cut the lead to just 4 with 49.4 seconds left in the fourth. However, Tony Parker and Manu Ginóbili eventually sealed the series by stealing the ball and scoring on a basket respectively. The Spurs eventually completed the sweep, winning Game 4 by 6. Regular-season series San Antonio won 3–1 in the regular-season series#fff December 31, 2011 2011 1231 UTASAS Utah Jazz 89 San Antonio Spurs 104 AT&T Center, San Antonio February 20, 2012 2012 0220 SASUTA San Antonio Spurs 106 Utah Jazz 102 EnergySolutions Arena, Salt Lake City #fff April 8, 2012 2012 0408 UTASAS Utah Jazz 104 San Antonio Spurs 114 AT&T Center, San Antonio April 9, 2012 2012 0409 SASUTA San Antonio Spurs 84 Utah Jazz 91 EnergySolutions Arena, Salt Lake City This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Jazz winning three of the first four meetings. +Previous playoff serieshttps://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=SAS&opp_id=UTA&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — San Antonio Spurs versus Utah Jazz (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com March 8, 2016Utah leads 3–1 in all-time playoff series#fff 1994 San Antonio Spurs 1 Utah Jazz 3 1994 Western Conference First Round #fff 1996 San Antonio Spurs 2 Utah Jazz 4 1996 Western Conference Semifinals #fff 1998 San Antonio Spurs 1 Utah Jazz 4 1998 Western Conference Semifinals #fff 2007 San Antonio Spurs 4 Utah Jazz 1 2007 Western Conference Finals (2) Oklahoma City Thunder vs. (7) Dallas Mavericks #eee April 28 9:30 pm Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma ESPN Dallas Mavericks 98 Oklahoma City Thunder 99 Recap 26–22 25–26 22–21 25–30 Dirk Nowitzki 25 Russell Westbrook 28 Shawn Marion 8 Kendrick Perkins 8 Kidd, Terry 5 each Russell Westbrook 5 18,203 Joe Crawford, Tony Brothers, David Guthrie, Oklahoma City leads series, 1–0 April 30 9:30 pm Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma TNT Dallas Mavericks 99 Oklahoma City Thunder 102 Recap 24–32 26–25 27–22 22–23 Dirk Nowitzki 31 Russell Westbrook 29 Shawn Marion 8 Kevin Durant 10 Jason Kidd 7 James Harden 5 18,203 Ken Mauer, James Capers, Zach Zarba, Oklahoma City leads series, 2–0 #eee May 3 9:30 pm American Airlines Center, Dallas TNT Oklahoma City Thunder 95 Dallas Mavericks 79 Recap 32–26 18–15 25–16 20–22 Kevin Durant 31 Dirk Nowitzki 17 Serge Ibaka 11 Shawn Marion 10 Kevin Durant 6 Jason Terry 6 20,640 Greg Willard, Marc Davis, David Jones, Oklahoma City leads series, 3–0 May 5 7:30 pm American Airlines Center, Dallas TNT Oklahoma City Thunder 103 Dallas Mavericks 97 Recap 26–24 21–23 21–34 35–16 James Harden 29 Dirk Nowitzki 34 Kevin Durant 11 Vince Carter 8 Russell Westbrook 6 Jason Kidd 8 20,533 Scott Foster, Bill Spooner, Sean Wright, Oklahoma City wins series, 4–0 The Mavericks came into the playoffs only as the 7th-seed, one of the lowest placements for a defending champion. Game 1 was a very close affair, with both teams going back and forth in the final minutes of the fourth quarter. However, Kevin Durant scored on a one-handed jumper with just about 1 second remaining. The Mavs still tried to win but Shawn Marion failed to get a shot off at the buzzer, giving the Thunder a one-point victory and a 1–0 series lead. Game 2 was also a close one but the Thunder held on and managed to squeak a 102–99 win and 2–0 series lead over the defending champs. In Game 3, the Mavs were no match for the Thunder, with the Thunder eventually blowing out the defending champs 95–79 to send the Mavs into the brink of a sweep. In Game 4, it looked as if the Mavs would stave off elimination when they led by 13 at the end of the third quarter. However, the Thunder outscored the Mavs 35–16 in the fourth and held on for a 103–97 victory over the Mavs. Following the sweep, the Mavs became just the 3rd defending champion to be swept in the first round. Regular-season series Oklahoma City won 3–1 in the regular-season series#fff December 29, 2011 2011 1229 DALOKC Dallas Mavericks 102 Oklahoma City Thunder 104 Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma January 2, 2012 2012 0102 OKCDAL Oklahoma City Thunder 87 Dallas Mavericks 100 American Airlines Center, Dallas #fff February 1, 2012 2012 0201 OKCDAL Oklahoma City Thunder 95 Dallas Mavericks 86 American Airlines Center, Dallas March 5, 2012 2012 0305 DALOKC Dallas Mavericks 91 Oklahoma City Thunder 95 Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Mavericks winning two of the first three meetings. +Previous playoff serieshttps://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=DAL&opp_id=OKC&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Dallas Mavericks versus Oklahoma City Thunder (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com March 8, 2016Dallas leads 2–1 in all-time playoff series#fff 1984 Dallas Mavericks 3 Seattle SuperSonics 2 1984 Western Conference First Round #fff 1987 Dallas Mavericks 1 Seattle SuperSonics 3 1987 Western Conference First Round #fff 2011 Dallas Mavericks 4 Oklahoma City Thunder 1 2011 Western Conference Finals (3) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (6) Denver Nuggets #eee April 29 3:30 pm Staples Center, Los Angeles ABC Denver Nuggets 88 Los Angeles Lakers 103 Recap 14–27 26–23 24–27 24–26 Danilo Gallinari 19 Kobe Bryant 31 Faried, Miller 8 each Andrew Bynum 13 Andre Miller 7 Pau Gasol 8 18,997 Scott Foster, Derrick Collins, Ron Garretson, LA Lakers lead series, 1–0 May 1 10:30 pm Staples Center, Los Angeles TNT Denver Nuggets 100 Los Angeles Lakers 104 Recap 25–32 23–23 26–26 26–23 Ty Lawson 25 Kobe Bryant 38 Kenneth Faried 10 Hill, Gasol 10 each Andre Miller 8 Pau Gasol 5 18,997 Monty McCutchen, Pat Fraher, Tom Washington, LA Lakers lead series, 2–0 #eee May 4 10:30 pm Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado ESPN Los Angeles Lakers 84 Denver Nuggets 99 Recap 14–30 25–25 26–17 19–27 Kobe Bryant 22 Ty Lawson 25 Andrew Bynum 12 Faried, McGee 15 each Bryant, Sessions 6 each Ty Lawson 7 19,155 Dan Crawford, Jason Phillips, Michael Smith, LA Lakers lead series, 2–1 May 6 9:30 pm Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado TNT Los Angeles Lakers 92 Denver Nuggets 88 Recap 26–28 19–23 25–20 22–17 Kobe Bryant 22 Danilo Gallinari 20 Jordan Hill 11 Faried, Miller 7 each Bryant, Gasol 6 each Ty Lawson 6 19,155 Greg Willard, David Jones, Bill Kennedy, LA Lakers lead series, 3–1 #eee May 8 10:30 pm Staples Center, Los Angeles TNT Denver Nuggets 102 Los Angeles Lakers 99 Recap 26–23 23–20 27–22 26–34 Andre Miller 24 Kobe Bryant 43 JaVale McGee 14 Andrew Bynum 11 Lawson, Miller 8 each Ramon Sessions 6 18,997 Joe Crawford, Tony Brothers, Zach Zarba, LA Lakers lead series, 3–2 May 10 10:30 pm Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado TNT Los Angeles Lakers 96 Denver Nuggets 113 Recap 20–30 25–24 23–36 28–23 Kobe Bryant 31 Ty Lawson 32 Andrew Bynum 16 Kenneth Faried 11 Kobe Bryant 4 Afflalo, Gallinari 7 each 19,770 Ken Mauer, Ed Malloy, Rodney Mott, Series tied, 3–3 #eee May 12 10:30 pm Staples Center, Los Angeles TNT Denver Nuggets 87 Los Angeles Lakers 96 Recap 24–25 18–23 26–21 19–27 Lawson, Harrington 24 each Pau Gasol 23 JaVale McGee 14 Andrew Bynum 18 Andre Miller 8 Kobe Bryant 8 18,997 Derrick Stafford, Mike Callahan, Bill Spooner, LA Lakers win series, 4–3 The Lakers won the opening game 103–88 after Andrew Bynum had a triple-double with 10 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 blocked shots. The blocked shots broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's franchise record of nine, and tied the NBA playoff record set by Mark Eaton and Hakeem Olajuwon. Kobe Bryant scored 31 points and Pau Gasol added 13 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.Bynum's triple-double leads Lakers past Nuggets April 29, 2012 SI.com Associated Press http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/nba/gameflash/2012/04/29/31681_recap.html https://web.archive.org/web/20120511112213/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com//basketball/nba/gameflash/2012/04/29/31681_recap.html May 11, 2012 dead The Lakers then won a close Game 2 but the Nuggets proceeded to blow out the Lakers in Game 3 99–84 to prevent the Lakers from taking a commanding 3–0 lead. Game 4 was close but Sessions and Blake hit pivotal 3's to put the Lakers in the lead for good and take a 3–1 series lead. Before Game 5, Bynum said that "Close-out games are actually kind of easy."McMenamin Dave Lakers want to end series Tuesday May 9, 2012 ESPNLosAngeles.com https://www.espn.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/7902623/2012-nba-playoffs-los-angeles-lakers-seek-early-close-series-denver-nuggets https://web.archive.org/web/20120513163116/http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/7902623/2012-nba-playoffs-los-angeles-lakers-seek-early-close-series-denver-nuggets May 13, 2012 live The Nuggets responded by taking Game 5 102–99. The game saw the Lakers erase a 90–75 deficit with 6:35 left in the fourth quarter. In Game 6, Bryant played despite having a stomach illness, but still managed to score 31 points. However, with little contribution from Gasol and Bynum, the Nuggets forced Game 7 with a 113–96 blowout win over the Lakers. The Lakers won the series 4–3, and avoided becoming the ninth team in NBA history to be eliminated after blowing a 3–1 series lead. Gasol had 23 points, 17 rebounds and six assists, Bynum had 16 points and a playoff career-high 18 rebounds, and Steve Blake scored a playoff career-high 19 points in a 96–87 win in Game 7. The Lakers blew a 16-point lead in the second half before Gasol put the Lakers ahead for good with a tip-in basket with 6:30 left. Kobe Bryant sealed Denver's fate by hitting a 3 with 48.3 seconds left to put the Lakers up 8. Denver had 19 turnovers in the game and shot just 7-of-27 in the fourth quarter. Returning from his seven-game suspension, Metta World Peace scored 15 points, while Bryant had 17 points, and 8 assists.Pau Gasol-led Lakers top Nuggets in Game 7; Metta World Peace adds 15 points in return May 12, 2012 ESPN.com Associated Press http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=320512013 https://web.archive.org/web/20120514225433/http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=320512013 dead May 14, 2012 May 12, 2012 Regular-season series L.A. Lakers won 3–1 in the regular-season series#fff December 31, 2011 2011 1231 DENLAL Denver Nuggets 89 Los Angeles Lakers 92 Staples Center, Los Angeles January 1, 2012 2012 0101 LALDEN Los Angeles Lakers 90 Denver Nuggets 99 Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado #fff February 3, 2012 2012 0203 LALDEN Los Angeles Lakers 93 Denver Nuggets 89 Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado April 13, 2012 2012 0413 DENLAL Denver Nuggets 97 Los Angeles Lakers 103 Staples Center, Los Angeles This was the sixth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning the first five meetings. +Previous playoff serieshttps://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=DEN&opp_id=LAL&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Denver Nuggets versus Los Angeles Lakers (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com March 8, 2016Los Angeles leads 5–0 in all-time playoff series#fff 1979 Denver Nuggets 1 Los Angeles Lakers 2 1979 Western Conference First Round #fff 1985 Denver Nuggets 1 Los Angeles Lakers 4 1985 Western Conference Finals #fff 1987 Denver Nuggets 0 Los Angeles Lakers 3 1987 Western Conference First Round #fff 2008 Denver Nuggets 0 Los Angeles Lakers 4 2008 Western Conference First Round #fff 2009 Denver Nuggets 2 Los Angeles Lakers 4 2009 Western Conference Finals This is the most recent playoff series between the Lakers & Nuggets until 2020. (4) Memphis Grizzlies vs. (5) Los Angeles Clippers #eee April 29 9:30 pm FedExForum, Memphis, Tennessee TNT Los Angeles Clippers 99 Memphis Grizzlies 98 Recap 16–34 23–24 25–27 35–13 Nick Young 19 Rudy Gay 19 Reggie Evans 13 Marreese Speights 9 Chris Paul 11 Mike Conley Jr. 8 18,119 Greg Willard, Eric Lewis, Tom Washington, LA Clippers lead series, 1–0 May 2 9:30 pm FedExForum, Memphis, Tennessee TNT Los Angeles Clippers 98 Memphis Grizzlies 105 Recap 26–23 21–28 22–24 29–30 Chris Paul 29 Rudy Gay 21 Blake Griffin 9 Zach Randolph 8 Chris Paul 6 Mike Conley Jr. 6 18,119 Ken Mauer, Ron Garretson, Sean Wright, Series tied, 1–1 #eee May 5 4:30 pm Staples Center, Los Angeles ESPN Memphis Grizzlies 86 Los Angeles Clippers 87 Recap 22–23 24–27 25–14 15–23 Rudy Gay 24 Chris Paul 24 Marc Gasol 10 Reggie Evans 11 Mike Conley Jr. 8 Chris Paul 11 19,060 Derrick Stafford, John Goble, Rodney Mott, LA Clippers lead series, 2–1 May 7 10:30 pm Staples Center, Los Angeles TNT Memphis Grizzlies 97 Los Angeles Clippers 101 Recap 26–32 19–19 19–18 23–18 10–14 Mike Conley Jr. 25 Blake Griffin 30 Zach Randolph 9 Chris Paul 9 Mike Conley Jr. 8 Griffin, Paul 7 each 19,167 Mike Callahan, James Capers, Scott Wall, LA Clippers lead series, 3–1 #eee May 9 9:30 pm FedExForum, Memphis, Tennessee TNT Los Angeles Clippers 80 Memphis Grizzlies 92 Recap 22–36 20–21 23–20 15–15 Mo Williams 20 Marc Gasol 23 Blake Griffin 11 Zach Randolph 10 Chris Paul 4 Mike Conley Jr. 6 18,119 Scott Foster, Bill Spooner, Gary Zielinski, LA Clippers lead series, 3–2 May 11 9:00 pm Staples Center, Los Angeles ESPN Memphis Grizzlies 90 Los Angeles Clippers 88 Recap 25–16 17–22 24–28 24–22 Marc Gasol 23 Blake Griffin 15 Zach Randolph 15 Reggie Evans 10 Mike Conley Jr. 9 Chris Paul 7 19,060 Dan Crawford, Marc Davis, Jason Phillips, Series tied, 3–3 #eee May 13 1:00 pm FedExForum, Memphis, Tennessee ABC Los Angeles Clippers 82 Memphis Grizzlies 72 Recap 16–13 23–25 16–18 27–16 Chris Paul 19 Gasol, Gay 19 each Kenyon Martin 10 Zach Randolph 12 Chris Paul 4 Mike Conley Jr. 5 18,119 Joe Crawford, Bill Kennedy, Monty McCutchen, LA Clippers win series, 4–3 The Clippers rallied to win Game 1 in one of the largest comebacks in playoff history. Trailing by as many as 27, and down 95–71 with 9:13 left, the Clippers held the Grizzlies to just one field goal the rest of the game and pulled off an improbable 99–98 victory before a stunned, sold-out crowd of 18,119 at FedExForum.Clippers rally from 27 down to stun Grizzlies in Game 1; Caron Butler breaks hand April 29, 2012 ESPN.com http://espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=320429029 https://web.archive.org/web/20120430235158/http://espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=320429029 dead April 30, 2012 May 16, 2012 In Game 2, the Grizzlies avenged their embarrassing Game 1 loss by winning a close Game 2 to even the series going to Los Angeles. In Game 3, the Clippers survived a late Grizzlies rally in the final minute as Rudy Gay's 3 missed at the buzzer to give the Clippers an 87–86 victory and a 2–1 series lead. Game 4 was close, with the game going to overtime. With Chris Paul's heroics, the Clippers managed to win Game 4 and take a commanding 3–1 series lead. Back at home for Game 5, the Grizzlies tried to stave off elimination, at one point taking a 24-point lead in the third before the Clippers cut the lead again. However, the Grizzlies made sure there would be no collapse, using a 7–1 run in the final 1:44 to win Game 5 92–80. Facing elimination on the road, the Grizzlies gathered themselves, storming back from an eight-point fourth-quarter deficit to win Game 6 90–88, to force a decisive Game 7. In Game 7, the Clipper bench outscored their Grizzlies counterparts, 41–11, and it was enough as the Clippers won on the road, becoming the 6th NBA road team to do so after leading series 3–1, to advance to the semifinals against the Spurs. Regular-season series L.A. Clippers won 2–1 in the regular-season series#fff January 26, 2012 2012 0126 MEMLAC Memphis Grizzlies 91 Los Angeles Clippers 98 Staples Center, Los Angeles March 24, 2012 2012 0324 MEMLAC Memphis Grizzlies 85 Los Angeles Clippers 101 Staples Center, Los Angeles #fff April 9, 2012 2012 0409 LACMEM Los Angeles Clippers 85 Memphis Grizzlies 94 FedExForum, Memphis, Tennessee This was the first playoff meeting between the Clippers and the Grizzlies.https://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=LAC&opp_id=MEM&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Los Angeles Clippers versus Memphis Grizzlies (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com March 8, 2016 Conference semifinals Eastern Conference semifinals (2) Miami Heat vs. (3) Indiana Pacers #eee May 13 3:30 pm American Airlines Arena, Miami ABC Indiana Pacers 86 Miami Heat 95 Recap 23–20 25–22 22–28 16–25 Hibbert, West 17 each LeBron James 32 David West 12 LeBron James 15 Darren Collison 6 LeBron James 5 19,600 Scott Foster, Tom Washington, Sean Wright Miami leads series, 1–0 May 15 7:00 pm American Airlines Arena, Miami TNT Indiana Pacers 78 Miami Heat 75 Recap 17–21 16–17 28–14 17–23 David West 16 LeBron James 28 George, Hibbert 11 each LeBron James 9 Danny Granger 3 LeBron James 5 19,828 Joe Crawford, Bennie Adams, Ed Malloy, Series tied, 1–1 #eee May 17 7:00 pm Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis ESPN Miami Heat 75 Indiana Pacers 94 Recap 26–17 17–26 12–26 20–25 Mario Chalmers 25 George Hill 20 Ronny Turiaf 8 Roy Hibbert 18 Mario Chalmers 5 George Hill 5 18,165 Dan Crawford, Tony Brothers, John Goble Indiana leads series, 2–1 May 20 3:30 pm Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis ABC Miami Heat 101 Indiana Pacers 93 Recap 18–25 28–29 30–16 25–23 LeBron James 40 Danny Granger 20 LeBron James 18 Roy Hibbert 9 LeBron James 9 Paul George 5 18,165 Monty McCutchen, Mike Callahan, Bill Kennedy Series tied, 2–2 #eee May 22 8:00 pm American Airlines Arena, Miami TNT Indiana Pacers 83 Miami Heat 115 Recap 20–26 20–23 17–27 26–39 Paul George 11 LeBron James 30 Roy Hibbert 12 Mario Chalmers 11 Paul George 3 LeBron James 8 20,097 Derrick Stafford, Jason Phillips, Greg Willard, Miami leads series, 3–2 May 24 8:00 pm Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis ESPN Miami Heat 105 Indiana Pacers 93 Recap 21–28 30–25 28–16 26–24 Dwyane Wade 41 David West 24 Dwyane Wade 10 Paul George 10 LeBron James 7 George Hill 5 18,165 Scott Foster, Marc Davis, Ken Mauer, Miami wins series, 4–2 Even though the Heat won the regular season series, 3–1, this playoff series was expected to be a close one. In Game 1, the Heat took a major blow when Chris Bosh got injured in the first half. He was expected to be out for the rest of the series. However, James and Wade took over in the second half to give the Heat the win, 95–86. In Game 2, the Heat started strong, at one point taking a 9-point lead. The Pacers answered that by outscoring the Heat 28–14 in the third quarter to take an 11-point lead going to the fourth quarter. The Heat would come back, taking a 72–71 lead with 4:11 to go. However, with James and Wade missing key chances, the Pacers tied the series with a 78–75 win. Game 3 marked one of the worst playoff games for Wade, as he scored just 5 points on 2-of-13 shooting. Without Wade's contribution, the Heat found themselves down in the series 2–1 as the Pacers blew out the Heat, 94–75. Before Game 4, the Heat regrouped and refocused on the series. The result was a 101–93 victory over the Pacers in Game 4 to tie the series at 2–2. James scored 40 in the game, to go along with 18 rebounds and 9 assists. Wade recovered from his Game 3 performance by scoring 30. In Game 5, it was the Pacers who took the major blow when Danny Granger got injured in the second quarter by stepping on James's foot. He tried to come back in the third quarter but he aggravated his injury after fouling James. Then, after the third period, West left the game with a knee injury. Without Granger and West, the Pacers were unable to stop the Heat, as the Heat won 115–83 to take a 3–2 series lead, putting them a win away from the Eastern Conference Finals. In Game 6, West and Granger started for the Pacers despite their injuries. The Pacers started strong, even taking a 19–8 lead in the first quarter. However, the third quarter was decisive, with the Heat outscoring the Pacers 28–16 to take a 79–69 lead going to the fourth quarter. Led by Wade's 41 and James's 28, the Heat won three straight, 105–93, to take the series, 4–2. Regular-season series Miami won 3–1 in the regular-season series#fff January 4, 2012 2012 0104 INDMIA Indiana Pacers 83 Miami Heat 118 American Airlines Arena, Miami February 14, 2012 2012 0214 MIAIND Miami Heat 105 Indiana Pacers 90 Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis #fff March 10, 2012 2012 0310 INDMIA Indiana Pacers 91 Miami Heat 93 American Airlines Arena, Miami March 26, 2012 2012 0326 MIAIND Miami Heat 90 Indiana Pacers 105 Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Pacers winning the first meeting. +Previous playoff serieshttps://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=IND&opp_id=MIA&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Indiana Pacers versus Miami Heat (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com March 8, 2016Indiana leads 1–0 in all-time playoff series#fff 2004 Indiana Pacers 4 Miami Heat 2 2004 Eastern Conference Semifinals (4) Boston Celtics vs. (8) Philadelphia 76ers #eee May 12 8:00 pm TD Garden, Boston TNT Philadelphia 76ers 91 Boston Celtics 92 Recap 28–18 19–24 24–25 20–25 Andre Iguodala 19 Kevin Garnett 29 Evan Turner 10 Rajon Rondo 12 Andre Iguodala 6 Rajon Rondo 17 18,624 Greg Willard, James Capers, David Jones, Boston leads series, 1–0 May 14 7:00 pm TD Garden, Boston TNT Philadelphia 76ers 82 Boston Celtics 81 Recap 21–25 15–13 21–11 25–32 Jrue Holiday 18 Ray Allen 17 Spencer Hawes 10 Kevin Garnett 12 Andre Iguodala 7 Rajon Rondo 13 18,624 Dan Crawford, Jason Phillips, Michael Smith, Series tied, 1–1 #eee May 16 7:00 pm Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia TNT Boston Celtics 107 Philadelphia 76ers 91 Recap 28–33 32–16 29–17 18–25 Kevin Garnett 27 Thaddeus Young 22 Kevin Garnett 13 Evan Turner 8 Rajon Rondo 14 Jrue Holiday 9 20,351 Derrick Stafford, Mike Callahan, Eric Lewis, Boston leads series, 2–1 May 18 8:00 pm Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia ESPN Boston Celtics 83 Philadelphia 76ers 92 Recap 24–12 22–19 17–28 20–33 Paul Pierce 24 Iguodala, Turner 16 each Kevin Garnett 11 Lavoy Allen 10 Rajon Rondo 15 Louis Williams 8 20,411 Scott Foster, Bill Kennedy, Bill Spooner, Series tied, 2–2 #eee May 21 7:00 pm TD Garden, Boston TNT Philadelphia 76ers 85 Boston Celtics 101 Recap 27–23 23–24 16–28 19–26 Elton Brand 19 Brandon Bass 27 Evan Turner 10 Bass, Garnett 6 each Jrue Holiday 7 Rajon Rondo 14 18,624 Ken Mauer, Ed Malloy, Rodney Mott, Boston leads series, 3–2 May 23 8:00 pm Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia ESPN Boston Celtics 75 Philadelphia 76ers 82 Recap 19–22 17–11 20–27 19–22 Paul Pierce 24 Jrue Holiday 20 Kevin Garnett 11 Elton Brand 10 Rajon Rondo 6 Holiday, Williams 6 each 20,403 Joe Crawford, James Capers, Ron Garretson, Series tied, 3–3 #eee May 26 8:00 pm TD Garden, Boston ABC Philadelphia 76ers 75 Boston Celtics 85 Recap 20–20 13–21 19–14 23–30 Andre Iguodala 18 Garnett, Rondo 18 each Thaddeus Young 10 Kevin Garnett 13 Jrue Holiday 9 Rajon Rondo 10 18,624 Monty McCutchen, Tony Brothers, Mike Callahan, Boston wins series, 4–3 The Sixers came off fresh of an upset over the injury-laden Bulls. Both the Celtics and the Sixers clinched their first round series on the same day. In Game 1, Rondo had another triple-double, but the Sixers held a 10-point lead with 10:53 left in the fourth quarter. However, the Celtics eventually came back, winning Game 1 by a point to take a 1–0 series lead. On the final possession, the Sixers were unable to foul a speedy Rondo, who dribbled out the clock. Game 2 saw the visitors lead for most of the game. With the Sixers leading 78–75 with 12 seconds to go, the Celtics squandered a chance to tie the game, as Garnett was called for an offensive foul. The Sixers then hit their final four free-throws to tie the series at 1 going back to Philadelphia. In Game 3, the Sixers held their last lead with 9:09 left in the second quarter as the Celtics took over the rest of the game to lead them to a 2–1 series advantage. In Game 4, the Celtics led by as much as 18 in the third quarter. Facing the prospect of trailing 1–3 in the series, the Sixers came back to take the game from the Celtics and tie the series going back to Boston. Game 5 saw Brandon Bass score 27 points, including 18 in the third quarter as the Celtics blew out the Sixers, 101–85, to push them a win away from the Eastern Conference Finals. Before the start of Game 6, Allen Iverson presented the game ball, prompting huge cheers from the crowd. It was enough to motivate the Sixers to defeat the Celtics 82–75 to force a Game 7. Jrue Holiday scored 20 points, including two free-throws with 31 seconds to go to put the game away. Game 7 was a tight contest, with the two teams going back-and-forth. Paul Pierce fouled out late in the fourth quarter, but Rondo had his second triple-double of the series, including a fourth quarter that helped the Celtics advance to the Conference Finals to face the Miami Heat. This series is an important plot point in the 2019 film Uncut Gems, in which Garnett co-stars.https://www.theringer.com/nba/2019/12/17/21025172/boston-celtics-philadelphia-sixers-2012-playoffs-uncut-gems What Happened in the Celtics-Sixers Series Featured in 'Uncut Gems'? 17 December 2019 Game 7 marked the 76ers last playoff appearance until 2018. This would also be the Celtics last playoffs series win until 2017. Regular-season series Philadelphia won 2–1 in the regular-season series#fff March 7, 2012 2012 0307 BOSPHI Boston Celtics 71 Philadelphia 76ers 103 Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia March 23, 2012 2012 0323 BOSPHI Boston Celtics 86 Philadelphia 76ers 99 Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia #fff April 8, 2012 2012 0408 PHIBOS Philadelphia 76ers 79 Boston Celtics 103 TD Garden, Boston This was the 20th playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning 11 of the first 19 meetings. +Previous playoff serieshttps://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=BOS&opp_id=PHI&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Boston Celtics versus Philadelphia 76ers (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com March 8, 2016Boston leads 11–8 in all-time playoff series#fff 1953 Boston Celtics 2 Syracuse Nationals 0 1953 Eastern Division Semifinals #fff 1954 Boston Celtics 0 Syracuse Nationals 2 1954 Eastern Division Round Robin Semifinals #fff 1954 Boston Celtics 0 Syracuse Nationals 2 1954 Eastern Division Finals #fff 1955 Boston Celtics 1 Syracuse Nationals 3 1955 Eastern Division Finals #fff 1956 Boston Celtics 1 Syracuse Nationals 2 1956 Eastern Division Semifinals #fff 1957 Boston Celtics 3 Syracuse Nationals 0 1957 Eastern Division Finals #fff 1959 Boston Celtics 4 Syracuse Nationals 3 1959 Eastern Division Finals #fff 1961 Boston Celtics 4 Syracuse Nationals 1 1961 Eastern Division Finals #fff 1965 Boston Celtics 4 Philadelphia 76ers 3 1965 Eastern Division Finals #fff 1966 Boston Celtics 4 Philadelphia 76ers 1 1966 Eastern Division Finals #fff 1967 Boston Celtics 1 Philadelphia 76ers 4 1967 Eastern Division Finals #fff 1968 Boston Celtics 4 Philadelphia 76ers 3 1968 Eastern Division Finals #fff 1969 Boston Celtics 4 Philadelphia 76ers 1 1969 Eastern Division Semifinals #fff 1977 Boston Celtics 3 Philadelphia 76ers 4 1977 Eastern Conference Semifinals #fff 1980 Boston Celtics 1 Philadelphia 76ers 4 1980 Eastern Conference Finals #fff 1981 Boston Celtics 4 Philadelphia 76ers 3 1981 Eastern Conference Finals #fff 1982 Boston Celtics 3 Philadelphia 76ers 4 1982 Eastern Conference Finals #fff 1985 Boston Celtics 4 Philadelphia 76ers 1 1985 Eastern Conference Finals #fff 2002 Boston Celtics 3 Philadelphia 76ers 2 2002 Eastern Conference First Round Western Conference semifinals This is the first playoffs that the city of Los Angeles has both teams participating in the Conference Semifinals. The last time the Lakers and Clippers were in the Conference Semifinals was 1974, when the Clippers franchise was the Buffalo Braves. Also, another team based out of Staples Center, the National Hockey League's Los Angeles Kings, participated in the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs. As a result of these 3 teams sharing one arena, Games 3 and 4 of the Thunder–Lakers and Spurs–Clippers series were played back-to-back on May 18–19 and 19–20 respectively, to avoid scheduling conflicts. (1) San Antonio Spurs vs. (5) Los Angeles Clippers #eee May 15 9:30 pm AT&T Center, San Antonio TNT Los Angeles Clippers 92 San Antonio Spurs 108 Recap 29–29 20–28 23–30 20–21 Eric Bledsoe 23 Tim Duncan 26 Griffin, Jordan 9 each Boris Diaw 12 Chris Paul 10 Tony Parker 11 18,581 Scott Foster, Derrick Collins, Ron Garretson, San Antonio leads series, 1–0 May 17 9:30 pm AT&T Center, San Antonio ESPN Los Angeles Clippers 88 San Antonio Spurs 105 Recap 21–29 21–17 25–32 21–27 Blake Griffin 20 Tony Parker 22 DeAndre Jordan 7 Parker, Duncan 5 each Chris Paul 5 Parker, Ginóbili 5 each 18,581 Ken Mauer, Ed Malloy, Leon Wood, San Antonio leads series, 2–0 #eee May 19 3:30 pm Staples Center, Los Angeles ABC San Antonio Spurs 96 Los Angeles Clippers 86 Recap 11–33 32–20 26–8 27–25 Tony Parker 23 Blake Griffin 28 Tim Duncan 13 Blake Griffin 16 Tony Parker 10 Chris Paul 11 19,060 Derrick Stafford, Tony Brothers, Tom Washington, San Antonio leads series, 3–0 May 20 10:30 pm Staples Center, Los Angeles TNT San Antonio Spurs 102 Los Angeles Clippers 99 Recap 26–21 25–26 23–28 28–24 Tim Duncan 21 Chris Paul 23 Tim Duncan 9 DeAndre Jordan 8 Tony Parker 5 Chris Paul 11 19,060 Joe Crawford, James Capers, Bill Spooner, San Antonio wins series, 4–0 The Spurs won their last 14 games coming into this series. They were also well prepared because they were able to sweep their previous opponent, the Utah Jazz. Meanwhile, the Clippers were coming off a tough seven-game series against the Memphis Grizzlies and had to play Game 1 just 2 days after the Game 7 ended. Game 1 was close as the teams were tied coming into the 2nd quarter. However, the Spurs quickly took control in the 2nd and 3rd quarters as they defeated the Clippers, 108–92, and took a 1–0 series lead. Game 2 then saw a Spurs team taking control in the second half to defeat the Clippers and take a 2–0 lead. Going to Los Angeles for a back-to-back Games 3 and 4, the Clippers looked confident to defeat the Spurs, as they quickly took a 40–16 lead with 9:17 to go in the 2nd. However, the Spurs quickly cut the lead to 7 with 36.4 seconds before the half, with the half ending with a 10-point Clipper lead. Then, with the Clippers holding on to a 12-point lead with 9:39 to go in the 3rd, the Spurs unleashed a ferocious 24–0 run to take a 69–57 lead with 2 minutes to go in the 3rd. The Clippers never got closer than seven down the stretch as they watched the Spurs take a commanding 3–0 lead in the series. Game 4 was a close one, with the Clippers leading for much of the fourth quarter before the Spurs took the lead on a Duncan hook shot. Then, in the final moments of the game, Paul made several mistakes, a bad pass and an off-balanced jump shot that missed, that ultimately led to Clippers' demise. Following Parker's free-throw that extended the Spurs' lead to 3, the Clippers had one last chance. However, out of timeouts, the Clippers were forced to take a long inbound pass. Mo Williams managed to catch the ball but was unable to get a shot off as the Spurs completed the sweep of the Clippers. The Spurs became just the fourth team to go 8–0 through the first two rounds of the playoffs. Regular-season series San Antonio won 2–1 in the regular-season series#fff December 28, 2011 2011 1228 LACSAS Los Angeles Clippers 90 San Antonio Spurs 115 AT&T Center, San Antonio February 18, 2012 2012 0218 SASLAC San Antonio Spurs 103 Los Angeles Clippers 100 Staples Center, Los Angeles #fff March 9, 2012 2012 0309 LACSAS Los Angeles Clippers 120 San Antonio Spurs 108 AT&T Center, San Antonio This was the first playoff meeting between the Clippers and the Spurs.https://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=LAC&opp_id=SAS&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Los Angeles Clippers versus San Antonio Spurs (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com March 8, 2016 (2) Oklahoma City Thunder vs. (3) Los Angeles Lakers #eee May 14 9:30 pm Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma TNT Los Angeles Lakers 90 Oklahoma City Thunder 119 Recap 23–30 21–29 24–39 22–21 Bryant, Bynum 20 each Russell Westbrook 27 Andrew Bynum 14 Kevin Durant 8 Steve Blake 4 Russell Westbrook 9 18,203 Greg Willard, Tony Brothers, David Guthrie, Oklahoma City leads series, 1–0 May 16 9:30 pm Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma TNT Los Angeles Lakers 75 Oklahoma City Thunder 77 Recap 22–21 23–27 18–12 12–17 Bryant, Bynum 20 each Kevin Durant 22 Pau Gasol 11 Kevin Durant 7 Kobe Bryant 4 Kevin Durant 5 18,203 Monty McCutchen, Rodney Mott, Jason Phillips, Oklahoma City leads series, 2–0 #eee May 18 10:30 pm Staples Center, Los Angeles ESPN Oklahoma City Thunder 96 Los Angeles Lakers 99 Recap 15–23 32–27 23–19 26–30 Kevin Durant 31 Kobe Bryant 36 Serge Ibaka 11 Bynum, Gasol 11 each Thabo Sefolosha 4 Bryant, Gasol 6 each 18,997 Joe Crawford, Marc Davis, Zach Zarba, Oklahoma City leads series, 2–1 May 19 10:30 pm Staples Center, Los Angeles TNT Oklahoma City Thunder 103 Los Angeles Lakers 100 Recap 24–29 22–27 25–24 32–20 Russell Westbrook 37 Kobe Bryant 38 Kevin Durant 13 Andrew Bynum 9 Russell Westbrook 5 Bryant, Sessions 5 each 18,997 Dan Crawford, Ron Garretson, Ken Mauer, Oklahoma City leads series, 3–1 #eee May 21 9:30 pm Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma TNT Los Angeles Lakers 90 Oklahoma City Thunder 106 Recap 21–26 30–28 26–29 13–23 Kobe Bryant 42 Russell Westbrook 28 Pau Gasol 16 Kendrick Perkins 11 Metta World Peace 5 Durant, Harden, Westbrook 4 each 18,203 Scott Foster, John Goble, Tom Washington, Oklahoma City wins series, 4–1 Much like the Spurs-Clippers series, the series featured a team that swept their first round opponents and another team that were coming off a tough seven-game series. As such, the Thunder had the advantage in Game 1. The result was a convincing 29-point blowout by the Thunder to the Lakers. The Thunder quickly took control through the first three quarters and stretched their lead to as high as 35. Game 2 was much closer, with the Lakers shocking the Thunder by leading by 7 with 2 minutes to go that would seemingly tie the series at 1. However, the Lakers would fail to keep the lead, with the Thunder eventually going on a 9–0 run to take a 2–0 series lead. In Game 3, the Lakers collaborated on both ends to prevent the Thunder from taking a 3–0 lead putting them back into the series. Game 4 saw the Lakers start strong, taking a 10-point lead at halftime. They were able to have a 13-point lead in the fourth. However, Thunder outscored the Lakers 25–9 the rest of the way to take a 3–1 series lead, putting the Lakers into the brink of elimination. With the score tied at 98, Russell Westbrook committed a crucial turnover when he slipped and lost the ball. However, Pau Gasol's pass was taken by Durant, setting up Durant's 3-pointer that gave the Thunder the lead for good. The Lakers still had one last chance to tie but Kobe Bryant's three missed, with Harden hitting two free-throws to effectively seal the deal. In Game 5, Lakers were able to keep the game close throughout the first three quarters before the Thunder closed the series on a flurry, starting with two threes by Durant with Westbrook converting an and-one layup to shift the momentum in favor of Oklahoma City. The Lakers were not able to respond as they watched the Thunder take the series, 4–1, to send the Lakers back home for the second straight season in the Conference Semifinals. Regular-season series Oklahoma City won 2–1 in the regular-season series#fff February 23, 2012 2012 0223 LALOKC Los Angeles Lakers 85 Oklahoma City Thunder 100 Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma March 29, 2012 2012 0329 OKCLAL Oklahoma City Thunder 102 Los Angeles Lakers 93 Staples Center, Los Angeles #fff April 22, 2012 2012 0422 OKCLAL Oklahoma City Thunder 106 Los Angeles Lakers 114 Staples Center, Los Angeles This was the ninth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning six of the first eight meetings. +Previous playoff serieshttps://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=LAL&opp_id=OKC&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Los Angeles Lakers versus Oklahoma City Thunder (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com March 8, 2016Los Angeles leads 6–2 in all-time playoff series#fff 1978 Los Angeles Lakers 1 Seattle SuperSonics 2 1978 Western Conference First Round #fff 1979 Los Angeles Lakers 1 Seattle SuperSonics 4 1979 Western Conference Semifinals #fff 1980 Los Angeles Lakers 4 Seattle SuperSonics 1 1980 Western Conference Finals #fff 1987 Los Angeles Lakers 4 Seattle SuperSonics 0 1987 Western Conference Finals #fff 1989 Los Angeles Lakers 4 Seattle SuperSonics 0 1989 Western Conference Semifinals #fff 1995 Los Angeles Lakers 3 Seattle SuperSonics 1 1995 Western Conference First Round #fff 1998 Los Angeles Lakers 4 Seattle SuperSonics 1 1998 Western Conference Semifinals #fff 2010 Los Angeles Lakers 4 Oklahoma City Thunder 2 2010 Western Conference First Round This is the most recent playoff series between the Thunder & Lakers until 2026. Conference finals Eastern Conference finals (2) Miami Heat vs. (4) Boston Celtics #eee May 28 8:30 pm American Airlines Arena, Miami ESPN Boston Celtics 79 Miami Heat 93 Recap 11–21 35–25 15–26 18–21 Kevin Garnett 23 LeBron James 32 Kevin Garnett 10 LeBron James 13 Rajon Rondo 7 Dwyane Wade 7 19,912 Dan Crawford, Ed Malloy, Jason Phillips, Miami leads series, 1–0 May 30 8:30 pm American Airlines Arena, Miami ESPN Boston Celtics 111 Miami Heat 115 Recap 24–18 29–28 22–35 24–18 12–16 Rajon Rondo 44 LeBron James 34 Brandon Bass 10 Udonis Haslem 11 Rajon Rondo 10 LeBron James 7 19,973 Ken Mauer, James Capers, Tom Washington, Miami leads series, 2–0 #eee June 1 8:30 pm TD Garden, Boston ESPN Miami Heat 91 Boston Celtics 101 Recap 28–30 14–25 21–30 28–16 LeBron James 34 Kevin Garnett 24 LeBron James 8 Kevin Garnett 11 Mario Chalmers 6 Rajon Rondo 10 18,624 Scott Foster, Mike Callahan, Rodney Mott Miami leads series, 2–1 June 3 8:30 pm TD Garden, Boston ESPN Miami Heat 91 Boston Celtics 93 Recap 23–34 24–27 21–12 21–16 2–4 LeBron James 29 Paul Pierce 23 Udonis Haslem 17 Kevin Garnett 14 Dwyane Wade 6 Rajon Rondo 15 18,624 Joe Crawford, Bill Kennedy, Greg Willard, Series tied, 2–2 #eee June 5 8:30 pm American Airlines Arena, Miami ESPN Boston Celtics 94 Miami Heat 90 Recap 16–24 24–18 25–18 29–30 Kevin Garnett 26 LeBron James 30 Kevin Garnett 11 Udonis Haslem 14 Rajon Rondo 13 Chalmers, Wade 3 each 20,021 Monty McCutchen, Ron Garretson, Derrick Stafford, Boston leads series, 3–2 June 7 8:30 pm TD Garden, Boston ESPN Miami Heat 98 Boston Celtics 79 Recap 26–16 29–26 19–19 24–18 LeBron James 45 Rajon Rondo 21 LeBron James 15 Brandon Bass 7 LeBron James 5 Rajon Rondo 10 18,624 Dan Crawford, Tony Brothers, Tom Washington Series tied, 3–3 #eee June 9 8:30 pm American Airlines Arena, Miami ESPN Boston Celtics 88 Miami Heat 101 Recap 27–23 26–23 20–27 15–28 Rajon Rondo 22 LeBron James 31 Rajon Rondo 10 LeBron James 12 Rajon Rondo 14 Mario Chalmers 7 20,114 Joe Crawford, Mike Callahan, Scott Foster Miami wins series 4–3 This series marked the third straight year that the Heat and Celtics faced each other in the playoffs. They faced each other in the Eastern Conference First Round in 2010 (won by the Celtics, 4–1) and in the Eastern Conference Semifinals in 2011 (won by the Heat, 4–1). In addition, LeBron faced the Celtics for the third straight year in the playoffs. The LeBron-led Cavs also faced the Celtics in 2010 only to be defeated 4–2, which led to James' arrival on the Heat. In Game 1, the Celtics started poorly, scoring only 11 points in the first quarter. The Heat had a 10-point lead after 1. The Celtics were hot in the second, scoring 35 points en route to tying the game at halftime. Behind a big second half, the Heat eventually defeated the Celtics 93–79 to take a 1–0 series lead. Game 2 was very different, with the Celtics starting very strong. Midway through the second quarter, a Rondo jumper extended their lead to 15. However, the Heat cut it to 7 at halftime. Miami had another big 3rd quarter. With the Celtics up 71–66 with 4:24 left in the third, a block by Wade on Allen ignited a 15–4 run by the Heat to end the quarter, as they took a 6-point lead heading into the fourth. The fourth quarter was close. With Miami leading 99–96 with 34 seconds left, Allen made a 3 to tie it. It eventually sent the game to OT, with James missing two chances to win the game. Miami eventually won 115–111 to take a 2–0 series lead. Rondo led the Celtics with a career-high 44 points, along with 8 rebounds and 10 assists. There was controversy in regards to the officiating as the Heat shot 18 more free throws, the Celtics committed 33 fouls to the Heat's 18, as well as a play in overtime in a tie game where Rondo was hit in the head by Wade and no foul was called, leading to a fast break dunk for Udonis Haslem. In Game 3, the Celtics got strong performances from Rondo, Garnett, and Pierce. LeBron was also hot in the first quarter, scoring 16 points and making 7 of his first 9 shots. However, despite this performance, the second and third quarters were decisive, with the Celtics outscoring the Heat a combined 55–35 in the two quarters as they had an 85–63 lead heading into the fourth. Miami made a comeback, hitting 3's and dunks to cut the lead to 8. However, Boston held on for a 101–91 victory to make it 2–1. Game 4 was the same story, with the Celtics hitting several 3's and putting on a lead as big as 18. Miami tried another comeback in the third and fourth quarters. Unlike Game 3, they took the lead. Boston answered back, holding a 3-point lead in the final minute before James hit a 3 to tie it with 36 seconds left. This led to the second overtime game of the series. It was a low-scoring affair in OT, with both teams only making one field goal. With 4:22 left, Pierce fouled out, giving Miami a big chance. However, James fouled out with 1:51 left. The Celtics still held a 2-point lead in the dying seconds, but Wade missed a potential game-winning 3 at the buzzer, giving the Celtics a 93–91 win to tie the series going back to Miami. Celtics proceeded to lead the series, 3–2, with a 94–90 win in Game 5. In the game, Bosh returned for the first time since he got injured in Game 1 of the Heat-Pacers series but was not much of a help on the offensive end. He came off the bench in the game and scored 9 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in 14 minutes played. With the Celtics leading by 1 with less than a minute to go, Pierce knocked down a crucial three-pointer that gave the Celtics the lead for good. The Heat prevented a celebration from happening in Game 6 with a 98–79 blowout win at Boston to send the series back to Miami for a seventh and deciding game. James had one of his best playoff games, scoring 45 points and getting 15 rebounds, 30 of his 45 came in the first half alone. In Game 7, the Celtics started strong. In the second quarter, Garnett picked up his third foul, giving the Heat a chance to try and take a lead. However, Bass led a run that pushed the Celtics' lead to 11. The Celtics would still have a 7-point lead at halftime. The third quarter was decisive once again, letting the Heat tie the game going to the fourth quarter, which was even more decisive. With the Celtics leading by 1 with 8 minutes left, James had a dunk that gave the Heat the lead. It was soon followed by Bosh's third three-pointer of the night (a career-high three 3 pointers) that gave the Heat the lead for good. The Celtics never recovered as the Heat booked a return trip to the Finals with a 101–88 Game 7 win in Miami. Boston wouldn't return to the Conference Finals again until 2017. This is the last playoff match-up between Boston & Miami until 2020. Regular-season series Boston won 3–1 in the regular-season series#fff December 27, 2011 2011 1227 BOSMIA Boston Celtics 107 Miami Heat 115 American Airlines Arena, Miami April 1, 2012 2012 0401 MIABOS Miami Heat 72 Boston Celtics 91 TD Garden, Boston #fff April 10, 2012 2012 0410 BOSMIA Boston Celtics 115 Miami Heat 107 American Airlines Arena, Miami April 24, 2012 2012 0424 MIABOS Miami Heat 66 Boston Celtics 78 TD Garden, Boston This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with each team winning one series apiece. +Previous playoff serieshttps://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=BOS&opp_id=MIA&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Boston Celtics versus Miami Heat (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com March 8, 2016Tied 1–1 in all-time playoff series#fff 2010 Boston Celtics 4 Miami Heat 1 2010 Eastern Conference First Round #fff 2011 Boston Celtics 1 Miami Heat 4 2011 Eastern Conference Semifinals Western Conference finals (1) San Antonio Spurs vs. (2) Oklahoma City Thunder #eee May 27 8:30 pm AT&T Center, San Antonio TNT Oklahoma City Thunder 98 San Antonio Spurs 101 Recap 18–24 29–22 24–16 27–39 Kevin Durant 27 Manu Ginóbili 26 Kevin Durant 10 Tim Duncan 11 Russell Westbrook 5 Tony Parker 6 18,581 Joe Crawford, Marc Davis, Greg Willard, San Antonio leads series, 1–0 May 29 9:00 pm AT&T Center, San Antonio TNT Oklahoma City Thunder 111 San Antonio Spurs 120 Recap 22–28 22–27 32–37 35–28 Kevin Durant 31 Tony Parker 34 Serge Ibaka 10 Tim Duncan 12 Russell Westbrook 8 Tony Parker 8 18,581 Monty McCutchen, Tony Brothers, Ron Garretson, San Antonio leads series, 2–0 #eee May 31 9:00 pm Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma TNT San Antonio Spurs 82 Oklahoma City Thunder 102 Recap 24–22 17–32 19–24 22–24 Parker, Jackson 16 each Kevin Durant 22 Ginóbili, Leonard, Blair 6 each Kendrick Perkins 8 Gary Neal 5 Russell Westbrook 9 18,203 Dan Crawford, Derrick Stafford, Bill Spooner San Antonio leads series, 2–1 June 2 8:30 pm Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma TNT San Antonio Spurs 103 Oklahoma City Thunder 109 Recap 26–26 17–29 28–20 32–34 Tim Duncan 21 Kevin Durant 36 Kawhi Leonard 9 Kendrick Perkins 9 Parker, Ginóbili 4 each Kevin Durant 8 18,203 Ken Mauer, James Capers, Ed Malloy, Series tied, 2–2 #eee June 4 9:00 pm AT&T Center, San Antonio TNT Oklahoma City Thunder 108 San Antonio Spurs 103 Recap 26–21 26–23 29–28 27–31 Kevin Durant 27 Manu Ginóbili 34 Kendrick Perkins 10 Tim Duncan 12 Russell Westbrook 12 Manu Ginóbili 7 18,581 Scott Foster, Mike Callahan, Tom Washington, Oklahoma City leads series, 3–2 June 6 9:00 pm Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma TNT San Antonio Spurs 99 Oklahoma City Thunder 107 Recap 34–20 29–28 18–32 18–27 Tony Parker 29 Kevin Durant 34 Tim Duncan 14 Kevin Durant 14 Tony Parker 12 Durant, Westbrook 5 each 18,203 Joe Crawford, Bill Kennedy, Rodney Mott, Oklahoma City wins series, 4–2 This series would mark only the second time in the last seven years that the top two seeds from the Western Conference faced each other in the Conference Finals. Game 1 would be close, with the Thunder taking a 9-point lead going to the fourth, looking poised to give the Spurs their first loss of the postseason. However, the Spurs took control on both ends in the fourth quarter to stay perfect in the playoffs. In Game 2, the Spurs started strong, at one point in the third quarter taking a 22-point lead. The Thunder would try to climb back in the fourth quarter, eventually cutting the lead to 6 in the fourth quarter. However, the Spurs would answer every run, en route to a 120–111 win over the Thunder and a 2–0 series lead. Manu Ginobili sealed the deal by hitting a three-pointer that extended the Spurs' lead to 10 with about a minute and a half to go. With the win, the Spurs extended their 2012 playoff record to 10–0. This win also marked the Spurs' 20th consecutive win, tied for the 3rd longest winning streak in NBA history. It is also the longest winning streak that was carried from the regular season and into the playoffs. In Game 3, the Spurs were no match for the Thunder. Behind their thunder blue home crowd, the Thunder blew out the Spurs, 102–82, to give them their first 2012 postseason loss. Game 4 was much closer. In the fourth quarter, Kevin Durant scored half of his 36 points as the Thunder tied the series with a 109–103 win over the Spurs. In Game 5, the Thunder started strong, at one point in the second quarter taking a 13-point lead. The Spurs would still come back in the second half. Fueled by two threes from Ginobili, the Spurs took the lead back. However, the Thunder eventually outscored the Spurs 25–12 for the rest of the quarter to take a 9-point lead heading to the fourth quarter. After a Harden 4-point play that gave the Thunder another 13-point lead, things began to unravel as the Spurs staged an 11–0 run through the next 4 minutes to bring them back into the game. Then, with the Thunder holding on for a 103–101 lead with 28 seconds left, Harden came up big by hitting a crucial three-pointer to give the Thunder a 5-point lead. The Spurs would not give up. Following a Ginobili layup shot that cut the lead to 3, a fullcourt press by the Spurs forced a Thunder turnover, giving them a chance to tie the game. However, Ginobili missed a three-pointer that sealed a 3–2 lead for the Thunder. In Game 6, the Spurs dominated early, outscoring the Thunder by 14 in the first quarter and holding a 15-point lead at halftime. Their largest lead of the game was 18. However the Thunder rallied in the 3rd quarter, outscoring the Spurs 32–18. With a few clutch shots by Derek Fisher and James Harden, the Thunder booked a trip to the Finals with a 107–99 comeback win over the Spurs. With the win, the Thunder advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time since moving from Seattle in 2008 and the franchise's first appearance in the NBA Finals since 1996, when the franchise was known as the Seattle SuperSonics.Brian Mahoney LeBron, Heat to face young Thunder June 12, 2012 Peninsula Daily News The Associated Press B3 https://www.newspapers.com/article/peninsula-daily-news/177202123/ Newspapers.com July 22, 2025 Regular-season series San Antonio won 2–1 in the regular-season series#fff January 8, 2012 2012 0108 SASOKC San Antonio Spurs 96 Oklahoma City Thunder 108 Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma February 4, 2012 2012 0204 OKCSAS Oklahoma City Thunder 96 San Antonio Spurs 107 AT&T Center, San Antonio #fff March 16, 2012 2012 0316 SASOKC San Antonio Spurs 114 Oklahoma City Thunder 105 Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Spurs winning the first three meetings. All previous meetings took place while the Thunder franchise were still known as the Seattle SuperSonics. +Previous playoff serieshttps://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=OKC&opp_id=SAS&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Oklahoma City Thunder versus San Antonio Spurs (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com March 8, 2016San Antonio leads 3–0 in all-time playoff series#fff 1982 San Antonio Spurs 4 Seattle SuperSonics 1 1982 Western Conference Semifinals #fff 2002 San Antonio Spurs 3 Seattle SuperSonics 2 2002 Western Conference First Round #fff 2005 San Antonio Spurs 4 Seattle SuperSonics 2 2005 Western Conference Semifinals NBA Finals: (W2) Oklahoma City Thunder vs. (E2) Miami Heat 2012 NBA Finals #eee June 12 9:00 pm Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma ABC Miami Heat 94 Oklahoma City Thunder 105 Recap 29–22 25–25 19–27 21–31 LeBron James 30 Kevin Durant 36 Udonis Haslem 11 Nick Collison 10 Dwyane Wade 8 Russell Westbrook 11 18,203 Monty McCutchen, Derrick Stafford, Ed Malloy Oklahoma City leads series, 1–0 June 14 9:00 pm Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma ABC Miami Heat 100 Oklahoma City Thunder 96 Recap 27–15 28–28 23–24 22–29 LeBron James 32 Kevin Durant 32 Chris Bosh 15 Perkins, Westbrook 8 each Wade, James 5 each Russell Westbrook 7 18,203 Dan Crawford, Tony Brothers, Tom Washington Series tied, 1–1 #eee June 17 8:00 pm American Airlines Arena, Miami ABC Oklahoma City Thunder 85 Miami Heat 91 Recap 20–26 26–21 21–22 18–22 Kevin Durant 25 LeBron James 29 Kendrick Perkins 12 LeBron James 14 James Harden 6 Dwyane Wade 7 20,003 Joe Crawford, James Capers, Ken Mauer Miami leads series, 2–1 June 19 9:00 pm American Airlines Arena, Miami ABC Oklahoma City Thunder 98 Miami Heat 104 Recap 33–19 16–27 26–33 23–25 Russell Westbrook 43 LeBron James 26 James Harden 10 James, Bosh 9 each Russell Westbrook 5 LeBron James 12 20,003 Scott Foster, Mike Callahan, Bill Kennedy Miami leads series, 3–1 #eee June 21 9:00 pm American Airlines Arena, Miami ABC Oklahoma City Thunder 106 Miami Heat 121 Recap 26–31 23–28 22–36 35–26 Kevin Durant 32 LeBron James 26 Kevin Durant 11 LeBron James 11 Russell Westbrook 6 LeBron James 13 20,003 Dan Crawford, Monty McCutchen, Derrick Stafford Miami wins series, 4–1 Regular-season series Tied 1–1 in the regular-season series#fff March 25, 2012 2012 0325 MIAOKC Miami Heat 87 Oklahoma City Thunder 103 Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma April 4, 2012 2012 0404 OKCMIA Oklahoma City Thunder 93 Miami Heat 98 American Airlines Arena, Miami This was the first playoff meeting between the Heat and the Thunder.https://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=MIA&opp_id=OKC&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Miami Heat versus Oklahoma City Thunder (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com March 8, 2016 Statistic leaders Category High AveragePlayer Team Total Player Team Avg. Games played Points LeBron James Miami Heat 45 LeBron James Miami Heat 30.3 23 Rebounds Paul Millsap Utah Jazz 19 Josh Smith Atlanta Hawks 13.6 5 Assists Rajon Rondo Boston Celtics 17 Rajon Rondo Boston Celtics 11.9 19 Steals Jason Kidd Dallas Mavericks 7 Jason Kidd Dallas Mavericks 3.0 4 Blocks Andrew Bynum Los Angeles Lakers 10* JaVale McGee Denver Nuggets 3.1 7 * Tied NBA Playoffs Record References 30em External links 2012 NBA Playoffs at ESPN Playoffs Category:NBA playoffs Category:ABS-CBN television specials fi:NBA-kausi 2011–2012#Pudotuspelit