2008 NBA playoffs

Basketball competition August 2023 NBA playoffs 2008 2008NBAPlayoffsofficiallogo.gif 2007–08 April 19–June 17, 2008 16 Boston Celtics 17 Los Angeles Lakers Detroit Pistons San Antonio Spurs Scoring leader(s) Kobe Bryant (Lakers) 30.1 PPG MVP Paul Pierce (Celtics) 2007 2009 The 2008 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 2007–08 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics defeating the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals. Paul Pierce was named NBA Finals MVP. The San Antonio Spurs were the defending champions, but lost to the Lakers in the Western Conference finals. Overview Thanks to preseason trades for Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, the Boston Celtics entered the playoffs with an NBA best 66–16 record. It was also their first playoff appearance since 2005. The Los Angeles Lakers entered their third consecutive postseason. Thanks to a midseason trade for Pau Gasol, they entered the playoffs as the top seed in the west for the first time since 2000. The Phoenix Suns entered their fourth consecutive postseason. However, they lost to the defending champion San Antonio Spurs in the first round. The Atlanta Hawks made the playoffs for the first time since 1999, taking the top seed and eventual champion Boston Celtics to seven games before bowing out. The New Orleans Hornets made the playoffs for the first time since 2004 and for the first time as a member of the Western Conference. This was notable since this marks the playoff debut of Chris Paul and the Hornets’ first postseason appearance after Hurricane Katrina, pushing the defending champions San Antonio Spurs to seven games in the Conference Semifinals before bowing out. The Hornets would not win another playoff series until 2018, in which they were now known today as the Pelicans. To date, 2008 was the closest the New Orleans franchise had ever come from reaching the Conference Finals; as of 2024 the Pelicans and the Charlotte Hornets are the only active teams to never advance to the Conference Finals. The Golden State Warriors won 48 games, more than 5 of the 8 playoff teams in the Eastern Conference. However, all eight qualifiers in the Western Conference finished with at least 50 wins, thus leaving the Warriors out of the postseason. The New Jersey Nets missed the playoffs for the first time since 2001, largely due to a trade that sent Jason Kidd to the Dallas Mavericks. The Miami Heat missed the playoffs for the first time since 2003, thanks to a league worst 15–67 record. It also marked the first NBA postseason since 2003 not to feature Dwyane Wade. The Chicago Bulls also missed the playoffs for the first time since 2004. With their first round series victory over the Toronto Raptors, the Orlando Magic won their first playoff series since 1996. However, they lost to the Detroit Pistons in the Conference Semifinals. With their first round sweep of the Denver Nuggets, the Los Angeles Lakers won their first playoff series since 2004 (when they last made the NBA Finals). It also marked the only sweep of the 2008 playoffs. With their conference semifinals win over the Orlando Magic, the Detroit Pistons entered their sixth consecutive conference finals. The Pistons also became the first team since the Showtime Lakers to accomplish this feat. As of 2025, this remains The Pistons’ most recent series win. Game 7 of the conference semifinals between the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers became notable for a duel between Paul Pierce and LeBron James, who scored 41 and 45 points, respectively. The Celtics won this game and advanced to the conference finals. With their conference finals win over the defending champion San Antonio Spurs, the Los Angeles Lakers returned to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2004. They also became the first top seed since 2003 to make the NBA Finals. With their conference finals win over the Detroit Pistons, the Boston Celtics made the NBA Finals for the first time since 1987. Game 4 of the Conference Finals was the Pistons’ last playoff win until 2025. For the first time since 2000, the top seeds from each Conference met in the NBA Finals. The 2008 Finals was also the first since 1998 to feature neither Shaquille O'Neal nor Tim Duncan. The Boston Celtics played 26 playoff games (2 games short of a full-length postseason of 28), breaking the 25 game record of the 1994 Knicks and 2005 Pistons by 1 game for the most playoff games in a single season played by 1 NBA team.https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/17/sports/basketball/17nba.html?pagewanted=print Celtics Remain Mindful Of a Missed Opportunity June 17, 2008 Howard Beck The New York Times D2 The Knicks, however, only played a Best–of–5 First Round, and so had 2 fewer games to accomplish that feat. Playoff qualifying Eastern Conference The following teams clinched a playoff berth in the East: Boston Celtics (66–16, clinched Atlantic Division, and home court advantage throughout the playoffs) Detroit Pistons (59–23, clinched Central Division title) Orlando Magic (52–30, clinched Southeast Division title) Cleveland Cavaliers (45–37) Washington Wizards (43–39) Toronto Raptors (41–41) Philadelphia 76ers (40–42) Atlanta Hawks (37–45) Western Conference The following teams clinched a playoff berth in the West: Los Angeles Lakers (57–25, clinched Pacific Division title, and home-court advantage throughout the Western Conference playoffs) New Orleans Hornets (56–26, clinched Southwest Division title, 34–18 record vs. Western Conference) San Antonio Spurs (56–26, 33–19 record vs. Western Conference) Utah Jazz (54–28, clinched Northwest Division title) Houston Rockets (55–27, 2–2 head-to-head vs. PHO, 33–19 record vs. Western Conference) Phoenix Suns (55–27, 2–2 head-to-head vs. HOU, 31–21 record vs. Western Conference) Dallas Mavericks (51–31) Denver Nuggets (50–32) Bracket This was the outlook for the 2008 NBA Playoffs. Teams in italics had home court advantage. Teams in bold advanced to the next round. Numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's original seeding in their respective conferences. Numbers to the right of each team indicate the number of games the team won in that round. The division champions possess an asterisk (*). First Round Conference Semifinals Conference Finals NBA Finals Eastern Conference Western Conference E1 Boston* 4 E8 Atlanta 3 E4 Cleveland 4 E5 Washington 2 E3 Orlando* 4 E6 Toronto 1 E2 Detroit* 4 E7 Philadelphia 2 W1 LA Lakers* 4 W8 Denver 0 W4 Utah* 4 W5 Houston 2 W3 San Antonio 4 W6 Phoenix 1 W2 New Orleans* 4 W7 Dallas 1 E1 Boston* 4 E4 Cleveland 3 E3 Orlando* 1 E2 Detroit* 4 W1 LA Lakers* 4 W4 Utah* 2 W3 San Antonio 4 W2 New Orleans* 3 E1 Boston* 4 E2 Detroit* 2 W1 LA Lakers* 4 W3 San Antonio 1 E1 Boston* 4 W1 LA Lakers* 2* Division winner Bold Series winner Italic Team with home-court advantage First round Eastern Conference first round (1) Boston Celtics vs. (8) Atlanta Hawks #eee 8:30 pm (ET) April 20 TD Banknorth Garden, Boston TNT Atlanta Hawks 81 Boston Celtics 104 Recap 21–29 19–20 15–24 26–31 Al Horford 20 Ray Allen 18 Al Horford 10 Kevin Garnett 10 Joe Johnson 7 Rajon Rondo 9 Steve Javie, Jimmy Clark, Luis Grillo 18,624 Boston leads series, 1–0 #fff 8:00 pm (ET) April 23 TD Banknorth Garden, Boston TNT Atlanta Hawks 77 Boston Celtics 96 Recap 20–24 22–28 16–24 19–20 Smith, Williams 13 Kevin Garnett 19 Al Horford 9 Kevin Garnett 10 Horford, Smith 3 Rajon Rondo 8 Joe DeRosa, Bill Spooner, Ed Malloy 18,624 Boston leads series, 2–0 #eee 8:00 pm (ET) April 26 Philips Arena, Atlanta, Georgia ESPN Boston Celtics 93 Atlanta Hawks 102 Recap 26–32 30–24 18–28 19–18 Kevin Garnett 32 Josh Smith 26 Kevin Garnett 10 Al Horford 14 Paul Pierce 8 Mike Bibby 8 Violet Palmer, Bennet Salvatore. Tom Washington 19,725 Boston leads series, 2–1 #fff 8:00 pm (ET) April 28 Philips Arena, Atlanta, Georgia TNT Boston Celtics 92 Atlanta Hawks 97 Recap 24–29 24–22 27–14 17–32 Ray Allen 21 Joe Johnson 35 Kevin Garnett 9 Al Horford 13 Rajon Rondo 12 Joe Johnson 6 Mike Callahan, Eddie Rush, Monty McCutchen 20,016 Series tied, 2–2 #eee 8:30 pm (ET) April 30 TD Banknorth Garden, Boston TNT Atlanta Hawks 85 Boston Celtics 110 Recap 19–27 24–31 21–23 21–29 Joe Johnson 21 Paul Pierce 22 Al Horford 10 Paul Pierce 7 Al Horford 5 Kevin Garnett 7 David Jones, Dick Bavetta, Joe Forte 18,624 Boston leads series, 3–2 #fff 8:00 pm (ET) May 2 Philips Arena, Atlanta, Georgia ESPN Boston Celtics 100 Atlanta Hawks 103 Recap 32–20 18–29 32–30 18–24 Kevin Garnett 22 Marvin Williams 18 Kevin Garnett 7 Mike Bibby 6 Kevin Garnett 6 Mike Bibby 7 Joe Crawford, Mark Wunderlich, Bob Delaney 20,425 Series tied, 3–3 #eee 1:00 pm (ET) May 4 TD Banknorth Garden, Boston ABC Atlanta Hawks 65 Boston Celtics 99 Recap 16–27 10–17 17–35 22–20 Joe Johnson 16 Paul Pierce 22 Al Horford 12 Kevin Garnett 11 Al Horford 3 Rajon Rondo 6 Ken Mauer, Dan Crawford, Bennett Salvatore 18,624 Boston wins series, 4–3 +Regular-season seriesBoston won 3–0 in the regular-season series#fff November 9, 2007 2007 11090 BOS Atlanta Hawks 83 Boston Celtics 106 TD Banknorth Garden, Boston March 2, 2008 2008 03020 BOS Atlanta Hawks 88 Boston Celtics 98 TD Banknorth Garden, Boston #fff April 12, 2008 2008 04120 ATL Boston Celtics 99 Atlanta Hawks 89 Philips Arena, Atlanta This was the tenth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning eight of the first nine 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 February 26, 2016Boston leads 8–1 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 Games 1 and 2 were Celtic routs, keyed by great team defense (Atlanta averaged 79 points in the first 2 games) and balanced Celtic scoring (six players were in double figures in Game 1, five in Game 2). The most buzz was generated by Mike Bibby stating that Celtic fans were bandwagoners after Game 1, prompting boos every time he touched the ball in Game 2.http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2008/04/22/bibby-calls-bostons-fans-bandwagon-jumpers/ Bibby: Boston Fans are "Bandwagon Jumpers", AOL Fanhouse In Game 3, Atlanta showed its athleticism with an array of dunks from Josh Smith (26 points) and a strong interior performance by the rookie Al Horford (17 points, 14 rebounds, 6 assists), who also jawed with Paul Pierce near the end of the game. There would be more jawing in Game 4 between Zaza Pachulia and Kevin Garnett, but the outcome was a surprise: thanks to fourth quarter heroics by Joe Johnson and Smith, who combined to score 32 of Atlanta's 34 4th quarter points, the upstart Hawks rallied from a 10-point third quarter deficit in Game 4 to tie the series going back to Boston. Boston dominated Game 5, but in Game 6, six Hawks players finished in double figures to force a winner-take-all Game 7. The Hawks were no match for the Celtics in Game 7, as the Celtics held them to 26 points in the 1st half. 3 minutes into the 2nd half, the series' tensions finally boiled over when Marvin Williams was ejected for committing a hard foul on Rajon Rondo. Then after that, Kevin Garnett was noted for trucking Zaza Pachulia while going for a screen. (2) Detroit Pistons vs. (7) Philadelphia 76ers #eee 6:00 pm (ET) April 20 The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, Michigan TNT Philadelphia 76ers 90 Detroit Pistons 86 Recap 22–27 16–24 25–19 27–16 Andre Miller 20 Rasheed Wallace 24 Reggie Evans 14 Jason Maxiell 11 Andre Iguodala 8 Richard Hamilton 4 Tom Washington, Eddie Rush, Monty McCutchen 22,076 Philadelphia leads series, 1–0 #fff 7:30 pm (ET) April 23 The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, Michigan NBATV Philadelphia 76ers 88 Detroit Pistons 105 Recap 18–25 18–28 26–31 26–21 Lou Williams 17 Richard Hamilton 20 Reggie Evans 11 Antonio McDyess 12 Andre Iguodala 4 Richard Hamilton 7 Steve Javie, Derrick Collins, Mark Wunderlich 22,076 Series tied, 1–1 #eee 7:00 pm (ET) April 25 Wachovia Center, Philadelphia ESPN2 Detroit Pistons 75 Philadelphia 76ers 95 Recap 20–20 20–24 15–26 20–25 Richard Hamilton 23 Samuel Dalembert 22 Richard Hamilton 6 Samuel Dalembert 16 Rodney Stuckey 5 Andre Iguodala 6 Joe Crawford, Bill Spooner, Michael Smith 18,805 Philadelphia leads series, 2–1 #fff 7:00 pm (ET) April 27 Wachovia Center, Philadelphia TNT Detroit Pistons 93 Philadelphia 76ers 84 Recap 19–25 17–21 34–16 23–22 Tayshaun Prince 23 Thaddeus Young 15 Rasheed Wallace 10 Samuel Dalembert 12 Chauncey Billups 6 Andre Iguodala 5 Joe DeRosa, Ron Garretson, Derrick Stafford 18,347 Series tied, 2–2 #eee 7:00 pm (ET) April 29 The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, Michigan NBATV Philadelphia 76ers 81 Detroit Pistons 98 Recap 21–35 21–19 17–25 22–19 Andre Iguodala 23 Chauncey Billups 21 Reggie Evans 7 Jason Maxiell 11 Andre Iguodala 6 Chauncey Billups 12 Ken Mauer, Bob Delaney, Tony Brothers 22,076 Detroit leads series, 3–2 #fff 8:00 pm (ET) May 1 Wachovia Center, Philadelphia TNT Detroit Pistons 100 Philadelphia 76ers 77 Recap 30–12 21–21 28–18 21–26 Richard Hamilton 24 Andre Iguodala 18 Tayshaun Prince 7 Reggie Evans 6 Chauncey Billups 7 Reggie Evans 7 Bennett Salvatore, Scott Foster, Jim Clark 14,130 Detroit wins series, 4–2 +Regular-season seriesTied 2–2 in the regular-season series#fff November 23, 2007 2007 11230 DET Philadelphia 76ers 78 Detroit Pistons 83 The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, Michigan January 23, 2008 2008 01230 PHI Detroit Pistons 86 Philadelphia 76ers 78 Wachovia Center, Philadelphia #fff March 12, 2008 2008 03120 DET Philadelphia 76ers 83 Detroit Pistons 82 The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, Michigan April 9, 2008 2008 04090 PHI Detroit Pistons 94 Philadelphia 76ers 101 Wachovia Center, Philadelphia This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Pistons winning two of the first three meetings. The first meeting took place while the Nationals/76ers franchise were in Syracuse and the Pistons franchise were in Fort Wayne. +Previous playoff serieshttps://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=DET&opp_id=PHI&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Detroit Pistons versus Philadelphia 76ers (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com February 26, 2016Detroit leads 2–1 in all-time playoff series#fff 1955 Fort Wayne Pistons 3 Syracuse Nationals 4 1955 NBA Finals #fff 2003 Detroit Pistons 4 Philadelphia 76ers 2 2003 Eastern Conference Semifinals #fff 2005 Detroit Pistons 4 Philadelphia 76ers 1 2005 Eastern Conference First Round Misses down the stretch by Tayshaun Prince and Rasheed Wallace kept the Pistons from beating the Sixers at their home floor as Andre Iguodala grabbed clutch defensive rebounds to seize home court advantage. The Pistons responded with a blowout in Game 2. Game 3 was close at halftime, but Samuel Dalembert and Andre Miller helped to break it open with strong overall performances. Detroit was behind by 10 in Game 4 at halftime and in danger of falling behind 3–1 going back home, but three second-half 3s by Rasheed Wallace and strong showings by Tayshaun Prince and Chauncey Billups keyed an 18-point 3rd quarter turnaround which evened the series. Detroit dominated Game 5 behind Billups's 14 points and 5 first quarter assists, jumping out to a 14-point lead and never looking back. Richard Hamilton keyed a similar start in Game 6, scoring 13 points, as the Pistons took an 18-point first quarter lead and eventually rolled into the second round. (3) Orlando Magic vs. (6) Toronto Raptors #eee 12:30 pm (ET) April 20 Amway Arena, Orlando, Florida TNT Toronto Raptors 100 Orlando Magic 114 Recap 23–43 24–17 28–25 25–29 Anthony Parker 24 Dwight Howard 25 Rasho Nesterović 8 Dwight Howard 22 José Calderón 8 Jameer Nelson 7 Derrick Stafford, Greg Willard, Joe DeRosa 17,519 Orlando leads series, 1–0 #fff 7:30 pm (ET) April 22 Amway Arena, Orlando, Florida NBA TV Toronto Raptors 103 Orlando Magic 104 Recap 18–35 39–24 21–24 25–21 Chris Bosh 29 Dwight Howard 29 Chris Bosh 10 Dwight Howard 20 Bosh, Ford 6 each Türkoğlu, Lewis 5 each Jason Phillips, Jim Clark, Bob Delaney 17,519 Orlando leads series, 2–0 #eee 7:30 pm (ET) April 24 Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario NBA TV Orlando Magic 94 Toronto Raptors 108 Recap 20–28 20–33 29–19 25–28 Hedo Türkoğlu 26 T. J. Ford 21 Dwight Howard 12 Jamario Moon 10 Jameer Nelson 6 José Calderón 13 Violet Palmer, Scott Foster, Dan Crawford 20,023 Orlando leads series, 2–1 #fff 3:00 pm (ET) April 26 Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario TNT Orlando Magic 106 Toronto Raptors 94 Recap 31–26 17–27 25–21 33–20 Rashard Lewis 27 Chris Bosh 39 Dwight Howard 16 Chris Bosh 15 Nelson, Lewis 5 each T. J. Ford 13 Derrick Collins, Dick Bavetta, Joe Forte 20,416 Orlando leads series, 3–1 #eee 7:30 pm (ET) April 28 Amway Arena, Orlando, Florida NBA TV Toronto Raptors 92 Orlando Magic 102 Recap 26–22 24–27 18–25 24–28 Chris Bosh 16 Dwight Howard 21 Chris Bosh 9 Dwight Howard 21 T. J. Ford 5 Hedo Türkoğlu 9 Bennett Salvatore, Tom Washington, Marc Davis 17,519 Orlando wins series, 4–1 +Regular-season seriesOrlando won 2–1 in the regular-season series#fff November 7, 2007 2007 11070 TOR Orlando Magic 105 Toronto Raptors 96 Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario February 20, 2008 2008 02200 TOR Orlando Magic 110 Toronto Raptors 127 Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario #fff March 4, 2008 2008 03040 ORL Toronto Raptors 87 Orlando Magic 102 Amway Arena, Orlando, Florida This was the first playoff meeting between the Magic and the Raptors.https://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=ORL&opp_id=TOR&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Orlando Magic versus Toronto Raptors (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com February 26, 2016 Scoring 25 points and grabbing 22 rebounds, Dwight Howard gave the Magic their first playoffs win since 2003 as they practically led the entire game.Dwight Howard's 20–20 Game Leads Magic Past Raptors https://web.archive.org/web/20121102234046/http://www.nba.com/games/20080420/TORORL/recap.html 2012-11-02 , NBA.com Howard put up 29 and 20 in Game 2, as Hedo Türkoğlu scored the final four go-ahead points to give the Magic a 2–0 lead. The Raptors would respond with a strong Game 3 victory keyed by great point guard play from T. J. Ford and José Calderón. But Jameer Nelson, Rashard Lewis and Keith Bogans keyed strong three point shooting in Game 4 and overcame Chris Bosh's 39 points and 15 rebounds to bring the Magic out of Toronto with a 3–1 lead. Howard finished off the series in Game 5 as impressively as he started–21 points, 21 rebounds, 3 blocks giving the Magic their first playoff series victory since 1996. (4) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (5) Washington Wizards #eee April 19 Recap Washington Wizards 86 93 Cleveland Cavaliers Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio ESPN 24–19 22–27 23–19 17–28 Antawn Jamison 23 LeBron James 32 Antawn Jamison 19 Zydrunas Ilgauskas 11 DeShawn Stevenson 5 West, Gibson 5 each Bob Delaney, Scott Foster, David Jones 12:30 pm 20,562 Cleveland leads series, 1–0 #fff April 21 Recap Washington Wizards 86 116 Cleveland Cavaliers Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio TNT 22–27 18–26 23–33 23–30 three players 12 each LeBron James 30 Antawn Jamison 9 Ilgauskas, James 9 each Caron Butler 5 LeBron James 12 Dan Crawford, Rodney Mott, Mark Wunderlich 7:00 pm 20,562 Cleveland leads series, 2–0 #eee April 24 Recap Cleveland Cavaliers 72 108 Washington Wizards Verizon Center, Washington, D.C. TNT 17–21 16–28 18–28 21–31 LeBron James 22 DeShawn Stevenson 19 Anderson Varejão 9 Jamison, Blatche 7 each three players 3 each Antonio Daniels 6 Jim Clark, Sean Corbin, Eddie Rush 8:00 pm 20,173 Cleveland leads series, 2–1 #fff April 27 Recap Cleveland Cavaliers 100 97 Washington Wizards Verizon Center, Washington, D.C. ABC 24–28 30–16 26–29 20–24 LeBron James 34 Antawn Jamison 23 James, Wallace 12 each Antawn Jamison 11 LeBron James 7 DeShawn Stevenson 5 Joe Crawford, Michael Smith, Bill Spooner 1:00 pm 20,173 Cleveland leads series, 3–1 #eee April 30 Recap Washington Wizards 88 87 Cleveland Cavaliers Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio TNT 23–16 22–27 24–22 19–22 Caron Butler 32 LeBron James 34 Antawn Jamison 11 LeBron James 10 Caron Butler 5 Delonte West 8 Mike Callahan, James Capers, Joe Derosa 6:00 pm 20,562 Cleveland leads series, 3–2 #fff May 2 Recap Cleveland Cavaliers 105 88 Washington Wizards Verizon Center, Washington, D.C. Cleveland wins series, 4–2 ESPN2 27–31 29–17 23–16 26–24 LeBron James 27 Antawn Jamison 23 LeBron James 13 Antawn Jamison 15 LeBron James 13 Antonio Daniels 5 Steve Javie, Ken Mauer, Tom Washington 20,173 7:00 pm +Regular-season seriesTied 2–2 in the regular-season series#fff December 5, 2007 2007 12050 WAS Cleveland Cavaliers 86 Washington Wizards 105 Verizon Center, Washington, D.C. January 23, 2008 2008 01230 CLE Washington Wizards 85 Cleveland Cavaliers 121 Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio #fff February 22, 2008 2008 02220 CLE Washington Wizards 89 Cleveland Cavaliers 90 Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio March 13, 2008 2008 03130 WAS Cleveland Cavaliers 99 Washington Wizards 101 Verizon Center, Washington, D.C. This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Cavaliers winning three of the first four meetings. +Previous playoff serieshttps://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=CLE&opp_id=WAS&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Cleveland Cavaliers versus Washington Wizards (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com February 26, 2016Cleveland leads 3–1 in all-time playoff series#fff 1976 Cleveland Cavaliers 4 Washington Bullets 3 1976 Eastern Conference Semifinals #fff 1977 Cleveland Cavaliers 1 Washington Bullets 2 1977 Eastern Conference First Round #fff 2006 Cleveland Cavaliers 4 Washington Wizards 2 2006 Eastern Conference First Round #fff 2007 Cleveland Cavaliers 4 Washington Wizards 0 2007 Eastern Conference First Round LeBron James, labeled as "overrated" by Wizards guard DeShawn Stevenson, scored 20 of his 32 points in the second half to help the Cavs draw first blood in their third first round meeting in as many years.James Scores 20 of his 32 in Second Half, NBA.com The Cavs and Wizards traded blowouts in Games 2 and 3, but Cleveland took a 3–1 lead in the Verizon Center off of Delonte West's last second 3. Washington stayed alive by winning Game 5 when Caron Butler converted a running shot with only seconds left, capping off his 32-point performance. However, James led the Cavs to a dominating Game 6 victory in Washington with a triple-double (27 points, 13 rebounds, 13 assists); he also received crucial outside shooting from Wally Szczerbiak and Daniel Gibson, who combined for 48 points. This series was marked by several physical plays on James, with Brendan Haywood, Stevenson, and Darius Songaila picking up technical and flagrant fouls for hard contact on him. Western Conference first round (1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (8) Denver Nuggets #eee April 20 Recap Denver Nuggets 114 128 Los Angeles Lakers Staples Center, Los Angeles ABC 22–26 34–32 22–39 36–31 Iverson, Anthony 30 each Pau Gasol 36 Carmelo Anthony 12 Pau Gasol 16 Allen Iverson 7 Pau Gasol 8 Joe Crawford, Marc Davis, Ken Mauer 18,997 12:00 pm LA Lakers lead series, 1–0 #fff April 23 Recap Denver Nuggets 107 122 Los Angeles Lakers Staples Center, Los Angeles TNT 32–33 17–26 30–30 28–33 Allen Iverson 31 Kobe Bryant 49 Marcus Camby 17 Pau Gasol 10 Allen Iverson 6 Kobe Bryant 10 Luis Grillo, Monty McCutchen, Bennett Salvatore 7:30 pm 18,997 LA Lakers lead series, 2–0 #eee April 26 Recap Los Angeles Lakers 102 84 Denver Nuggets Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado TNT 23–20 30–26 30–18 19–20 Kobe Bryant 22 Carmelo Anthony 16 three players 7 each Marcus Camby 12 Kobe Bryant 8 Marcus Camby 4 Dan Crawford, Bill Kennedy, Greg Willard 3:30 pm 19,602 LA Lakers lead series, 3–0 #fff April 28 Recap Los Angeles Lakers 107 101 Denver Nuggets Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado LA Lakers win series, 4–0 TNT 32–23 32–31 15–23 28–24 Kobe Bryant 31 Allen Iverson 22 Lamar Odom 12 Marcus Camby 17 Kobe Bryant 6 Anthony Carter 6 Dick Bavetta, Joe Forte, Courtney Kirkland 19,264 8:30 pm +Regular-season seriesLos Angeles won 3–0 in the regular-season series#fff November 29, 2007 2007 11290 LAL Denver Nuggets 99 Los Angeles Lakers 127 Staples Center, Los Angeles December 5, 2007 2007 12050 DEN Los Angeles Lakers 111 Denver Nuggets 107 Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado #fff January 21, 2008 2008 01210 LAL Denver Nuggets 99 Los Angeles Lakers 116 Staples Center, Los Angeles This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning the first three 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 February 26, 2016Los Angeles leads 3–0 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 In Pau Gasol's playoff debut with the Lakers, he scored 36 points, 16 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 blocks as the Lakers beat the Nuggets in Game 1. Kobe Bryant gave the fans a vintage performance in Game 2 by scoring 49 points and adding 10 assists in a blowout at Staples Center. The Nuggets were routed at home in Game 3, with Carmelo Anthony stating the team quit in the second half. Game 4 was closer, but Bryant led the Lakers with 14 points in the last 5½ minutes to sweep the Nuggets at the Pepsi Center. It was the first time the Lakers advanced to the second round since the 2004 season.Lakers Take 3-0 Series Lead Over Nuggets, NBA.com The Lakers led at the end of every quarter throughout the whole series, only the seventh time that had happened in NBA history.Best-of-Seven Annihilations, WhoWins.com (2) New Orleans Hornets vs. (7) Dallas Mavericks #eee April 19 Recap Dallas Mavericks 92 104 New Orleans Hornets New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana ESPN 26–19 26–21 20–36 20–28 Dirk Nowitzki 31 Chris Paul 35 Dirk Nowitzki 10 Tyson Chandler 15 Jason Kidd 9 Chris Paul 10 Dick Bavetta, Sean Corbin, Joe Forte 6:00 pm 17,446 New Orleans leads series, 1–0 #fff April 22 Recap Dallas Mavericks 103 127 New Orleans Hornets New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana TNT 29–39 22–28 28–32 24–28 Dirk Nowitzki 27 Chris Paul 32 Brandon Bass 8 Tyson Chandler 11 Jason Kidd 8 Chris Paul 17 Joe Crawford, Courtney Kirkland, Greg Willard 6:00 pm 17,855 New Orleans leads series, 2–0 #eee April 25 Recap New Orleans Hornets 87 97 Dallas Mavericks American Airlines Center, Dallas ESPN 16–23 24–24 23–27 24–23 Jannero Pargo 30 Dirk Nowitzki 32 Tyson Chandler 11 Dirk Nowitzki 19 Chris Paul 10 Nowitzki, Terry 6 each Tony Brothers, Joe DeRosa, Ron Garretson 7:00 pm 20,839 New Orleans leads series, 2–1 #fff April 27 Recap New Orleans Hornets 97 84 Dallas Mavericks American Airlines Center, Dallas TNT 23–30 25–14 28–22 21–18 David West 30 Dirk Nowitzki 22 David West 9 Dirk Nowitzki 13 Chris Paul 8 three players 3 each James Capers, Steve Javie, Mark Wunderlich 8:30 pm 20,644 New Orleans leads series, 3–1 #eee April 29 Recap Dallas Mavericks 94 99 New Orleans Hornets New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans wins series, 4–1 TNT 22–28 17–26 24–17 31–28 Dirk Nowitzki 22 David West 29 Dirk Nowitzki 13 Tyson Chandler 14 Terry, Kidd 9 each Chris Paul 15 Dan Crawford, Scott Foster, Bill Kennedy 18,260 6:00 pm +Regular-season seriesTied 2–2 in the regular-season series#fff December 1, 2007 2007 12010 NOH Dallas Mavericks 108 New Orleans Hornets 112 OT New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana December 14, 2007 2007 12140 DAL New Orleans Hornets 80 Dallas Mavericks 89 American Airlines Center, Dallas #fff February 20, 2008 2008 02200 NOH Dallas Mavericks 93 New Orleans Hornets 104 New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana April 16, 2008 2008 04160 DAL New Orleans Hornets 98 Dallas Mavericks 111 American Airlines Center, Dallas This was the first playoff meeting between the Mavericks and the New Orleans Pelicans/Hornets franchise.https://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=DAL&opp_id=NOH&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Dallas Mavericks versus New Orleans Pelicans (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com February 26, 2016 In his playoff debut, Chris Paul scored 35 points, dished out 10 assists, and stole the ball 4 times to lead the Hornets to a comeback home win against the Mavericks.Paul Lifts Hornets over Mavs for Game 1 Win, NBA.com He would replicate that type of performance in Game 2 with 32 points and 17 assists. Dallas would come out with a dominant Game 3 performance at home after inserting Jason Terry into the starting lineup, but New Orleans would win the final 2 games of the series, keyed by David West in Game 4 and Paul's triple-double in Game 5. (3) San Antonio Spurs vs. (6) Phoenix Suns #eee April 19 Recap Phoenix Suns 115 117 2OT San Antonio Spurs AT&T Center, San Antonio ABC 24–20 24–20 23–25 22–28 11–11, 11–13 Steve Nash 25 Tim Duncan 40 Leandro Barbosa 8 Tim Duncan 15 Steve Nash 13 three players 5 each Tony Brothers, Mike Callahan, Bennett Salvatore 18,797 2:00 pm San Antonio leads series, 1–0 #fff April 22 Recap Phoenix Suns 96 102 San Antonio Spurs AT&T Center, San Antonio TNT 35–26 26–28 11–27 24–21 Amar'e Stoudemire 33 Tony Parker 32 Shaquille O'Neal 14 Tim Duncan 17 Steve Nash 10 Tony Parker 7 Dick Bavetta, Ken Mauer, Leon Wood 8:30 pm 18,797 San Antonio leads series, 2–0 #eee April 25 Recap San Antonio Spurs 115 99 Phoenix Suns US Airways Center, Phoenix, Arizona ESPN 33–19 28–28 30–25 24–27 Tony Parker 41 Amar'e Stoudemire 28 Tim Duncan 10 Amar'e Stoudemire 11 Tony Parker 12 Steve Nash 9 James Capers, Steve Javie, Monty McCutchen 7:30 pm 18,422 San Antonio leads series, 3–0 #fff April 27 Recap San Antonio Spurs 86 105 Phoenix Suns US Airways Center, Phoenix, Arizona ABC 13–34 30–31 22–28 21–12 Tony Parker 18 Raja Bell 27 Tim Duncan 10 Shaquille O'Neal 12 Tony Parker 3 Boris Diaw 8 Bob Delaney, Scott Foster, David Jones 18,422 1:30 pm San Antonio leads series, 3–1 #eee April 29 Recap Phoenix Suns 87 92 San Antonio Spurs San Antonio wins series, 4–1 AT&T Center, San Antonio TNT 26–30 19–24 27–15 15–23 Boris Diaw 22 Tony Parker 31 Amar'e Stoudemire 11 Tim Duncan 17 Boris Diaw 8 Tony Parker 8 Joe Crawford, Derrick Stafford, Greg Willard 18,797 8:30 pm +Regular-season seriesPhoenix won 3–1 in the regular-season series#fff December 17, 2007 2007 12170 SAS Phoenix Suns 100 San Antonio Spurs 95 AT&T Center, San Antonio January 31, 2008 2008 01310 PHO San Antonio Spurs 84 Phoenix Suns 81 US Airways Center, Phoenix, Arizona #fff March 9, 2008 2008 03090 PHO San Antonio Spurs 87 Phoenix Suns 94 US Airways Center, Phoenix, Arizona April 9, 2008 2008 04090 SAS Phoenix Suns 96 San Antonio Spurs 79 AT&T Center, San Antonio This was the ninth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Spurs winning five of the first eight meetings. +Previous playoff serieshttps://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=PHO&opp_id=SAS&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Phoenix Suns versus San Antonio Spurs (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com February 26, 2016 San Antonio leads 5–3 in all-time playoff series#fff 1992 Phoenix Suns 3 San Antonio Spurs 0 1992 Western Conference First Round #fff 1993 Phoenix Suns 4 San Antonio Spurs 2 1993 Western Conference Semifinals #fff 1996 Phoenix Suns 1 San Antonio Spurs 3 1996 Western Conference First Round #fff 1998 Phoenix Suns 1 San Antonio Spurs 3 1998 Western Conference First Round #fff 2000 Phoenix Suns 3 San Antonio Spurs 1 2000 Western Conference First Round #fff 2003 Phoenix Suns 2 San Antonio Spurs 4 2003 Western Conference First Round #fff 2005 Phoenix Suns 1 San Antonio Spurs 4 2005 Western Conference Finals #fff 2007 Phoenix Suns 2 San Antonio Spurs 4 2007 Western Conference Semifinals Michael Finley made a game-tying three in regulation, Tim Duncan scored 40 points, including a rare three-point field goal to force a second overtime, and Manu Ginóbili clinched victory with a drive to the basket to break the 115-all deadlock with 1.8 seconds left to win a classic Game 1.Duncan Scores 40 to Lead Spurs to Game 1 Win Over Suns https://web.archive.org/web/20120111110222/http://www.nba.com/games/20080419/PHXSAS/recap.html 2012-01-11 , NBA.com Tony Parker would then pace the Spurs to their next two victories in the series, scoring 32 and 41 in Games 2 and 3 respectively. At the brink of elimination, Phoenix responded with a strong Game 4. But costly missed free throws by Shaquille O'Neal and key turnovers by Steve Nash helped San Antonio to prevail in Game 5, led again by Parker's 31 points. Also notable was Gregg Popovich's use of the Hack-a-Shaq throughout the series to disrupt the Suns offense when Shaquille O'Neal was on the floor. O'Neal would shoot 64 free throws in the five games, making 32 of them. (4) Utah Jazz vs. (5) Houston Rockets #eee April 19 Recap Utah Jazz 93 82 Houston Rockets Toyota Center, Houston, Texas ESPN 23–18 24–23 21–19 25–22 Andrei Kirilenko 21 Shane Battier 22 Carlos Boozer 16 Luis Scola 13 Deron Williams 10 Tracy McGrady 7 Dan Crawford, Ron Garretson, Bill Kennedy 18,213 8:30 pm Utah leads series, 1–0 #fff April 21 Recap Utah Jazz 90 84 Houston Rockets Toyota Center, Houston, Texas TNT 26–17 21–24 22–26 21–17 Deron Williams 22 Tracy McGrady 23 Mehmet Okur 16 Tracy McGrady 13 Deron Williams 5 Tracy McGrady 9 Tony Brothers, Mike Callahan, Bennett Salvatore 8:30 pm 18,158 Utah leads series, 2–0 #eee April 24 Recap Houston Rockets 94 92 Utah Jazz EnergySolutions Arena, Salt Lake City TNT 27–23 17–21 26–32 24–16 Tracy McGrady 27 Deron Williams 28 Carl Landry 11 Carlos Boozer 13 Tracy McGrady 7 Deron Williams 12 Bob Delaney, Tom Washington, Leon Wood 8:30 pm 19,911 Utah leads series, 2–1 #fff April 26 Recap Houston Rockets 82 86 Utah Jazz EnergySolutions Arena, Salt Lake City ESPN 23–21 15–25 23–20 21–20 Tracy McGrady 23 Deron Williams 17 Tracy McGrady 10 Mehmet Okur 18 Tracy McGrady 8 Deron Williams 9 Marc Davis, Ken Mauer, Eddie Rush 8:30 pm 19,911 Utah leads series, 3–1 #eee April 29 Recap Utah Jazz 69 95 Houston Rockets Toyota Center, Houston, Texas NBA TV 16–18 16–25 23–31 14–21 Carlos Boozer 19 Tracy McGrady 29 Okur, Boozer 10 each Luis Scola 12 Deron Williams 6 Rafer Alston 6 Sean Corbin, Steve Javie, Mark Wunderlich 8:30 pm 18,269 Utah leads series, 3–2 #fff May 2 Recap Houston Rockets 91 113 Utah Jazz EnergySolutions Arena, Salt Lake City Utah wins series, 4–2 ESPN 22–32 32–26 11–27 26–28 Tracy McGrady 40 Deron Williams 25 Tracy McGrady 10 Mehmet Okur 13 Tracy McGrady 5 Deron Williams 9 Joe DeRosa, Bill Spooner, Derrick Stafford 19,911 8:30 pm This is the last playoff match-up between Utah & Houston until 2018. +Regular-season seriesUtah won 2–1 in the regular-season series#fff November 1, 2007 2007 11010 UTA Houston Rockets 106 Utah Jazz 95 EnergySolutions Arena, Salt Lake City January 27, 2008 2008 01270 HOU Utah Jazz 97 Houston Rockets 89 Toyota Center, Houston, Texas #fff April 14, 2008 2008 04140 UTA Houston Rockets 96 Utah Jazz 105 EnergySolutions Arena, Salt Lake City This was the seventh playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Jazz winning four of the first six meetings. +Previous playoff serieshttps://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=HOU&opp_id=UTA&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Houston Rockets versus Utah Jazz (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com February 26, 2016Utah leads 4–2 in all-time playoff series#fff 1985 Houston Rockets 2 Utah Jazz 3 1985 Western Conference First Round #fff 1994 Houston Rockets 4 Utah Jazz 1 1994 Western Conference Finals #fff 1995 Houston Rockets 3 Utah Jazz 2 1995 Western Conference First Round #fff 1997 Houston Rockets 2 Utah Jazz 4 1997 Western Conference Finals #fff 1998 Houston Rockets 2 Utah Jazz 3 1998 Western Conference First Round #fff 2007 Houston Rockets 3 Utah Jazz 4 2007 Western Conference First Round The Jazz had a balanced game from Andrei Kirilenko, Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams to steal the home court advantage away from the Rockets.Jazz beat Rockets 93-82 in series opener, NBA.com A similar performance in Game 2 put Utah in a commanding 2–0 lead going back to Salt Lake City. Rafer Alston's return to the Houston lineup after injury, along with Tracy McGrady's 27 points and Carl Landry's key block of Deron Williams helped Houston steal Game 3 on the road. Williams responded with a strong performance in a Game 4 victory, plus got some help from Mehmet Okur with his offensive rebound off of his two missed free throws. The Rockets controlled Game 5 to stay alive, but despite getting 40 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists from McGrady in Game 6 and 15 pts from Luis Scola, the rest of the team shot 10/39 from the field and could not overcome losing Alston to an ankle injury as the Jazz blew the game open with a 27–11 3rd quarter. Conference semifinals Eastern Conference semifinals (1) Boston Celtics vs. (4) Cleveland Cavaliers #eee May 6 Recap Cleveland Cavaliers 72 76 Boston Celtics TD Banknorth Garden, Boston TNT 15–25 22–16 15–12 20–23 Zydrunas Ilgauskas 22 Kevin Garnett 28 Zydrunas Ilgauskas 12 Kendrick Perkins 12 LeBron James 9 Rajon Rondo 6 Scott Foster, Eddie Rush, Michael Smith 8:00 pm 18,624 Boston leads series, 1–0 #fff May 8 Recap Cleveland Cavaliers 73 89 Boston Celtics TD Banknorth Garden, Boston ESPN 24–17 12–27 15–26 22–19 LeBron James 21 Paul Pierce 19 Anderson Varejão 10 Kevin Garnett 12 LeBron James 6 Rajon Rondo 6 Joe Crawford, Bill Spooner, Derrick Stafford 7:00 pm 18,624 Boston leads series, 2–0 #eee May 10 Recap Boston Celtics 84 108 Cleveland Cavaliers Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio ABC 13–32 22–20 28–27 21–29 Kevin Garnett 17 James, West 21 each Kevin Garnett 9 Ben Wallace 9 Paul Pierce 5 LeBron James 8 Bob Delaney, Steve Javie, Mark Wunderlich 8:00 pm 20,562 Boston leads series, 2–1 #fff May 12 Recap Boston Celtics 77 88 Cleveland Cavaliers Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio TNT 21–23 22–22 22–23 12–20 three players 15 each LeBron James 21 Kevin Garnett 10 Ilgauskas, Wallace 7 each Garnett, Rondo 4 each LeBron James 13 Jim Clark, Bennett Salvatore, Greg Willard 8:00 pm 20,562 Series tied, 2–2 #eee May 14 Recap Cleveland Cavaliers 89 96 Boston Celtics TD Banknorth Garden, Boston TNT 23–18 23–25 17–29 26–24 LeBron James 35 Paul Pierce 29 Ilgauskas, Varejão 7 each Kevin Garnett 16 LeBron James 5 Rajon Rondo 13 Tony Brothers, Dan Crawford, Ron Garretson 8:00 pm 18,624 Boston leads series, 3–2 #fff May 16 Recap Boston Celtics 69 74 Cleveland Cavaliers Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio ESPN 18–18 15–24 17–17 19–15 Kevin Garnett 25 LeBron James 32 Kevin Garnett 8 LeBron James 12 Rajon Rondo 5 LeBron James 6 Dick Bavetta, Joe DeRosa, Joe Forte 8:00 pm 20,562 Series tied, 3–3 #eee May 18 Recap Cleveland Cavaliers 92 97 Boston Celtics Boston wins series, 4–3 TD Banknorth Garden, Boston ABC 13–18 27–32 28–23 24–24 LeBron James 45 Paul Pierce 41 Joe Smith 6 Kevin Garnett 13 LeBron James 6 Rajon Rondo 8 Ken Mauer, Eddie Rush, Bennett Salvatore 18,624 3:30 pm +Regular-season seriesTied 2–2 in the regular-season series#fff November 27, 2007 2007 11270 CLE Boston Celtics 104 Cleveland Cavaliers 109 OT Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio December 2, 2007 2007 12020 BOS Cleveland Cavaliers 70 Boston Celtics 80 TD Banknorth Garden, Boston #fff February 5, 2008 2008 02050 CLE Boston Celtics 113 Cleveland Cavaliers 114 Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio February 27, 2008 2008 02270 BOS Cleveland Cavaliers 87 Boston Celtics 92 TD Banknorth Garden, Boston This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning two of the first three meetings. +Previous playoff serieshttps://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=BOS&opp_id=CLE&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Boston Celtics versus Cleveland Cavaliers (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com February 26, 2016Boston leads 2–1 in all-time playoff series#fff 1976 Boston Celtics 4 Cleveland Cavaliers 2 1976 Eastern Conference Finals #fff 1985 Boston Celtics 3 Cleveland Cavaliers 1 1985 Eastern Conference First Round #fff 1992 Boston Celtics 3 Cleveland Cavaliers 4 1992 Eastern Conference Semifinals Although the Celtics had a quick turnaround from their unexpected seven-game series with Atlanta, they managed to hold off the Cavs by winning the first two games in Boston. Kevin Garnett scored 28 points and 8 rebounds and made the go-ahead shot in Game 1. LeBron James would only shoot 8 for 42 from the field in the first 2 games. Cleveland would come back to win the next two games, Game 3, a blowout where five Cavs scored in double figures, and Game 4 where James would punctuate the victory with a dunk over Garnett. James's shooting improved in the return to the Garden in Game 5, but received minimal help from his teammates as Rajon Rondo, Garnett, and Paul Pierce all scored over 20 points to push Boston over the top. Game 6 was an ugly affair, with both teams shooting under 40 percent, but a 32–12–6 performance by James was enough. Boston, the best road team in the regular season, fell to 0–6 on the road. Game 7 would end in a duel between Pierce (41 points) and James (45 points) that some compared to the Bird–Wilkins duel in the 1988 Eastern Conference Semifinals.DgC3khaCi50 Pierce–James duel in the 2008 Eastern Conference SemifinalsIfLjD5ft6o4 Bird–Wilkins duel in the 1988 Eastern Conference Semifinals But timely offensive rebounding (10 in all), 18 second chance points, and a few key shots from Celtics veteran P.J. Brown helped push Boston into the Eastern Conference Finals. (2) Detroit Pistons vs. (3) Orlando Magic #eee May 3 Recap Orlando Magic 72 91 Detroit Pistons The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, Michigan TNT 22–22 20–21 16–22 14–26 Lewis, Türkoğlu 18 each Chauncey Billups 19 Dwight Howard 8 Jason Maxiell 9 Jameer Nelson 5 Chauncey Billups 7 Dick Bavetta, Sean Corbin, Monty McCutchen 7:30 pm 22,076 Detroit leads series, 1–0 #fff May 5 Recap Orlando Magic 93 100 Detroit Pistons The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, Michigan TNT 29–29 11–21 36–28 17–22 Howard, Nelson 22 Chauncey Billups 28 Dwight Howard 18 Tayshaun Prince 10 Hedo Türkoğlu 7 Tayshaun Prince 5 Joe Forte, Steve Javie, Derrick Stafford 7:00 pm 22,076 Detroit leads series, 2–0 #eee May 7 Recap Detroit Pistons 86 111 Orlando Magic Amway Arena, Orlando, Florida TNT 16–30 26–24 27–19 17–38 Richard Hamilton 24 Rashard Lewis 33 Tayshaun Prince 7 Dwight Howard 12 Hamilton, Prince 3 each Hedo Türkoğlu 6 Joe Forte, Steve Javie, Derrick Stafford 8:00 pm 17,519 Detroit leads series, 2–1 #fff May 10 Recap Detroit Pistons 90 89 Orlando Magic Amway Arena, Orlando, Florida ESPN 21–27 23–28 26–15 20–19 Richard Hamilton 32 Hedo Türkoğlu 20 Antonio McDyess 14 Dwight Howard 12 Tayshaun Prince 5 Hedo Türkoğlu 4 Mike Callahan, Joe Crawford, Tom Washington 5:00 pm 17,519 Detroit leads series, 3–1 #eee May 13 Recap Orlando Magic 86 91 Detroit Pistons The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, Michigan Detroit wins series, 4–1 TNT 20–20 21–27 27–18 18–26 Hedo Türkoğlu 18 Richard Hamilton 31 Dwight Howard 17 Antonio McDyess 11 Hedo Türkoğlu 7 Rodney Stuckey 6 Scott Foster, Ken Mauer, Eddie Rush 22,076 7:00 pm +Regular-season seriesTied 2–2 in the regular-season series#fff November 2, 2007 2007 11020 ORL Detroit Pistons 116 Orlando Magic 92 Amway Arena, Orlando, Florida January 21, 2008 2008 01210 ORL Detroit Pistons 100 Orlando Magic 102 Amway Arena, Orlando, Florida #fff January 25, 2008 2008 01250 DET Orlando Magic 93 Detroit Pistons 101 The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, Michigan February 19, 2008 2008 02190 DET Orlando Magic 103 Detroit Pistons 85 The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, Michigan This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Pistons winning two of the first three meetings. +Previous playoff serieshttps://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=DET&opp_id=ORL&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Detroit Pistons versus Orlando Magic (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com February 26, 2016Detroit leads 2–1 in all-time playoff series#fff 1996 Detroit Pistons 0 Orlando Magic 3 1996 Eastern Conference First Round #fff 2003 Detroit Pistons 4 Orlando Magic 3 2003 Eastern Conference First Round #fff 2007 Detroit Pistons 4 Orlando Magic 0 2007 Eastern Conference First Round The Pistons opened up with a rout in Game 1, as Detroit's big men keyed in on Dwight Howard and forced him to playoff lows 12 points and 8 rebounds, with five Pistons scoring in double figures. After being quiet in Game 1, the Magic's 3-point shooting picked up (11/26, with Jameer Nelson making 5-of-8), but could not overcome 19 turnovers and fell down in the series 2–0. There was a controversial call at the end of the third quarter, where Chauncey Billups made a 3 near the end of the 3rd quarter when the clock froze and approximately 0.5 seconds remained, but TNT clocks later revealed that Billups could not have gotten the ball off in time. The Magic would take a 24–6 lead at home in Game 3 and use a 38–17 4th quarter to blow out Detroit; they were paced by 33 points by Rashard Lewis. Billups would injure his right hamstring early in the game and miss the remainder of the series, but they would not need him for Game 4 as Richard Hamilton scored 32 points and the Pistons came from 15 back in the 3rd quarter. Tayshaun Prince made the go-ahead basket with 8.9 seconds left and Hedo Türkoğlu missed a layup as time ran out. Billups's starting replacement, Rodney Stuckey, struggled in Game 4, but came back with a strong Game 5. The Magic would outshoot the Pistons 48 to 36 percent, would make 36 percent of their 3s compared to 21 percent for Detroit, and outrebound them 46 to 38, but turned the ball over 21 times while Detroit had only 3. Rip Hamilton again led Detroit with 31 points, and Prince made the crucial defensive play by blocking Türkoğlu's layup in the waning seconds. Detroit advanced to their sixth straight Eastern Conference Finals, the longest Conference Finals streak since the Los Angeles Lakers went to eight straight in the 80s. This marked the most recent Pistons postseason series win until 2026, which would also be against the Magic. Western Conference semifinals (1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (4) Utah Jazz #eee May 4 Recap Utah Jazz 98 109 Los Angeles Lakers Staples Center, Los Angeles ABC 24–25 17–29 31–25 26–30 Mehmet Okur 21 Kobe Bryant 38 Mehmet Okur 19 Pau Gasol 10 Deron Williams 9 Kobe Bryant 7 Jim Clark, Joe Crawford, Ron Garretson 1:30 pm 18,997 LA Lakers lead series, 1–0 #fff May 7 Recap Utah Jazz 110 120 Los Angeles Lakers Staples Center, Los Angeles TNT 18–33 31–30 34–30 27–27 Deron Williams 25 Kobe Bryant 34 Paul Millsap 10 Lamar Odom 16 Deron Williams 10 Kobe Bryant 6 Tony Brothers, Dan Crawford, Greg Willard 7:30 pm 18,997 LA Lakers lead series, 2–0 #eee May 9 Recap Los Angeles Lakers 99 104 Utah Jazz EnergySolutions Arena, Salt Lake City ESPN 23–23 20–29 29–27 27–25 Kobe Bryant 34 Carlos Boozer 27 Lamar Odom 12 Carlos Boozer 20 Kobe Bryant 7 Deron Williams 12 Dick Bavetta, Ken Mauer, Monty McCutchen 19,911 7:00 pm LA Lakers lead series, 2–1 #fff May 11 Recap Los Angeles Lakers 115 123 Utah Jazz EnergySolutions Arena, Salt Lake City ABC 21–31 34–24 20–24 33–29 OT 7–15 Kobe Bryant 33 Deron Williams 29 Lamar Odom 13 Carlos Boozer 12 Kobe Bryant 10 Deron Williams 14 Sean Corbin, Joe DeRosa, Eddie Rush 19,911 1:30 pm Series tied, 2–2 #eee May 14 Recap Utah Jazz 104 111 Los Angeles Lakers Staples Center, Los Angeles TNT 26–29 28–32 27–20 23–30 Deron Williams 27 Kobe Bryant 26 Mehmet Okur 13 Lamar Odom 11 Deron Williams 10 Pau Gasol 8 Bob Delaney, Steve Javie, Tom Washington 18,997 7:30 pm LA Lakers lead series, 3–2 #fff May 16 Recap Los Angeles Lakers 108 105 Utah Jazz EnergySolutions Arena, Salt Lake City LA Lakers win series, 4–2 ESPN 33–20 29–23 24–27 22–35 Kobe Bryant 34 Deron Williams 21 Pau Gasol 13 Carlos Boozer 14 Kobe Bryant 6 Deron Williams 14 James Capers, Joe Crawford, Scott Foster 19,911 8:30 pm +Regular-season seriesLos Angeles won 3–1 in the regular-season series#fff November 4, 2007 2007 11040 LAL Utah Jazz 109 Los Angeles Lakers 119 Staples Center, Los Angeles November 30, 2007 2007 11300 UTA Los Angeles Lakers 96 Utah Jazz 120 EnergySolutions Arena, Salt Lake City #fff December 28, 2007 2007 12280 LAL Utah Jazz 109 Los Angeles Lakers 123 Staples Center, Los Angeles March 20, 2008 2008 03200 UTA Los Angeles Lakers 106 Utah Jazz 95 EnergySolutions Arena, Salt Lake City This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Jazz winning two of the first three meetings. +Previous playoff serieshttps://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=LAL&opp_id=UTA&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Los Angeles Lakers versus Utah Jazz (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com February 26, 2016Utah leads 2–1 in all-time playoff series#fff 1988 Los Angeles Lakers 4 Utah Jazz 3 1988 Western Conference Semifinals #fff 1997 Los Angeles Lakers 1 Utah Jazz 4 1997 Western Conference Semifinals #fff 1998 Los Angeles Lakers 0 Utah Jazz 4 1998 Western Conference Finals The Lakers took Game 1 in Staples Center, winning by 11 against the Jazz. After being presented with the season's NBA MVP award in Game 2, Kobe Bryant led the Lakers to victory with 34 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists. However, as the series shifted back to Utah, the Jazz responded, winning Games 3 and 4 behind the performances of Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer, who bounced back after two poor games in Los Angeles. The Lakers came back with authority as they took Game 5 with Bryant, Pau Gasol, and Lamar Odom scoring 20 plus points each. The Jazz looked to force a Game 7, but the Lakers did not trail and closed out the series in Game 6 with a 108–105 win at Utah, where the Jazz were 37–4 during the regular season. Bryant led the team with 34 points as the Lakers advanced to the Western Conference Finals, which they had not reached since 2004. This was the first playoff meeting between the two teams since the 1998 Western Conference Finals. (2) New Orleans Hornets vs. (3) San Antonio Spurs #eee May 3 Recap San Antonio Spurs 82 101 New Orleans Hornets New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana TNT 27–23 22–22 17–29 16–27 Tony Parker 23 David West 30 Ginóbili, Oberto 6 each Tyson Chandler 15 Manu Ginóbili 7 Chris Paul 13 Mike Callahan, Marc Davis, Eddie Rush 18,040 9:00 pm New Orleans leads series, 1–0 #fff May 5 Recap San Antonio Spurs 84 102 New Orleans Hornets New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana TNT 23–22 20–20 18–36 23–24 Tim Duncan 18 Chris Paul 30 Tim Duncan 8 Tyson Chandler 11 Manu Ginóbili 7 Chris Paul 12 Dick Bavetta, Tom Washington, Mark Wunderlich 8:30 pm 17,927 New Orleans leads series, 2–0 #eee May 8 Recap New Orleans Hornets 99 110 San Antonio Spurs AT&T Center, San Antonio ESPN 23–21 33–33 22–29 21–27 Chris Paul 35 Tony Parker 31 David West 12 Tim Duncan 13 Chris Paul 9 Tony Parker 11 Bob Delaney, Steve Javie, Bill Kennedy 8:30 pm 18,797 New Orleans leads series, 2–1 #fff May 11 Recap New Orleans Hornets 80 100 San Antonio Spurs AT&T Center, San Antonio TNT 22–24 20–31 19–30 19–15 Chris Paul 23 Tim Duncan 22 Paul, Armstrong 6 each Tim Duncan 15 Chris Paul 5 Ginóbili, Parker 8 each James Capers, Dan Crawford, Ron Garretson 7:00 pm 18,797 Series tied, 2–2 #eee May 13 Recap San Antonio Spurs 79 101 New Orleans Hornets New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana TNT 23–21 24–23 11–28 21–29 Manu Ginóbili 20 David West 38 Tim Duncan 23 David West 14 Manu Ginóbili 7 Chris Paul 14 Joe Crawford, Joe DeRosa, Joe Forte 18,246 8:30 pm New Orleans leads series, 3–2 #fff May 15 Recap New Orleans Hornets 80 99 San Antonio Spurs AT&T Center, San Antonio ESPN 24–36 27–22 12–20 17–21 Chris Paul 21 Manu Ginóbili 25 five players 6 each Tim Duncan 15 Chris Paul 8 Tim Duncan 6 Ken Mauer, Monty McCutchen, Bennett Salvatore 18,797 8:00 pm Series tied, 3–3 #eee May 19 Recap San Antonio Spurs 91 82 New Orleans Hornets San Antonio wins series, 4–3 New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana TNT 23–20 28–22 20–14 20–26 Manu Ginóbili 26 David West 20 Tim Duncan 14 Tyson Chandler 15 Parker, Ginóbili 5 each Chris Paul 14 Dick Bavetta, Scott Foster, Steve Javie 18,235 7:30 pm +Regular-season seriesTied 2–2 in the regular-season series#fff November 9, 2007 2007 11090 NOH San Antonio Spurs 97 New Orleans Hornets 85 New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana January 26, 2008 2008 01260 SAS New Orleans Hornets 102 San Antonio Spurs 78 AT&T Center, San Antonio #fff February 23, 2008 2008 02230 SAS New Orleans Hornets 89 San Antonio Spurs 98 AT&T Center, San Antonio March 12, 2008 2008 03120 NOH San Antonio Spurs 75 New Orleans Hornets 100 New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana This was the first playoff meeting between the Spurs and the New Orleans Pelicans/Hornets franchise.https://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=NOH&opp_id=SAS&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — New Orleans Pelicans versus San Antonio Spurs (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com February 26, 2016 The Hornets, who earned the home-court advantage via winning the Southwest division, were able to gain a quick 2–0 lead over the veteran Spurs. But when the series shifted to San Antonio, the Spurs regained their edge, returning the favor in Games 3 and 4. Game 5 back in New Orleans shocked many as the Hornets played off the home crowd to a 22-point rout. The home teams were clearly dominating in this series as Game 6 was more of the same in San Antonio. However, that all changed when a much anticipated Game 7 saw the Spurs build a 15-point lead after 3 quarters, which proved to be enough (even after the Hornets cut the deficit to 3 with 1:35 left) to send them to another Western Conference Finals. The Spurs were the 4th team to win game 7 on the road after the home team won the first six. Conference finals Eastern Conference finals (1) Boston Celtics vs. (2) Detroit Pistons #eee May 20 Recap Detroit Pistons 79 88 Boston Celtics TD Banknorth Garden, Boston ESPN 17–22 23–19 17–28 22–19 Tayshaun Prince 16 Kevin Garnett 26 Antonio McDyess 11 Kendrick Perkins 10 Rasheed Wallace 4 Rajon Rondo 7 Joe Crawford, Greg Willard, Mark Wunderlich 18,624 8:30 pm Boston leads series, 1–0 #fff May 22 Recap Detroit Pistons 103 97 Boston Celtics TD Banknorth Garden, Boston ESPN 18–20 32–23 28–26 25–28 Richard Hamilton 25 Paul Pierce 26 Rasheed Wallace 10 Kevin Garnett 13 Chauncey Billups 7 Rajon Rondo 8 Sean Corbin, Steve Javie, Tom Washington 8:30 pm 18,624 Series tied, 1–1 #eee May 24 Recap Boston Celtics 94 80 Detroit Pistons The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, Michigan ABC 25–17 25–15 23–23 21–25 Kevin Garnett 22 Richard Hamilton 26 Kevin Garnett 13 McDyess, Wallace 8 each Ray Allen 6 Billups, Stuckey 4 each Dick Bavetta, Ron Garretson, Monty McCutchen 8:30 pm 22,076 Boston leads series, 2–1 #fff May 26 Recap Boston Celtics 75 94 Detroit Pistons The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, Michigan ESPN 17–22 22–21 19–22 17–29 Garnett, Pierce 16 each Antonio McDyess 21 Kevin Garnett 10 Antonio McDyess 16 Rajon Rondo 4 Billups, Hamilton 7 each Dan Crawford, Bob Delaney, Scott Foster 22,076 8:30 pm Series tied, 2–2 #eee May 28 Recap Detroit Pistons 102 106 Boston Celtics TD Banknorth Garden, Boston ESPN 23–23 23–29 25–32 31–22 Chauncey Billups 26 Kevin Garnett 33 Billups, McDyess 5 each Kendrick Perkins 16 Billups, Hamilton 6 each Rajon Rondo 13 Mike Callahan, Ken Mauer, Eddie Rush 8:30 pm 18,624 Boston leads series, 3–2 #fff May 30 Recap Boston Celtics 89 81 Detroit Pistons Boston wins series, 4–2 The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, Michigan ESPN 24–21 16–16 20–31 29–13 Paul Pierce 27 Chauncey Billups 29 Paul Pierce 8 Rasheed Wallace 10 Kevin Garnett 4 Chauncey Billups 6 Tony Brothers, Joe Derosa, Bennett Salvatore 22,076 8:30 pm +Regular-season seriesBoston won 2–1 in the regular-season series#fff December 19, 2007 2007 12190 BOS Detroit Pistons 87 Boston Celtics 85 TD Banknorth Garden, Boston January 5, 2008 2008 01050 DET Boston Celtics 92 Detroit Pistons 85 The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, Michigan #fff March 5, 2008 2008 03050 BOS Detroit Pistons 78 Boston Celtics 90 TD Banknorth Garden, Boston This was the eighth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning four of the first seven meetings. +Previous playoff serieshttps://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=BOS&opp_id=DET&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Boston Celtics versus Detroit Pistons (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com February 26, 2016Boston leads 4–3 in all-time playoff series#fff 1968 Boston Celtics 4 Detroit Pistons 2 1968 Eastern Division Semifinals #fff 1985 Boston Celtics 4 Detroit Pistons 2 1985 Eastern Conference Semifinals #fff 1987 Boston Celtics 4 Detroit Pistons 3 1987 Eastern Conference Finals #fff 1988 Boston Celtics 2 Detroit Pistons 4 1988 Eastern Conference Finals #fff 1989 Boston Celtics 0 Detroit Pistons 3 1989 Eastern Conference First Round #fff 1991 Boston Celtics 2 Detroit Pistons 4 1991 Eastern Conference Semifinals #fff 2002 Boston Celtics 4 Detroit Pistons 1 2002 Eastern Conference Semifinals Detroit walked into the NBA Eastern Conference Finals for the sixth straight season. Boston held off the Pistons in Game 1 88–79, but let Detroit rally a strong performance in Game 2 to win it 103–97 (marking Boston's first home court loss in the post-season). However, they let the Celtics win their first road playoff game 94–80 in Game 3. Game 4 saw the Pistons win 94–75, however they lost Game 5 106–102 despite a scoring run late in the game. In Game 6, the Pistons strolled into the fourth quarter leading 70–60, but a lack of focus, a poor game from Rasheed Wallace, and a rally-destroying turnover by Tayshaun Prince ultimately led to their demise, as the Pistons would end their season losing 89–81. With that, the Celtics moved on to the NBA Finals, and they would face the Los Angeles Lakers for the 11th time. After game 4 of this series, Detroit lost their next 15 playoff games over the next 17 years, until Game 2 of their 2025 first round series against the New York Knicks. Western Conference finals (1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (3) San Antonio Spurs #eee May 21 Recap San Antonio Spurs 85 89 Los Angeles Lakers Staples Center, Los Angeles TNT 27–24 24–19 21–22 13–24 Tim Duncan 30 Kobe Bryant 27 Tim Duncan 18 Lamar Odom 8 Tony Parker 6 Kobe Bryant 9 Jim Clark, Dan Crawford, Bob Delaney 6:00 pm 18,997 LA Lakers lead series, 1–0 #fff May 23 Recap San Antonio Spurs 71 101 Los Angeles Lakers Staples Center, Los Angeles TNT 16–21 21–25 20–28 14–27 Tony Parker 13 Kobe Bryant 22 Tim Duncan 16 Lamar Odom 12 Parker, Duncan 4 each Kobe Bryant 5 Tony Brothers, Ken Mauer, Bennett Salvatore 6:00 pm 18,997 LA Lakers lead series, 2–0 #eee May 25 Recap Los Angeles Lakers 84 103 San Antonio Spurs AT&T Center, San Antonio TNT 24–21 15–28 18–20 27–34 Kobe Bryant 30 Manu Ginóbili 30 Lamar Odom 11 Tim Duncan 21 Lamar Odom 6 Duncan, Parker 5 each Mike Callahan, Joe Derosa, Eddie Rush 7:30 pm 18,797 LA Lakers lead series, 2–1 #fff May 27 Recap Los Angeles Lakers 93 91 San Antonio Spurs AT&T Center, San Antonio TNT 28–23 25–24 24–23 16–21 Kobe Bryant 28 Tim Duncan 29 Bryant, Gasol 10 each Tim Duncan 17 Pau Gasol 6 Tony Parker 9 Joe Crawford, Joe Forte, Mark Wunderlich 8:00 pm 18,797 LA Lakers lead series, 3–1 #eee May 29 Recap San Antonio Spurs 92 100 Los Angeles Lakers LA Lakers win series, 4–1 Staples Center, Los Angeles TNT 28–15 20–27 15–22 29–36 Tony Parker 23 Kobe Bryant 39 Tim Duncan 15 Pau Gasol 19 Tim Duncan 10 Pau Gasol 5 Steve Javie, Monty McCutchen, Tom Washington 18,997 6:00 pm +Regular-season seriesTied 2–2 in the regular-season series#fff November 13, 2007 2007 11130 SAS Los Angeles Lakers 92 San Antonio Spurs 107 AT&T Center, San Antonio December 13, 2007 2007 12130 LAL San Antonio Spurs 97 Los Angeles Lakers 102 Staples Center, Los Angeles #fff January 23, 2008 2008 01230 SAS Los Angeles Lakers 91 San Antonio Spurs 103 AT&T Center, San Antonio April 13, 2008 2008 04130 LAL San Antonio Spurs 85 Los Angeles Lakers 106 Staples Center, Los Angeles This was the 11th playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning seven of the first ten meetings. +Previous playoff serieshttps://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=LAL&opp_id=SAS&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Los Angeles Lakers versus San Antonio Spurs (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com February 26, 2016Los Angeles leads 7–3 in all-time playoff series#fff 1982 Los Angeles Lakers 4 San Antonio Spurs 0 1982 Western Conference Finals #fff 1983 Los Angeles Lakers 4 San Antonio Spurs 2 1983 Western Conference Finals #fff 1986 Los Angeles Lakers 3 San Antonio Spurs 0 1986 Western Conference First Round #fff 1988 Los Angeles Lakers 3 San Antonio Spurs 0 1988 Western Conference First Round #fff 1995 Los Angeles Lakers 2 San Antonio Spurs 4 1995 Western Conference Semifinals #fff 1999 Los Angeles Lakers 0 San Antonio Spurs 4 1999 Western Conference Semifinals #fff 2001 Los Angeles Lakers 4 San Antonio Spurs 0 2001 Western Conference Finals #fff 2002 Los Angeles Lakers 4 San Antonio Spurs 1 2002 Western Conference Semifinals #fff 2003 Los Angeles Lakers 2 San Antonio Spurs 4 2003 Western Conference Semifinals #fff 2004 Los Angeles Lakers 4 San Antonio Spurs 2 2004 Western Conference Semifinals The series pitted the two best teams in the Western Conference over the last 10 years. Having home court advantage, the Lakers started out as a favorite and did not disappoint their home crowd as they overcame a 20-point deficit in Game 1 and won behind Kobe Bryant's 27 points, 25 of which were scored in the second half. Game 2 was a cruise for the Lakers as they made a 9–0 run before halftime, led all game and built the lead to 30. The Spurs easily took Game 3 at home with Manu Ginóbili carrying the Spurs after two terrible games at L.A, making 5 3-pointers and finishing with 30 points; Tony Parker and Tim Duncan added 42 more. In Game 4 the Lakers never trailed (the Spurs missed several opportunities to take the lead) and led comfortably late, but a furious run by the Spurs and several mistakes by the Lakers (Bryant attempting a running fallaway with plenty of time on the shot clock, Gasol missing 2 free throws) gave San Antonio a chance to tie or win with seconds left. On a disputed no-call, Derek Fisher jumped up and collided with Brent Barry, but no foul was called and Barry missed a last second 3. The NBA later ruled that a foul should have been called on Fisher when he collided with Barry. Heading home up 3–1 in the series, the Lakers trailed in the first quarter by 17, but were able to cut the lead to six by halftime. Again, Bryant stepped up by scoring 17 of his 39 points in the fourth quarter, enabling the Lakers to surge ahead and seal the series, helping them to reach the NBA Finals for the 5th time in 9 seasons and the first time in the post-Shaq era. The Lakers were able to reach the NBA Finals again as the #1 seed. The last time this happened to the team was during the 1999–2000 season, where they beat the Indiana Pacers 4–2. They also improved to 4–0 against San Antonio in the Western Conference Finals. NBA Finals: (W1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (E1) Boston Celtics 2008 NBA Finals #eee June 5 Recap Los Angeles Lakers 88 98 Boston Celtics TD Banknorth Garden, Boston ABC 21–23 30–23 22–31 15–21 Kobe Bryant 24 Kevin Garnett 24 Pau Gasol 8 Kevin Garnett 13 Kobe Bryant 6 Rajon Rondo 7 Dick Bavetta, Scott Foster, Eddie Rush 9:00 pm 18,624 Boston leads series, 1–0 #fff June 8 Recap Los Angeles Lakers 102 108 Boston Celtics TD Banknorth Garden, Boston ABC 22–20 20–34 19–29 41–25 Kobe Bryant 30 Paul Pierce 28 Gasol, Radmanović 10 each Kevin Garnett 14 Kobe Bryant 8 Rajon Rondo 16 Dan Crawford, Bob Delaney, Ken Mauer 18,624 9:00 pm Boston leads series, 2–0 #eee June 10 Recap Boston Celtics 81 87 Los Angeles Lakers Staples Center, Los Angeles ABC 20–20 17–23 25–17 19–27 Ray Allen 25 Kobe Bryant 36 Kevin Garnett 12 Pau Gasol 12 Kevin Garnett 5 Jordan Farmar 5 Joe Crawford, Bennett Salvatore, Mark Wunderlich 6:00 pm 18,997 Boston leads series, 2–1 #fff June 12 Recap Boston Celtics 97 91 Los Angeles Lakers Staples Center, Los Angeles ABC 14–35 26–23 31–15 26–18 Paul Pierce 20 Lamar Odom 19 Kevin Garnett 11 Gasol, Odom 10 each Paul Pierce 7 Kobe Bryant 10 Joe Derosa, Steve Javie, Tom Washington 6:00 pm 18,997 Boston leads series, 3–1 #eee June 15 Recap Boston Celtics 98 103 Los Angeles Lakers Staples Center, Los Angeles ABC 22–39 30–16 18–24 28–24 Paul Pierce 38 Kobe Bryant 25 Kevin Garnett 14 Pau Gasol 13 Paul Pierce 8 Pau Gasol 6 Dick Bavetta, Scott Foster, Ken Mauer 6:00 pm 18,997 Boston leads series, 3–2 #fff June 17 Recap Los Angeles Lakers 92 131 Boston Celtics TD Banknorth Garden, Boston ABC Boston wins series, 4–2 20–24 15–34 25–31 32–42 Kobe Bryant 22 Garnett, Allen 26 each Lamar Odom 10 Kevin Garnett 14 Lamar Odom 5 Paul Pierce 10 Joe Crawford, Eddie Rush, Bennett Salvatore 18,624 9:00 pm +Regular-season seriesBoston won 2–0 in the regular-season series#fff November 23, 2007 2007 11230 BOS Los Angeles Lakers 94 Boston Celtics 107 TD Banknorth Garden, Boston December 30, 2007 2007 12300 LAL Boston Celtics 110 Los Angeles Lakers 91 Staples Center, Los Angeles This was the 11th playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning eight of the first ten meetings. Two teams in the same cities, Boston and Los Angeles met in the 2008 ALDS when the Boston Red Sox defeated the Los Angeles Angels in four games. +Previous playoff serieshttps://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=BOS&opp_id=LAL&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Boston Celtics versus Los Angeles Lakers (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com February 26, 2016Boston leads 8–2 in all-time playoff series#fff 1959 Boston Celtics 4 Minneapolis Lakers 0 1959 NBA Finals #fff 1962 Boston Celtics 4 Los Angeles Lakers 3 1962 NBA Finals #fff 1963 Boston Celtics 4 Los Angeles Lakers 2 1963 NBA Finals #fff 1965 Boston Celtics 4 Los Angeles Lakers 1 1965 NBA Finals #fff 1966 Boston Celtics 4 Los Angeles Lakers 3 1966 NBA Finals #fff 1968 Boston Celtics 4 Los Angeles Lakers 2 1968 NBA Finals #fff 1969 Boston Celtics 4 Los Angeles Lakers 3 1969 NBA Finals #fff 1984 Boston Celtics 4 Los Angeles Lakers 3 1984 NBA Finals #fff 1985 Boston Celtics 2 Los Angeles Lakers 4 1985 NBA Finals #fff 1987 Boston Celtics 2 Los Angeles Lakers 4 1987 NBA Finals Statistic leaders Category High AveragePlayer Team Total Player Team Avg. Games played Points Kobe Bryant Los Angeles Lakers 49 Kobe Bryant Los Angeles Lakers 30.1 21 Rebounds Tim Duncan San Antonio Spurs 23 Dwight Howard Orlando Magic 15.8 10 Assists Chris Paul New Orleans Hornets 17 Chris Paul New Orleans Hornets 11.3 12 Steals Rajon RondoDerek FisherKevin Garnett Boston CelticsLos Angeles LakersBoston Celtics 6 Chris Paul New Orleans Hornets 2.3 12 Blocks Dwight Howard Orlando Magic 8 Dwight Howard Orlando Magic 3.4 10 Broadcast notes The Playoffs began on Saturday April 19, with the Washington Wizards facing the Cleveland Cavaliers on ESPN. ABC kicked off its coverage with the Phoenix Suns facing the San Antonio Spurs. TNT's coverage began with a tripleheader on Sunday, April 20 in a game between the Toronto Raptors and the Orlando Magic, with the Denver Nuggets playing the L.A. Lakers on ABC in between. NBA TV has been broadcasting weeknight coverage of playoff games for at least the first round. The Eastern Conference Finals were televised on ABC and ESPN, beginning Tuesday May 20 at 8:30 pm EST. Game 3 was scheduled to be televised on ABC—all other games are scheduled on ESPN.http://www.espn.com/nba/playoffs2008/news/story?id=3349965 Tentative 2008 NBA Playoff Schedule 16 April 2008 ESPN.com 1 April 2018 The last possible end date for the Eastern Conference Finals would have been June 1, if the series had ended with the seventh and deciding game. The Western Conference Finals were televised on TNT, beginning Wednesday May 21 at 9 pm EST. The last possible end date for the Western Conference Finals would have been June 2, if the series had ended with the seventh and deciding game. The NBA Finals were televised on ABC, beginning Thursday June 5 at 9 pm EST. The latest possible end date for the NBA Finals would have been June 19, if the finals had ended with the seventh and deciding game. ABC's lead announcing team for the NBA Playoffs (and, by extension, the NBA Finals) was play-by-play man Mike Breen, joined by analysts Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy along with sideline reporter Michele Tafoya. Mike Tirico, Hubie Brown and Lisa Salters were the second team broadcasting on ABC. The latter, with the exception of Salters, were the lead broadcast team for ESPN Radio's NBA coverage, with Jim Durham and Jack Ramsay the secondary broadcast duo. ESPN's other play-by-play announcers include Dave Pasch and Dan Shulman, along with analysts Rick Carlisle, Jon Barry and Doris Burke. Sideline reporters include Heather Cox, Holly Rowe and Ric Bucher. TNT's lead announcing teams for the NBA Playoffs were Marv Albert with Reggie Miller and Kevin Harlan with Doug Collins. Play-by-play announcers Dick Stockton and Matt Devlin was also teamed with Mike Fratello and Los Angeles Clippers head coach Mike Dunleavy on a rotating basis. Sideline reporters include Craig Sager, Cheryl Miller, Pam Oliver, David Aldridge, Marty Snider, Dei Lynam, and Stephanie Ready. Ratings TNT's coverage of the 2008 NBA Playoffs was strong in audience delivery, with the playoff averages showing year-over-year growth among households (+15%), viewers (+14%), adults 18–34 (+25%), adults 18–49 (+22%), adults 25–54 (+24%), men 18–34 (+30%), women 18–34 (+5%), men 18–49 (+23%) and men 25–54 (+22%). References External links Official website of the 2008 NBA Playoffs ESPN's NBA page Playoffs Category:NBA playoffs fi:NBA-kausi 2007–2008#Pudotuspelit