2008 NBA playoffs


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.

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. 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, 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. 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:
  1. Boston Celtics
  2. Detroit Pistons
  3. Orlando Magic
  4. Cleveland Cavaliers
  5. Washington Wizards
  6. Toronto Raptors
  7. Philadelphia 76ers
  8. Atlanta Hawks

    Western Conference

The following teams clinched a playoff berth in the West:
  1. Los Angeles Lakers
  2. New Orleans Hornets
  3. San Antonio Spurs
  4. Utah Jazz
  5. Houston Rockets
  6. Phoenix Suns
  7. Dallas Mavericks
  8. Denver Nuggets

    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

Eastern Conference first round

(1) Boston Celtics vs. (8) Atlanta Hawks

Boston won 3–0 in the regular-season series


This was the tenth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning eight of the first nine meetings.
Boston leads 8–1 in all-time playoff series


Games 1 and 2 were Celtic routs, keyed by great team defense and balanced Celtic scoring. 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.
In Game 3, Atlanta showed its athleticism with an array of dunks from Josh Smith and a strong interior performance by the rookie Al Horford, 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]

Tied 2–2 in the regular-season series


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.
Detroit leads 2–1 in all-time playoff series


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]

Orlando won 2–1 in the regular-season series


This was the first playoff meeting between the Magic and the Raptors.
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. 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]

Tied 2–2 in the regular-season series


This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Cavaliers winning three of the first four meetings.
Cleveland leads 3–1 in all-time playoff series


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. 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 ; 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.