2017 NBA playoffs

Overview

Western Conference

• The Golden State Warriors clinched the best record in the league for 3rd straight season and entered their fifth consecutive postseason for the first time since making six straight appearances from 1947 to 1952.
• The San Antonio Spurs entered their 20th consecutive postseason which was the longest active playoffs streak in Major North American Sports after the Detroit Red Wings of the NHL missed the playoffs for the 1st time in 25 years, including back–to–back 60+ wins for the first time in franchise history. However, they were swept by the Golden State Warriors in the Conference Finals after Kawhi Leonard's ankle injury in Game 1, forcing him to miss the rest of the series.
• The Houston Rockets entered their fifth consecutive postseason. However, they were eliminated by the San Antonio Spurs in the Conference Semifinals.
• The Los Angeles Clippers entered their franchise record sixth consecutive postseason. However, they were eliminated by the Utah Jazz in the first round.
• The Utah Jazz clinched the playoffs spot for the first time since 2012 and their first playoffs series win since 2010. However, they were swept by the Golden State Warriors in the Conference Semifinals.
• The Oklahoma City Thunder entered their second consecutive postseason. However, they were eliminated by the Houston Rockets in the first round, their earliest exit since 2010.
• The Memphis Grizzlies entered their seventh consecutive postseason. However, they were eliminated by the San Antonio Spurs in the first round for the second straight year.
• The Portland Trail Blazers entered their fourth consecutive postseason. However, they were swept by the Golden State Warriors in the first round.

  Eastern Conference

• The Boston Celtics entered their third consecutive postseason and clinched the best record in the Eastern Conference for the first time since 2008. However, they were eliminated by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Conference Finals.
• The defending champions Cleveland Cavaliers entered their third consecutive postseason. However, they were defeated by the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals, dashing their hopes of back–to–back titles.
• The Toronto Raptors entered their fourth consecutive postseason, including back–to–back 50+ wins for the first time in franchise history. However, they were swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Conference Semifinals.
• The Washington Wizards, Milwaukee Bucks and Chicago Bulls clinched a playoff spot for the first time since 2015. Milwaukee and Chicago were eliminated by Toronto and Boston, respectively. The Washington Wizards were eliminated by the Boston Celtics in the Conference Semifinals. It should also be noted that Game 6 of the Wizards–Celtics game was the last time before Verizon Center renames to Capital One Arena.
• The Atlanta Hawks entered their 10th consecutive postseason, one shy of their postseason streak of 11. However, they were eliminated by the Washington Wizards in the first round.
• The Indiana Pacers entered their second consecutive postseason. However, they were swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round.
• With a 4th seed in the playoffs, the Wizards had their highest seed under a 16–team playoff format.

  First round

• This was the first time, in a best–of–7 series, that an 8th seed went up 2–0 against a 1st seed in the first round. It is the second time this happened overall; the Los Angeles Lakers did it against the Phoenix Suns in 1993, which was a best–of–five series that Phoenix eventually won 3 games to 2.
• Cleveland became the first team in playoffs history to come back from a 25–point halftime deficit and win when they beat the Pacers in Game 3.
• The Cavaliers became the first team to sweep an opponent while giving up 100+ points every game since the Houston Rockets allowed 100+ in all 4 games during their sweep of the Orlando Magic in the 1995 NBA Finals.
• The Boston Celtics became the 19th team to come back after trailing 2–0, against the Bulls. They were also the 4th team in NBA history to lose the first two games of a best–of–7 series at home and still win the series.
• Game 7 between the Los Angeles Clippers and Utah Jazz ensured an 18th-straight postseason in which at least one Game 7 was played; 1999 was the last postseason to not feature a Game 7.
• The Clippers became the first NBA team to blow five straight postseason series leads.
• It was the first series win for the Toronto Raptors where they didn't need all the games of the series. Previously they had beaten the Knicks in 2001 in a best of 5 in five games. In 2016 their two series wins were obtained in seven games each.

  Conference semifinals

• The Houston Rockets are the first team to open their series with a blowout only to get blown out in the second game.
• Trailing by 14 and 13 in Games 1 and 2 respectively, the Boston Celtics became the first team to come back and win back–to–back games after trailing by double digits in the first quarter.
• The 27–point loss in Game 1 is San Antonio's largest defeat in a postseason home game.
• Scoring 125 points in a Game 2 blowout victory against the Toronto Raptors, the Cleveland Cavaliers set a franchise record for most points scored in a postseason game. Their previous record was 124, in 2010.
• 18 of 21 conference semifinals games were decided by 10 points or more. Eight of these games were decided by over 20 points.
• With a four–game sweep against the Raptors, the Cleveland Cavaliers became the second team to have six playoffs series sweeps in three consecutive postseasons since the Lakers did it in 1987–1989. They also became the first team to start 8–0 in two straight playoffs.
• The Cavaliers' Game 4 win over the Raptors gave them their 11th consecutive postseason win, setting a franchise record.
• With a four–game sweep against Utah, Golden State swept consecutive playoff series for the first time in franchise history and also had their best eight–game postseason start in franchise history.
• The Cavaliers and Warriors both started the NBA postseason with 8–0 records, the first time in NBA history that two teams started 8–0 in the same postseason since switching to a seven-game format.
• In a series–ending 114–75 loss against the Spurs, the Houston Rockets set an NBA record for fewest two–point field goals made in a game. They made 9 of 37, while the previous record was 11 of 41.

  Conference finals

• After trailing as much as 25 points, Golden State Warriors came back and won against the San Antonio Spurs in Game 1. This is the second largest comeback in the Conference Finals since the Celtics came back from 26 to beat the Nets in Game 3 of the 2002 Eastern Conference Finals.
• With a 36–point win against the San Antonio Spurs in Game 2, this is the Golden State Warriors' 2nd largest margin of victory in postseason history.
• After trailing as much as 21 points, the Boston Celtics surged back with a 28–10 third quarter run against the Cleveland Cavaliers to win Game 3. This was also the Cavaliers' first loss this postseason, as well as their first loss in a postseason game since Game 4 of the previous year's Finals, snapping an NBA playoff record tying 13 game winning streak.
• With a four-game sweep against the San Antonio Spurs, the Golden State Warriors earned the distinction of having a 12–0 postseason record, the first in NBA history. They are also the first team to have 3 best–of–7 series sweeps, and join the 1988–89 Los Angeles Lakers and the 2000–01 Lakers as the only teams to be undefeated going into the championship round, and the only one to have done it under the 7–7–7–7 format since it was introduced in 2003.

  NBA Finals

Format