2023 NBA playoffs

Overview

Updates to postseason appearances

• The Milwaukee Bucks entered the postseason for the seventh consecutive season and also clinched the best record in the NBA for the third time in the last five seasons, winning the inaugural Maurice Podoloff Trophy.
• The Denver Nuggets entered the postseason for the fifth consecutive season and also clinched the best record in the Western Conference for the first time in franchise history.
• * The Nuggets also advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.
• The Boston Celtics entered the postseason for the ninth consecutive season, currently the longest such streak in the NBA and the second-longest playoffs streak in major North American sports behind the MLB's Los Angeles Dodgers after the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins missed the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in 16 years.
• The Philadelphia 76ers entered the postseason for the sixth consecutive season.
• The Brooklyn Nets entered the postseason for the fifth consecutive season.
• The Miami Heat entered the postseason for the fourth consecutive season.
• * The Heat also entered the NBA Finals for the first time since 2020 and the seventh time in franchise history. Miami also became the first play-in team to win a playoff series since the play-in tournament was implemented in 2020, as well as the sixth eighth-seed in history, and first since the 2012 Philadelphia 76ers to advance past the first round.
• The Memphis Grizzlies, Phoenix Suns, and Atlanta Hawks entered the postseason for the third consecutive season.
• Both the Golden State Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves entered the postseason for the second consecutive season.
• The New York Knicks, Los Angeles Clippers, and Los Angeles Lakers entered the postseason for the first time since 2021.
• The Cleveland Cavaliers entered the postseason for the first time since 2018, and the first time without LeBron James on their roster since 1998.
• The Sacramento Kings entered the postseason for the first time since 2006, snapping the longest postseason drought in NBA history.
• The Dallas Mavericks missed the postseason for the first time since 2019.
• The Utah Jazz missed the postseason for the first time since 2016.
• The Charlotte Hornets missed the postseason for the seventh consecutive season, the longest active postseason drought in the NBA.

  Notable occurrences

• For the first time since the 2000–01 season, no team won at least 60 games in an 82-game regular season.
• This season marked the first time since the 2004–05 season that two of the league's top three scorers failed to reach the playoffs.
• All three Texas teams missed the playoffs in the same season for the first time since the Mavericks formed in 1980. This also marked the first time since 1976 that Texas did not appear in the playoffs.
• All four California teams made the playoffs in the same season for the first time since the Kings relocated to Sacramento in 1985.
• All five teams from the Pacific Division qualified for the playoffs, marking the third instance every team in a division qualified for the playoffs since the NBA adopted the current six division format in 2004–05. Previously, all five teams from the Central Division during the 2005–06 season and the Southwest Division during the 2014–15 season qualified for the playoffs.
• A No. 10 seed advanced to the second stage of the play-in tournament for the first time since the implementation of the Page–McIntyre system in 2021.
• The Miami Heat became the first team since the 2001 Indiana Pacers to drop from a No. 1 seed in the playoffs to a No. 8 seed the following year.

  First round

• The Philadelphia 76ers swept the Brooklyn Nets, marking the 47th year in a row that a sweep occurred. The last time a sweep did not occur was in 1976. This was the 183rd series sweep in NBA playoffs history.
• Ja Morant scored 22 straight points for the Memphis Grizzlies in game 3 against the Los Angeles Lakers, becoming the first player to score at least 22 straight points for their team in a playoff game since Kobe Bryant in 2010.
• Jimmy Butler became the sixth player in NBA history to score 56 or more points in a playoff game, joining Michael Jordan, Elgin Baylor, Donovan Mitchell, Charles Barkley, and Wilt Chamberlain.
• Devin Booker became the third player since 1997 to score at least 25 points in a quarter in a playoff game, joining Damian Lillard and Allen Iverson.
• Devin Booker and Kevin Durant became the first duo in playoff history to each score 25-plus points in each of their first six games of a postseason.
• The New York Knicks won a playoff series for the first time since 2013.
• Giannis Antetokounmpo missed 13 free throws in game 5 against the Heat, marking the most free throw misses in a playoff game since DeAndre Jordan in 2015, and the most misses in any game since Ben Simmons in 2017.
• The Heat became the first play–in team in NBA history to win a playoff series.
• The eighth-seeded Heat defeated the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in five games, marking the sixth instance in NBA history of an 8th-seeded team defeating a 1st-seeded team in the first round, following previous instances in 1994, 1999, 2007, 2011, and 2012. Additionally, this was the fourth time such an upset occurred in a best-of-seven series, and the first to be completed in fewer than six games.
• The seventh-seeded Lakers defeated the second-seeded Grizzlies in six games, marking the sixth instance in NBA history of a 7th-seeded team defeating a 2nd-seeded team in the first round, following previous instances in 1987, 1989, 1991, 1998, and 2010. Additionally, this was only the second time such an upset occurred in a best-of-seven series.
• A seventh-seed and an eighth-seed both advanced in the first round of the playoffs, marking the first time this happened since the 16-team format began in 1984. In all previous instances when a seventh or eighth seed advanced, only one or the other advanced.
• The Kings–Warriors series was the first of the 2023 playoffs to have a game 7, making it the 24th consecutive NBA postseason to feature a game 7. The last time a game 7 did not occur in the playoffs was 1999. This was the 148th game 7 in NBA playoffs history.
• Stephen Curry's 50 points against the Kings was the first 50-point performance in a game 7 in NBA history.

  Conference semifinals

• This was the first time in NBA history that every seed number from 1 through 8 made it to the second round across both conferences.
• The sixth-seeded Warriors had home-court advantage in the western semifinals, becoming the lowest seed to have home-court advantage since the sixth-seeded Houston Rockets in 1987.
• P. J. Tucker had zero field goal attempts and zero free throw attempts in 37 minutes played against the Boston Celtics, marking the most minutes played without a field goal or free throw attempt in a playoff game in the shot-clock era.
• Devin Booker's 35.9 points per game were the most through a player's first ten games of a postseason since Michael Jordan in 1990.
• The Denver Nuggets' 81 first-half points in game 6 against the Phoenix Suns were the most in a first half by an away team in postseason history.
• Jalen Brunson became the fourth player in NBA history to make more field goals than the rest of the team combined in an elimination game, joining LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Penny Hardaway.
• With the defending champion Warriors losing to the Los Angeles Lakers, the 2023 playoffs marked the fourth straight year where the defending champion was eliminated before the conference finals.
• The Warriors lost a playoff series to a Western Conference opponent for the first time in the Steve Kerr era.
• With the Lakers' series win over the Warriors, LeBron James earned his 41st career playoff series win, setting a new NBA record for the most career playoff series wins and surpassing Derek Fisher's previous record of 40.
• After losing Game 5 in the Warriors series, LeBron James lost 3 consecutive games at the first chance of clinching a series. The streak included Game 5 losses to the Grizzlies in the previous round this year and to the Heat in the 2020 Finals. Before the current losing streak, James won 5 straight and 15 of his last 16, with the lone loss being in the first round to the Pacers in 2018
• Jayson Tatum's 51 points against the 76ers were the most in a game 7 in NBA history.
• * Additionally, his 51 points and zero turnovers set a playoff record for the most points in a game without any turnovers.
• There were four 50-point games this postseason, the most in a single postseason.
• Doc Rivers, as a coach, has now blown seven 3–2 series leads. Out of those seven, three of them were 3–1 series leads.

  Conference finals

• The Heat became the second eight-seeded team to reach the conference finals, joining the 1999 New York Knicks.
• * The Heat also became the first eight-seeded team to reach the conference finals in a full 82-game season, as the 1998–99 season was shortened due to a lockout.
• The Lakers became the second seven-seeded team to reach the conference finals, joining the 1987 Seattle SuperSonics.
• All four teams in the conference finals from the 2020 Bubble returned to the 2023 conference finals.
• * Like the aforementioned season, the Heat and Celtics have both beaten the Bucks and 76ers, respectively. The Heat also had beaten the Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals.
• The Heat became the fifth team to win the series opener on the road in each of their first three playoff series, joining the 1981 Houston Rockets, 1989 Chicago Bulls, 1999 New York Knicks, and 2021 Atlanta Hawks.
• The Heat became the first eight-seeded team since the 1999 Knicks to go up 3–0 in a series.
• The Heat became the first eight-seeded team to win a playoff game by more than 25 points.
• The Celtics lost their 6th game 7 at home this year, with previous losses in 1973, 1982, 2005, 2009 and 2018, while no other team has lost more than three. Both the Heat and the Suns lost three games 7 at home.
• This was the second instance where both conference finals series had teams go up 3–0 in the series. However, the difference is that the Nuggets completed their sweep while the Celtics won three straight games but fell short.
• Nikola Jokić recorded his eighth triple-double of the 2023 playoffs in game 4 against the Lakers, breaking the record held by Wilt Chamberlain for the most triple-doubles in a single postseason.
• The Nuggets beat the Lakers 4–0 in the conference finals, marking their first playoff series sweep in franchise history.
• * The Nuggets also became the last of the four teams from the American Basketball Association to reach the NBA Finals.
• * The Nuggets also eliminated the Lakers in the playoffs for the first time in eight encounters, having been eliminated by the Lakers in 1979, 1985, 1987, 2008, 2009, 2012 and 2020.
• This marked the third time LeBron James was swept in a playoff series. The last two times he was swept were in the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs in 2007 and the Golden State Warriors in 2018.
• Jokić became the second player to average a triple-double in multiple playoff series in a single postseason, joining Wilt Chamberlain in 1967.
• The Celtics became the fourth team ever to force a game 7 after trailing 0–3 in a series, and the first team to do so since 2003.
• * Additionally, the Celtics became the first team to host a game 7 after trailing 0–3.
• Derrick White became the second player in NBA history to hit a buzzer-beater with his team trailing and facing elimination, joining Michael Jordan's "The Shot" in 1989.
• * It was also the sixth game-winning buzzer-beater when facing elimination in NBA history, and the first since Kawhi Leonard in 2019. Coincidentally, Jimmy Butler has been on the losing side of three of those buzzer-beaters.
• Jaylen Brown became the fifth player with 8-plus turnovers in a game 7 since individual turnovers were tracked in 1978, joining Shawn Kemp, LeBron James, Donovan Mitchell, and Joel Embiid.