The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA or its clubs. The first four games were close encounters, decided only by an average margin of six points. The Cleveland Cavaliers (19-46) also have a 14% chance to land the No.1 overall pick. This turn of events led to the playoff format being criticized by many. The NBA has agreed on a 22-team format to finish the 2020 season. Opponent and round: Philadelphia 76ers, Eastern Division Finals. This historic feat helped them joined the likes of Boston and Houston as the other organisations to comeback from a 3-1 series deficit more than once. Their comeback against the Clippers was highlighted by a Game 6 come-from-behind win where Houston stunned Los Angeles 40-15 in the fourth quarter, thus erasing a 19-point deficit to eventually win, 119-107. En route to the first championship of the Larry Bird era in Boston during the 1980s, the Celtics made history by becoming only the second team ever to go on to win a title after coming back from 3-1 in a series. The Denver Nuggets' 2020 postseason will go down in the history books.. After becoming the 12th team and 10th different franchise in NBA Playoffs history to come back from a 3-1 series deficit against the Utah Jazz, they did it for a second time in the Conference Semifinals against the LA Clippers.. The 3-1 comeback against the Clippers helps them book their fourth Conference Finals appearance in franchise history and the first since 2009. The Western conference's third-seed Denver Nuggets will take on sixth-seed Utah Jazz to begin the playoffs on Monday. The top three seeds would now be reserved for division champions. Beginning with the 2004 season, with the addition of the thirtieth NBA franchise, the Charlotte Bobcats, the NBA realigned its divisions. After becoming the 12th team and 10th different franchise in NBA Playoffs history to come back from a 3-1 series deficit against the Utah Jazz, they did it for a second time in the Conference Semifinals against the LA Clippers. Unfortunately, they couldn't complete the series and advance. That happened because the Rockets were the sixth seed, the lowest-ever to be crowned champion. The Bullets won Game 7 by overcoming George Gervin's 42-point night, as well as a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit, behind 37 points from Bobby Dandridge. Because of the NBA playoffs' preset matchups in the second round, this meant that the top two teams in a conference could never meet until the conference finals, assuming they both made it to that round. Opponent and round: Philadelphia 76ers, Eastern Division Finals. By 1966 the schedule provided more rest for the first-round participants with byes of 11 and eight extra days idle. As part of the 2008 relocation settlement with the. [6] In the first round of the playoffs, the Clippers defeated the Nuggets in five games, while Memphis was swept by Dallas. It is one of three 3-1 comebacks to be achieved in the Conference Finals of the playoffs. Finally in 1984, the tournament expanded to its present 16-team, four-round knockout, and the now-complete set of first-round series was expanded to a best-of-five. [11] Previously[when? Opponent and round: Phoenix Suns, Western Conference Semifinals. Headlined by the high-scoring duel between Donovan Mitchell and Jamal Murray, Game 7 of this series was a low-scoring affair, with the final score being 80-78. The first-round best-of-three series tapped off on Tuesday and Wednesday, April 19 and 20; the second-round best-of-sevens on Sunday to the following Wednesday, April 27. The Suns are one of only two teams to have been on both sides of a 3-1 comeback. Then, in 1975 and 1977, respectively, a fifth and sixth team were added to each Division, necessitating an additional first round of best-of-three series. The winners met in the best-of-3 division finals. The Minnesota Timberwolves (19-45) are the only other team in the West that won’t play in Orlando, Florida for a chance to make the playoffs. National Basketball Association (NBA) playoff bracket on ESPN.com At the same time, the number of playoff teams was increased from three to four from each Division; two rounds of best-of-three series were played, followed by a best-of-seven championship. Even the 1950 tournament, following a transitional season with three divisions rather than two, initially determined one playoff champion from each division. That means the year is over for eight teams, who have now officially been eliminated from playoff contention. var w=window;if(w.performance||w.mozPerformance||w.msPerformance||w.webkitPerformance){var d=document;AKSB=w.AKSB||{},AKSB.q=AKSB.q||[],AKSB.mark=AKSB.mark||function(e,_){AKSB.q.push(["mark",e,_||(new Date).getTime()])},AKSB.measure=AKSB.measure||function(e,_,t){AKSB.q.push(["measure",e,_,t||(new Date).getTime()])},AKSB.done=AKSB.done||function(e){AKSB.q.push(["done",e])},AKSB.mark("firstbyte",(new Date).getTime()),AKSB.prof={custid:"681133",ustr:"",originlat:"0",clientrtt:"104",ghostip:"23.3.70.115",ipv6:false,pct:"10",clientip:"159.89.172.72",requestid:"ae07d3b",region:"26697",protocol:"",blver:14,akM:"j",akN:"ae",akTT:"O",akTX:"1",akTI:"ae07d3b",ai:"446479",ra:"false",pmgn:"",pmgi:"",pmp:"",qc:""},function(e){var _=d.createElement("script");_.async="async",_.src=e;var t=d.getElementsByTagName("script"),t=t[t.length-1];t.parentNode.insertBefore(_,t)}(("https:"===d.location.protocol?"https:":"http:")+"//ds-aksb-a.akamaihd.net/aksb.min.js")}. Only one of those 13 instances came in the NBA Finals. Includes appearances as the Philadelphia Warriors (1946–1962) and the San Francisco Warriors (1962–1971). Opponent and round: Los Angeles Lakers, Western Conference First Round. The Heat went from averaging 79.0 points in the first four games to scoring 97.3 in the final three games. Opponent and round: Utah Jazz, Western Conference First Round. window.gdprTextData.text = "NBA sites use cookies and similar technologies. Assuming no first-round upsets, this raised the prospect that the top two teams in the conference would face each other in the conference semifinals, instead of the conference finals. Unfortunately for them, another chapter was written in one of the most famous rivalries in NBA Playoffs history, as Boston became the first team ever to make the unlikely comeback. The Cavaliers won their first championship in franchise history and brought the first pro sports title to Cleveland in 52 years. The 3-1 comeback against the Clippers helps them book their fourth Conference Finals appearance in franchise history and the first since 2009. The Denver Nuggets' 2020 postseason will go down in the history books. As the defending champions, the Rockets were set to get eliminated, but as they had done all season long, they battled to the very end.