The Milwaukee Bucks entered the postseason with a 60-win season, their first since 1980–81, and with the best record in the group, the first time that has happened since 1973–74. They’d then sweep the Detroit Pistons, resulting in their first series win since 2001 when they won at the Conference Semifinals against the Charlotte Hornets. The Bucks then defeated the Boston Celtics at the conference semifinals for the first time in a playoff series since 1983.
The Brooklyn Nets make the playoffs for the first time in 4 decades.
The Denver Nuggets make the playoffs for the first time in 6 decades.
The Golden State Warriors entered the postseason for the seventh consecutive year, a new franchise record. This may also be their last time to play in Oracle Arena in the playoffs before going into the new Chase Center following season. They won the championship in 2015, 2017 and 2018.
The San Antonio Spurs make the playoffs for its 22nd consecutive season; they have not missed the playoffs because drafting Tim Duncan, who’s retired.
The Orlando Magic make the playoffs for the first time because 2012, breaking up the longest Eastern Conference playoff appearance drought to date.
The Detroit Pistons make the playoffs for the first time since 2016. Game 3 of their series vs. the Bucks was their first playoff game in the city of Detroit since Game 6 of the 1985 Eastern Conference Semifinals if they played at Joe Louis Arena.
The Boston Celtics grabbed the Indiana Pacers in the first round, making it the 43rd straight season that the sweep occurred in the NBA playoffs. The last year a sweep didn’t happen in the playoffs has been 1976.
The Los Angeles Clippers make the playoffs for the first time because 2017, playing a roster without Blake Griffin, Chris Paul, and DeAndre Jordan.
The Nuggets-Spurs series is the first series to have a Game 7, making it the 20th consecutive NBA postseason with a Game 7. The last time a Game 7 didn’t occur in the playoffs was 1999.
The Cleveland Cavaliers missed the playoffs for the first time because 2014, largely because of the death of LeBron James into the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers missed the playoffs for the sixth year in a row despite the addition of James. This was the very first NBA Playoffs to not feature LeBron James since the 2005 NBA Playoffs.
All the top seeds won the first round for the first time since 2008.
With the sweep against the Portland Trail Blazers in the Western Conference Finals, the Warriors earned their fifth consecutive trip to the NBA Finals, which makes them the next franchise in the NBA postseason history to do this after the Boston Celtics did it in ten years, starting from 1957 to 1966.
The Toronto Raptors innovative to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.
The Toronto Raptors win the NBA Championship for the first time in franchise history
Kawhi Leonard joins Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and LeBron James to win Finals MVP on 2 different teams. Leonard is also the first player to win Finals MVP in both the Eastern and Western Conference.
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