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 (1963–73). 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 (Chicago Bulls) went up 2–0 against a 1st seed (Boston Celtics) 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 (2015–2017) 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 (a streak dating back to Game 5 of the 2016 NBA Finals), 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. (The largest is 39-point set back in
1948, which would be surpassed in the following
year when the Warriors defeat Rockets by 41.) • 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 (who ironically, would get swept themselves
by the Detroit Pistons) 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 The
Golden State Warriors began the finals with a playoff record of 12–0. They dominated the first two games, and although game three was more competitive, the Warriors still came out victors. They took a 3–0 lead bringing them to 15–0 in the playoffs, the best ever start in NBA playoff history. The Cavs countered beating the Warriors 137–116 in Game four, with 86 points in the first half, setting an NBA Finals' record. On June 12, the Warriors bounced back and won game five at home 129–120, clinching the organization's fifth championship. Golden State's 16–1 record is an NBA playoff record since 2003 for fewest games attempted to achieve an NBA championship. The title was the first for All–Star forward Kevin Durant and the second in three years for All–Stars Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green. Durant, who scored over 30 points in each of the five games (the first player to do so since Shaquille O'Neal in 2000 with Los Angeles), was the recipient of the 2017 Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP award. ==Format==