Nba playoffs still have a memorable setting, however, some of the stories since 2000 are the result of repeated playoffs.
During this period, seven franchises represented 19 of the league’s 20 championships and 14 finalists. Given the small number of high-level teams, it is moderate to expect them to have faced each other several times in the playoffs.
And every rematch is a possibility of redemption.
Revenge only adds to the postseason drama, creating a rivalry to remember, even if it’s only temporary. Although the list is subjective, the key considerations are the number of playoffs and the achievements of the groups (NBA and convention titles).
Your non-public definition of rivalry would possibly be this section. After all, if only one aspect, and in this specific case, a player, continues to win, is it really a rivalry?LeBron James has never lost a series of playoffs to Indiana. Pacers or Toronto Raptors.
However, many of these encounters are memorable.
From 2012-14, LeBron and Heat eliminated the Pacers, victories in the East Conference finals in 2013 and 2014. This series included his tray surpassing the bell in the first ECF 2013 game and field battles with Pacers escort Lance Stephenson.
After LeBron’s return to Cleveland, he also guided the Cavs through Indiana through the 2017 and 2018 playoffs.
During the last period, LeBron also faced Toronto in 3 consecutive series (2016–18). Unfortunately for the Raptors, they drove as Indiana: 0-3. James played so badly against the franchise that he earned the nickname “LeBronto”.
With only two series in a 20-year window, it’s almost an exaggeration to call those rivalries. At the same time, representing 10% of NBA Finals games is also no small thing.
9. Boston Celtics vs. Los Angeles Lakers
Although the game itself is mythical as a rivalry, it is because either franchises have won each of the NBA Finals in 4 consecutive years in the 1980s. Teams have faced each other 3 times in this decade and since 2000, the Celtics and Lakers have had two final matchups.
In 2008, Paul Pierce’s three greats Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen helped Boston end a 22-year championship drought. Two seasons later, Kobe Bryant and Co. se took the rematch and won the Larry O’Brien Trophy after an exciting seven-game game. Series.
8. Miami Heat vs. Dallas Mavericks
Dwyane Wade and a Hall of Fame veterans organization took Miami to the 2006 championship. Shaquille O’Neal, Alonzo Mourning and Gary Payton, all 34 years of age or older right now, also played key roles as Wade, the finals MVP, lifted Heat ahead of Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavs in a six-game series.
Five years later, Dallas was encouraged and won a six-game series in the first year of the Wade, LeBron and Chris Bosh era in Miami.
7. Miami Heat vs. San Antonio Spurs
Allen’s three-pointer in Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals is one of the memorable highs in league history and the show’s turning point. Miami overthrew the Spurs in Game 7, giving LeBron the name of his career at the time and D-Wade his. Third.
The following season, an incredibly motivated San Antonio team won 62 games, returned to the NBA Finals and sent heat in five games. LeBron went to Cleveland the off-season.
Although they outperformed tougher teammates, Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash had an intriguing rivalry in the last decade of 2000.
Nash joined the Phoenix Suns as an indefinite agent in 2004, and the long-term Hall of Fame member has won consecutive MVP awards. He also took the Suns to Kobe and the Lakers in the first playoff circular of 2006 and 2007.
These provisions a fireplace in Kobe.
“Yeah, they kept me from getting a championship, twice,” he said in 2016, via ESPN’s Baxter Holmes. “Damn, I hated them. Absolutely. Raja [Bell] and Steve and all those smart guys. They hated him. There’s no question about it. But at the same time, I enjoyed them, because they brought me and my teammates. “
Intensity peaked in the 2010 Western Conference finals, a series that turned franchises in opposite directions. Los Angeles won the NBA title, but Phoenix lost that series and never made it to the playoffs in the 2010s.
San Antonio eliminated the Seattle SuperSonics in the 2002 and 2005 playoffs, but we don’t come with those here. However, in the 2012, 2014 and 2016 playoffs, the Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder had three series of six blunt games.
In 2012, the Spurs entered the finals of the Western Conference with a streak of 18 consecutive victories and won the first two games; however, the Thunder, in their final season with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden, won 4 in line to bounce San Antonio. Oklahoma City lost to Heat in the NBA Finals.
Two years later, the vengeful Spurs, the Thunder before the NBA ReDemptive Finals beat Miami.
Finally, at the time of the 2016 playoffs, the OKC triumph preceded a 3-1 WCF crash opposed to Golden State, which then swept Durant firmly this summer.
In two terms with Cleveland, LeBron has played in playoff times and faced the Celtics in five of them.
At first, Boston took the lead. The Celtics survived a seven-game series with Cleveland in the 2008 East Conference semi-finals and six games in the same circular two years later. Boston reached the NBA Finals years ago, winning in 2008.
But after LeBron returned to Cleveland from Miami, the Cavs 3 played the playoffs.
Cleveland won a sweep in 2015, a five-game win in 2017 and a seven-game win in 2018. Warriors in 2016.
These department rivals are no strangers to postseason clashes.
During an era of 15 seasons from 2000 to 2014, the Spurs and Mavericks faced off in six playoffs. San Antonio took a 4-2 lead, winning the first and final two matchups.
The notable top clash occurred in 2006, both groups scored more than 60 wins, but NBA regulations put San Antonio first and Dallas fourth, instead of the assembly in the convention finals, they faced off in the round of the moment. The NBA replaced its protocol the following summer, setting the playoffs through the conference winners’ momentum record.
In addition, the Spurs won the 2003 and 2014 NBA titles after getting rid of their rival, and the Mavs did the same in 2006.
Although the 1999 playoffs are not even considered here, the semi-final game between the Lakers and the Spurs has a trend: San Antonio swept los Angeles and won the Western Conference and NBA finals.
In 2001, the Lakers swept San Antonio to win the West before overthrowing the Philadelphia 76ers and winning the NBA title. In 2002, Shaq and Kobe eliminated the Spurs in the round of the moment, then won the West and swept the New Jersey Nets to hang the banner. .
And we’re warming up.
Tim Duncan and the Spurs responded in 2003 with a six-game win in the second round and then held an NBA title. The Lakers responded in 2004 with a six-game series in the second round and clung to the Western’s most sensible: but lost to the Detroit Pistons in the final.
The 2008 Lakers beat the Spurs in the Western Conference finals before falling to the 2013 Spurs swept the Lakers in the first direction towards a defeat in the NBA Finals to Miami.
Before the emergence of the Golden State Warriors dynasty in 2015, the road to the NBA Finals passed through San Antonio or Los Angeles.
There’s no argument otherwise, is there?
While “revenge fatigue” is understandable in 2018, the Cavs and Warriors have faced off in four consecutive NBA finals, something that has never happened in league history.
In 2015, Golden State derailed LeBron’s hopes of earning a name in Cleveland in his debut season after returning to the Cavs. The following year, James’ chased blockade and Kyrie Irving’s triple pointer prevented the 73-game Warriors from achieving their goal.
Durant signed that summer, elevating Golden State to an extra unfair level. The Warriors won the 2017 NBA Finals in games and swept Cleveland in 2018.
The rivalry collapsed when LeBron fought for the Lakers, however, that game explained the NBA for nearly a decade.