Although five franchises won NBA titles in the 2000s, all 30 groups reached the playoffs at least once. Many of them have complexes beyond the first round, writing new chapters in their franchise history books and creating lasting memories for their respective fans.
With this last point in mind, we are now reminiscent of the most productive playoffs of each and every team of the 2000s.
We observed the 2010s through this purpose this week, and although the 2000s were not as strong in the NBA as its immediate successor, there is still plenty of time to discuss.
The rules here are the same as last time. If your favorite memory has been chosen, it means it’s worth it. The subjectivity of this training is inevitable.
Laugh once in the past.
As the 2008–09 season approached, the Atlanta Hawks had not won a series of playoffs in nine years. After attracting the Miami Heat to the first round of the 2009 playoffs, it seemed that the drought would succeed in a full decade.
But from the very first moment, Atlanta sought to make it different this time.
After a 90-6four annihilation of the Heat in Game 1, the Hawks lost the next two encounters across equally giant margins. However, they responded with 10- and 15-point wins in Games four and 5, respectively, to take a 3-2 lead in the series.
Dwyane Wade amassed 41 issues in Game 6 to keep Miami alive temporarily, but his cast was too inconsistent to deal with a removal game. In Game 7, the Hawks took the non-Wade Heat to 47 problems in 16 of 38 shots, and produced stellar shooting functionality through Joe Johnson (27 issues, 6 out of 8 out of three) to victory.
The 2000s were a smart decade for the Hawks, but defeating Wade at his athletic climax is a valuable celebration, no matter how suspicious the rest of the Miami list was.
As the 2007 offseason approached, the Boston Celtics had been without a title for more than two decades, but that drought would soon end as they acquired Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett to flank outgoing Celtic Paul Pierce.
All the craziest dreams of Boston enthusiasts came true temporarily. Allen and Garnett have perfect compatibility and the team entered the playoffs with a 66-16 record, which is the biggest change in a season in NBA history.
Crossing the Conference is difficult. The Celtics played two games 7 in the first two rounds and almost played a third in the convention finals, but the end result values it.
As fate intended, Boston faced its old enemy, the Los Angeles Lakers, in the final. While purple and gold were easy to convince, the Celtics had established an unwavering and controlled chemistry for much of the series, winning the name with a 131-92 Game 6 eruption in front of a boisterous crowd.
Although other players and groups would shape Big Threes in the following seasons, none won titles in the first year, not even the Heatles led through LeBron James. The fact that the Boston trio is capable of doing that is a testament to how special it is.
After being swept away in the 2002 NBA Finals, the New Jersey Nets sought to return and become more competitive the following season.
Almost everything went according to plan.
Backed by a year of jason Kidd’s career and stellar seasons of Richard Jefferson, Kenyon Martin and Lucious Harris, New Jersey won the seed in the East and broke into the playoff convention. After wasting two first-round games against the Milwaukee Bucks, the Nets have won a 10-match winning streak, then sweeping the Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons to take their place in the back-to-back finals.
The Nets gave their all their opposition to the San Antonio Spurs, winning Games 2 and four to three points combined and forcing almost a Game 7, but Tim Duncan too much in Game 6, recording nearly a double and leading the Spurs in a 19-0 win to win the title.
Thinking about this game can be painful for Nets fans, but the fact that they are so competitive in front of a dynastic team provides enough comfort.
Although the Hornets were about to move to New Orleans at the time, that didn’t stop them from betting on quality basketball. During the 2000–01 season, they made their fourth playoff appearance in five years.
But while Charlotte faces a malfunction off the field, her first-round opponent, the Miami Heat, in disarray on the ground. Tim Hardaway in decline for the third consecutive season, however, the team had not yet adequately replaced his creation and shooting game.
The result is not pretty.
Despite the department of four regular-season games and being the seed, the Hornets were the most productive team in this series. They won all three games with at least 15 problems and were constantly disruptive in defense, recording 37 interceptions in total. Miami rotation players were at least 30 years old, and Charlotte made them play the role of everyone in this series, especially former Hornet Alonzo Mourning.
The Hornets almost controlled to bring the momentum generated through this series in the East Conference finals, leading the Milwaukee Bucks to a Game 7 in the next round. To date, this remains the franchise’s innerest postseason race and enthusiasts don’t forget it. lovingly.
As opposed to the Celtic Grand Three at its peak, the Chicago Bulls are expected to emerge victorious here, but the lack of expectations, combined with the fact that 20-year-old Derrick Rose leads a quietly menacing formation, has made this adjustment one of the first -round series of the 21st century.
Just when you think this series couldn’t get wilder, it did: five of the seven games went through a property and four of them went into overtime, adding an epic three-game 6 game in which Ray Allen scored 51 and the Bulls escaped. with a 128-127 victory.
The dynamic back zone of Rose and Ben Gordon of Chicago paved the way, with a combined average of 44. 0 problems consistent with the game, however, the team won large contributions from members of their seven-player rotation. Even the long-term bust Tyrus Thomas maintained, with an average of 2. 9 blocks consistent with the game opposed to the devastating collection of slashers by Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Boston.
The Celtics won Game 7 through 10 points, a gigantic margin in this ever-exciting game. But Rose and the Bulls have left a major mark on the league with their functionality in this series and have not been brave for long.
Everyone already knew leBron James was special right now, but in the fifth game of the 2007 East Conference finals, he began his journey into the rarening air.
At the age of 22, James was already smart enough to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to the convention finals, where they shared the first 4 games of the series with the Detroit Pistons. it started with seven coming up with 3:15 left in regulation time.
Then a legend was born.
Unable to settle for defeat, the king temporarily went into a scoring frenzy for years, dumping Cleveland’s last 25 numbers and 29 of his last 30 for the remainder of the final quarter and two sessions. The Cavaliers would win Game 6 and reach the final. for the first time in franchise history.
LeBron has had other wonderful performances of all time: I am reminded of the sixth game of the 2012 East Conference Finals and the first NBA Finals game of 2018, but it is his first game at pantheon point and was the announcement of nearly 15 years of MVP. calibre excellence.
Although the Dallas Mavericks appeared in the NBA Finals in the 2000s, it’s hard to call it the franchise’s most productive reminiscence given the controversy surrounding the series.
Instead, let’s talk about something less complicated.
With Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash and Michael Finley all making their debut in the early 2000s, Dallas about to fit into a main player in the Western Conference, and the trio flourished in 2002-03. led the NBA in the offensive standings and won 60 games.
After a strangely complicated first-round series against Portland, Dallas returned to form in a bustling convention semifinal against the Sacramento Kings. Although there were also seven games, this series is better suited to Mavericks staff. They scored more than 130 numbers, twice, received three 35-point pershapeances from Nick Van Exel, the sixth man, and played enough defense to scare the Kings.
The Mavericks’ functionality here has encouraged NBA groups to develop their long-term potential. If Nash and Finley hadn’t left in the consecutive off-season, they may have faced Tim Duncan and the Spurs for Texas supremacy and the Western Conference for the rest of the decade. .
After wasting five consecutive games on the first circular, the Denver Nuggets were all-in, the Allen Iverson industry by Chauncey Billups in early November 2008. moderate risk, but promptly paid dividends for Denver.
Placing veteran Billups alongside Carmelo Anthony has stabilized and increased the Nuggets, who beat Chris Paul and the Hornets through 58 problems in a first-round game, winning the series in five, and were just as effective in overthrowing the Dallas Mavericks to succeed in the first round. convention finals against the Los Angeles Lakers.
With Billups at the helm, Denver stayed strong. The Nuggets lost Game 1 through 2, but temporarily tied the series with 61 combined issues from Anthony and Billups in Game 2. The most exciting time for Nuggets enthusiasts will be Game 4, with seven players scoring double digits and the team winning through 19 numbers.
A look at the final scores in this series shows how close you were. If Denver had made a few more shots in Games 1, 3, or 5, it may have qualified for the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.
The 2003-04 Detroit Pistons are still respected for winning a starless title, but this line of idea nearly discredits their achievements.
While none of the 2003-04 Pistons were among the 50 most sensitive of all time, four of their starters were All-Star teams, the fifth an elite player and they complemented each other perfectly.
The recipe paid off in the 2004 playoffs. Although Detroit had to fight across the East, beating the Nets in seven games and the Pacers in six, the final went smoothly against a club. Aged lakers.
Larry Brown’s team ruled a team with 4 long-running Hall of Fame members, restricting each rotary player Shaquille O’Neal to less than 40% shots. The series was so devastating to Los Angeles that the franchise almost burned itself. and Gary Payton were temporarily changed, Karl Malone retired and Phil Jackson soon moved away from practice.
These Pistons are an NBA ERA that many negatively, while the league was looking for their post-Michael Jordan identity. But don’t worry about this story. They made the defense fun, they had personality for days and they might get buckets if necessary.
What can I ask of an NBA champion?
After taking a year off as coach, Don Nelson took a task with the Golden State Warriors in 2006 and had an immediate impact.
The team stepped forward with their record of 8 wins and won the last position in the Western Playoffs, in what was intended to make Nellie, the Warriors’ first-round opponent, smile no less than the Dallas Mavericks, the team he had coached for much of the game. decade past.
After completing 67-15 in the regular season, Dallas became the favorite in 2007. But in Nelson, the Warriors had the Kryptonite of the Mavericks. Having trained many of Dallas’ most sensitive players just two years ago, he knew how to exploit them and shocking results.
After being a below-average defensive team in the normal season, the Warriors neutralized Nowitzki. The MVP and revolutionary jumper made only 21. 1% of their trios in the series, and the Mavericks’ offense was comfortable without their catalyst. score easily and won the series in six games.
Everyone interested in the Warriors knew that this series had more to do with luck than with a permanent improvement in quality, but it doesn’t tarnish the experience, even in retrospect.
This series would probably not be the most productive memory for Tracy McGrady, as she was recovering from microfracture surgery at the time, but her absence probably makes this race more fun for Rockets fans.
The Rockets’ best player of the moment without McGrady was Luis Scola or Metta World Peace, so when he underwent end-of-season surgery last February, the playoffs were expected to be missed. General manager Daryl Morey had put together a list much larger than the sum of its parts.
After T-Mac surgery, Houston won 22 of its last 30 games to secure the fifth seed in the West.
From there, everything in the sauce, freeing the Rockets from any postseason pressure. That attitude eventually prolonged their season as they disappointed a Blazers team led by Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge in the first round, winning two of them on a property and winning the series with a 16-point win in Game 6.
The Houston team will be remembered more in 2007-08 since winning 22 consecutive games (almost part without Yao Ming). But the 2008-09 Rockets won a series of playoffs and deserve the same credit.
Although they were the most sensible seed in the East in 2000, the Indiana Pacers did not validate the NBA Finals. They lost two games in each of their first three series, adding up the most productive of the first five rounds in which he nearly lost to the eighth-time Milwaukee Bucks.
However, Indiana nevertheless came here opposite the Lakers.
Los Angeles controlled the maximum number of games in this series, thanks in large part to the physical supremacy of Shaquille O’Neal (averaged 38. 0 points, 16. 7 rebounds and 2. 7 Wilt Chamberlain-style blocks, consistent with the game in the series). He couldn’t start in Game 5, so the Pacers took over early and never let the gas through.
Indiana led 19 problems in halftime and may barely fail, throwing 57. 4% off the court overnight, but the team’s functionality wasn’t just due to hot shots: the Pacers outperformed the Lakers, a major achievement opposed to any team with Shaq. and attracted contact, putting Kobe Bryant and Robert Horry in trouble.
The Lakers obviously had a night off, but Indiana took him away and was the king for a day on the sport’s biggest stage.
Prior to the 2005-06 season, the Los Angeles Clippers had not surpassed the Array500 in just 15 years, so it was unexpected that Mike Dunleavy’s team would win 47 games and take sixth place in the West.
But the Clippers weren’t satisfied with making the playoffs. They also looked to play the spoiler.
That’s exactly what they did, provoking the Denver Nuggets in five games. The remarkable defense of Cuttino Mobley, Shaun Livingston and Corey Maggette limited Carmelo Anthony to 33. 3% shots in total, and the Denver offense can paint slightly without its star in the All-Star Game. Form.
However, Los Angeles is not over yet.
Despite an below-average offense in the regular season, the team controlled to race with the Phoenix Suns for seven games, scoring at least 110 problems at times and outperfiding them in shooting efficiency. Phoenix would qualify for the convention finals after a 20-point victory. in Game 7, but it wasn’t easy.
We don’t talk much about one-hit sports teams, but if there’s a dictionary definition for one, it’s the Clippers 2005-06. They broke an eight-year drought in the playoffs, almost qualified for the Western Conference finals. , then missed the playoffs for five consecutive seasons.
One fact defines sports dynasies: the first name is the maximum difficult to win.
Once you know what it takes to succeed in the most sensible part of the mountain, starting back doesn’t seem so difficult.
No basketball team has embodied this axiom more absolutely than the turn-of-the-century Lakers in Los Angeles. Their normal 2000-01 season is alarming for pedestrians, but when the playoffs began, they changed a transfer and all other NBA groups shuddered with fear. .
A long-awaited first circular game with the Portland Trail Blazers, which memorized seven Los Angeles games in last year’s Western Conference finals, a 3-0 sweep over the Lakers. Series in which Shaquille O’Neal recorded two games of 40 numbers and 20 rebounds – and the Western Conference final against the Spurs.
By the time the dust fell, the Lakers had won 11 consecutive games against 3 with 50 wins, seven double-digit victories.
Allen Iverson soon slowed purple and gold in the final, ending his winning 11-game streak, but Shaq, Kobe and his company still won the five-point series, completing their mythical playoff race with a 15-1 record and firmly as one of the biggest groups in basketball history.
The Grizzlies played in the playoffs both one year from 2004 to 2006, but were swept on the first round, both once through the top-ranked teams. So, with one and both tiebreakers discussed, let’s take a look at his first postseason appearance for sentimentality reasons.
In Hubie Brown’s season as Memphis head coach, he pushed one of the NBA’s 28-54 victories in 2002-03 to 50-32 the following year. As opposed to the protective champion San Antonio Spurs in the first round, The mere fact of being competitive would suffice, and the Grizzlies knew their wish in the third game of the series.
Memphis led no less than 10, San Antonio made the moment a barn burn. At 2:30 a. m. , Bonzi Wells made a lazy shot to put the Grizzlies on top, but the Spurs temporarily took the lead with a Tim Duncan tray and three free throws.
This game is the closest to the franchise to triumph in the playoffs with Pau Gasol, his first primary player, who eventually lifted the Larry O’Brien Trophy twice with the Los Angeles Lakers, but would have been very special for him to lead Memphis. in a playoff race.
After betting on an NBA Finals game in Shaquille O’Neal’s first season with the team, the Miami Heat was eager to keep improving. They brought in Gary Payton, Antoine Walker and James Posey before the season, and Pat Riley fired Stan Van Gundy later. an 11-10 starts and starts coaching the team himself.
You can individual entries, but you cannot deny the final result.
Although he was only 24, the Heat was Dwyane Wade’s team, and he appreciated the responsibility. Miami marched through the East Conference, beat the Detroit Pistons in a 2005 East Conference Finals rematch and faced the Dallas Mavericks most established by Larry O’Brien. Trophy.
As discussed above, the final results of this series are still hotly debated (and possibly for some reason). But Wade’s iconic performances in the last four games remain unchanged. Even without the whistles, this set of highlights is lovely to see.
There is an explanation for why the county was once renamed Wade: it is the most productive and significant player in Heat’s history, and its legend has become even bigger once LeBron James and Chris Bosh arrived, it began with the 2006 final.
After losing in the first two consecutive rounds, everything was covered up for the Bucks to make their way in 2001.
They won 52 games, promoted a Big Three through Ray Allen, Glenn Robinson and Sam Cassell, and played in a weak East conference. Decade.
Defeating the Charlotte Hornets, sixth seeded, might not seem very exciting, but this series was quite competitive, as Charlotte lost in one in Game 2 and won the games 3-5 with at least seven numbers each.
At this point, the Hornets won the series, had all the momentum and were betting the sixth game on Charlotte, but with their backs opposite the wall, the Bucks were up to the task.
Milwaukee was after 10 in the part, but tied in series 41 issues in the time part of Robinson and Cassell. He then won the decisive at home thanks to a shot just beyond the arc (7 out of 17, 41. 2%) and the solidarity band (33 out of 35, 94. 3%).
The Bucks couldn’t win the postseason series in the 2000s, but they left everything here.
The 2003–04 season should have felt like a mirage for Timberwolves fans, as his team was the most sensible in the West and organized an MVP crusade through Kevin Garnett. This is a long way from the days of Tom Gugliotta and Christian Laettner.
But he’s made even more progress.
Minnesota nearly qualified for the NBA Finals, the focus of that race was Game 7 of the circular moment opposed to the Sacramento Kings.
The rubber adjustment of the convention semifinals was strained. The Timberwolves kept the Kings at bay for much of the game, and when Sacramento tried to pitch late, Minnesota was ready.
Garnett stole a Pass from Brad Miller with 32. 9 seconds to play, then blocked his desperate tray attempt with 4 seconds remaining. After the frantic final sequence, the MVP jumped on the scoreboard and yelled at a beloved crowd at Target Center.
After seven direct losses in the first round, the Timberwolves made it to the Western Conference final.
Inexplicably, Minnesota never made it to the playoffs with Garnett, but still loves the franchise, enough to buy it. Let’s hope a new governor with his competitive streak can bring back the glory days of Timberwolves basketball.
In his third year, Chris Paul has become a superstar, breaking the four-year playoff drought of the New Orleans Hornets. Driven through a strong support cast, they were in a position to emerge under the bright lights of the playoffs and did so. Effectively.
After defeating the Dallas Mavericks in five games, New Orleans faced the San Antonio Spurs. With either group winning 56 games and San Antonio having a lot more experience in the playoffs, that didn’t seem fair. But the 6’1 “Paul prospered when he underestimated, so the doubts were almost comforting for New Orleans, which took a 2-0 lead in the series with house wins of 19 and 18 points.
The Spurs held on to win their home games, but were temporarily pushed to the breaking point of elimination in an excellent Game five for the Hornets. David West battled back pain to record 38 problems and 14 rebounds, Paul added a double-double of his own, and the team won 101-79.
That was enough for San Antonio, who locked Up New Orleans in the last two games and won another place in the Western Conference finals, but Paul and the Hornets have earned the league’s respect for seriously challenging the nba’s pre-eminent fashion dynasty.
Miami Heat and Knicks were the rivalry of the last 1990s, and not just for facing each other in four consecutive series, these groups were emblematic of the time when they were above the entire defense, were not afraid to combine and showed genuine hatred for others.
However, none of this drama has infiltrated this iteration of rivalry, and probably similar news, is the most productive of the 4 clashes.
Five of the first six games went through two possessions or less, so it’s not unexpected that Game 7 is similar, with thirteen head adjustments and seven draws. However, at 1:20 by the end, New York took the lead by being smart on overturned through Patrick Ewing. Jamal Mashburn, Tim Hardaway and Clarence Weatherspoon all had a chance of winning the series after Ewing’s bucket, but each and every attempt went wrong.
For the third year in a row, the Knicks emerged victorious from the Heat.
New York failed to make another appearance in the final, as the Indiana Pacers tortured them again in the next round, but it is Ewing’s last season with the Knicks, so the fact that he scored the goal of the game’s victory is glorious. culminating achievement of the biggest career in franchise history.
Despite having Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis, the Seattle SuperSonics controlled a place in the playoffs in their post-Gary Payton period, Kevin Durant’s striker. Fortunately, they made him count.
After two consecutive seasons of waste, Seattle jumped, expanding its overall victory from 37 to 52. However, while the team’s offense ranked the moment through net scoring, its three-point dependency generated questions.
But the fire-free catches are crazy, and so have they here.
Although the sonics experienced a drop in shooting power against the Sacramento Kings (with the exception of Allen, who fired 45. 2% from long distance), they still outperformed the Sacramento Kings, restricting them to 82 and 93 problems in games 1 and 2 and winning their first-round series in five contests.
Seattle’s shot was even worse against the venerable San Antonio Spurs in the convention semifinals, however, he nearly forced a Game 7 before dropping a winning shot of the series to Tim Duncan.
The Phoenix Suns get the most out of the credits for modernizing NBA offenses because they made it to the playoffs. But Nate MacMillan’s seattle groups were experimenting with them and, although they were less successful, they still deserve to be remembered.
After wasting on the first circular in 2007 and wasting the moment circulating in 2008, logic dictated that the Orlando Magic would run to the playoffs in 2009, and that’s precisely what they did.
The team’s normal season is nothing special, as it won only 59 games and won the third seed in the East Conference, but this list was built for the playoffs.
Considered cutting edge for his time, chief coach Stan Van Gundy’s rosters are almost quaint in those days. He surrounded Dwight Howard with handles turned upwards, knowing that they would accentuate the abundant gifts of painting of the wonderful man. perimeter defense, however, since Howard was also the most productive hoop protector in basketball, it wasn’t really a problem.
At a time when the groups were still playing with two wonderful non-shooters at the same time, the Magic was unbeatable on smart shooting days and in the 2009 playoffs, they hit only enough shots, dethroning the Boston Celtics in a second round at home and out of the game and surviving LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers to advance to the final.
Howard was only 23 at the time and it looked like Orlando would dominate the league for years after that playoff series.
It’s a magical season for the 76ers, and this game is the stopwatch.
By season five, Allen Iverson had become a superstar in his own right, and nothing prevented him from succeeding as a team, not even a more common nameless cast (and Dikembe Mutombo, 34, still restless like no one else).
Despite being the smallest player on the top courts and an extraordinarily useless scorer, Iverson dragged this slim team to 56 wins while leading the league in scoring and winning his MVP award.
In the 2001 playoffs, Iverson took the hero’s ball to its absolute limits. In the first three rounds, he averaged a Russell Westbrook of 29. 4 shots consistent with the game and necessarily allowed the 76ers to qualify for the final out of sheer will. He culminated in the first game when The Answer produced a 48-point masterpiece against the Los Angeles Lakers and won it with a consistent jump and jump that is lived in the Louvre.
Iverson and the 76ers may well have been practice presidents for Los Angeles for the remaining four games, but it must be said that he did not make the most of his moment in the sun.
After Steve Nash organized a moment in the normal season that directly won the MVP, playoff expectations were best for the 2005-06 Suns, so it was understandably distressing when Kobe Bryant and a low-roster Los Angeles Lakers came together. A 3-1 lead in the series to the first round.
Being at the breakout point of elimination, however, woke anything up within the Suns, as they won the fifth game with 17 points, survived a 50th place against Kobe in Game 6 and won 121-90 in the rubber match. the team was unable to maintain this consistency for more than one game at a time in the convention semifinals.
He played old basketball for the Suns in Game 1, with 130 issues against the Los Angeles Clippers, but scored less than a hundred in Games 2 and 3. The two clubs alternated victories for the rest of the round, and it was Phoenix’s turn in Game 7, the team shot 60% of the area and scored 127 points in a single series.
The way we describe the Suns playoffs in 2006 would possibly seem too stressful to be a smart memory, but with the wisdom of spin and the distance of emotions, this team’s roller coaster ride is exciting to review.
In hindsight, the result of this series is obvious.
The Los Angeles Lakers had the two most sensible players, and Kobe Bryant in specific wasn’t going to let them lose. But their triple mob almost ended before they began thanks to the Blazers’ exploits in this series.
Los Angeles took a 3-1 lead, and given the above-mentioned disparity, it would have been understandable if Portland had turned.
But Mike Dunleavy wasn’t willing to do that.
They outperformed the Lakers in the fifth game, an elite feature in any of Scottie Pippen’s instructions (22 issues, six rebounds, six steals, 4 blocks, 3 assists) and temporarily tied Steve Smith’s 26-series issues and a double-double of 3 five. Arvydas Sabonis, one year old.
After being swept in the 1999 Western Conference finals, it seemed the Blazers were about to correct their mistakes and achieve the maximum for the first time in eight years.
The seventh game was a big fire, punctuated by a mythical balloon symbolizing the beginning of the Laker dynasty, but in another reality, we’re talking about how the Blazers achieved the latest with Pippen in the post-prime, Sabonis at the feet, 5’10 “Damon Stoudamire and a volatile Rasheed Wallace as their most productive players.
There is a compelling argument that this series is the worst reminiscence of the Kings playoffs of the 2000s. At least one of the games would possibly have been literally manipulated for the Los Angeles Lakers. , so it is the selection through the clenched teeth.
Apart from the controversies, the finals of the 2002 Western Conference were very entertaining; five of the seven games were for two possessions or less, and the team’s mutual disdain was palpable; and while Shaquille O’Neal can claim otherwise, the Lakers took the Kings seriously, as they deserve to have.
If Sacramento had reached the final, it would have been difficult. Chris Webber played O’Neal in an almost dead final in the convention final, Mike Bibby and Bobby Jackson led a satisfied offense, and the Kings’ defense limited Los Angeles to just 42. 0% shots, more age problems 4% worse than usual. -seasonal efficiency.
Despite not being 15-1 compared to last year, the Lakers remained the league team to beat in 2002, so the Kings’ nearly defeating them even with possible outdoor interference is commendable.
The Spurs had already earned a name with Tim Duncan in 2003, but he was still on par with David Robinson at the time. Four years later, however, 37-year-old Robinson was absolutely in decline, while Duncan had just finished a normal MVP-winning season and turned to a name at the moment.
Duncan’s record in the playoffs is already well known, however, he has become a wonderful of all time with this performance. The Spurs were much more wonderful than the New Jersey Nets and may have still won this series with Duncan at the B-plus level, however, Big Fundamental may simply not shut down their quietly relentless engine.
The result is natural carnage.
In all six games, Duncan averaged 24. 2 points, 17. 0 rebounds, 5. 3 assists and 5. 3 blocks worthy of a double catch consistent with the game. He was so dominant that Jason Kidd almost lured Kevin Durant into signing up for the Spurs in a loose. Agency.
The rest of the San Antonio team also played well in the final; Robinson was productive in a more limited role, while Tony Parker, Manu Ginóbili, Stephen Jackson and Bruce Bowen each played with their respective strengths, but this series will fear Duncan forever.
In early 2001, Vince Carter was already regarded as one of the most productive mattes in basketball history, but told the world that he was more than a top player in this series.
After leading the Raptors to their first playoff victory in franchise history, Carter faced Allen Iverson and the fearsome Philadelphia 76ers. Facing the league MVP was indeed a challenge, and 54 reaction problems in Game 2 proved it. But Carter will have. having been encouraged through his All-Star counterpart as he fiercely responded two days later.
In Toronto, Vinsanity beat the Sixers, scoring 50 points himself while tying an NBA playoff record with nine trios in the Raptors’ 102-78 defeat. close the elite goal scorers, but there’s nothing they can do to avoid Carter.
Toronto failed its 2-1 lead, wasting a heartbreaking game from the seventh that was the last shot, but through this tight series, the franchise has transcended its prestige as an expansion team for the first time and established it as a respectable organization.
Seen in a sense, Jazz reached the last of the 2007 Western Conference thanks to the sheer fate of the draw. On the other hand, Utah survived a team with two All-Stars and a team at the time that was in the hot past.
We’d rather read.
Jazz entered those playoffs as the fourth seed, which meant that their first-round series theoretically tied a tie, however, given that the team’s top of the central members had never played postseason basketball and that their opponent the Houston Rockets led through Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, this series seemed to lean in favor of the other team.
Thanks to the brilliant performances of Deron Williams, Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur in Game 7 of the team’s defense and clutch, Utah many qualified for the round of the moment.
Luck entered the equation in the convention semi-finals when Jazz faced the Warriors “We Believe”. And while Golden State had a wave of intelligent sensations, it overca overca overca view of Utah, which mitigated the team’s explosive offense and progressed after five quick games.
Jazz was never the team with the most talent at the time, however, they made the most of their lists. When the opportunity for a deep playoff race arose, they took advantage of it.
It was incredibly tempting to decide on DeShawn Stevenson’s taunts about LeBron James. However, Stevenson was an actor without trial who opposed LeBron, and Washington had good luck in the playoffs during that decade.
On the role, the Chicago Bulls won this series, took a 2-0 lead, moved the ball well and harassed Gilbert Arenas, but once Washington received a homecoming, he settled in a rhythm.
Arenas’ jumper’s disappearance has sounded the death sentence for the Wizards, however, he discovered other tactics to contribute, expanding his rebound, assisting and stealing regular-season stats, and the team worked around their problems.
Larry Hughes played a stellar perimeter defense, Brendan Haywood and Etan Thomas provided forged hoop coverage and Antawn Jamison stroked three. By the time the dust calmed down, Washington had won four in a row and on its way to a circular moment with its head as standard. Miami Heat.
Unfortunately, the Wizards’ most productive postseason moment in the 2000s came in the midst of an epic collapse in the Arena, but the fact that they won without it at its most productive showed how smart they can be when it shoots each and every cylinder.