The complete postseason watchlist
Greatest NBA playoff series
Fifty complete postseason battles, manually ordered by game quality, tension, iconic moments and historical stakes. Open any series to explore every indexed game.
NBA Finals
2016 Cleveland Cavaliers vs Golden State Warriors
The first 3–1 comeback in Finals history ended with the Block, the Shot and Cleveland’s first title.
NBA Finals
1984 Boston Celtics vs Los Angeles Lakers
Bird and Magic finally met for the championship in a physical seven-game revival of the league’s defining rivalry.
NBA Finals
2013 Miami Heat vs San Antonio Spurs
Contrasting styles, elite execution and Ray Allen’s season-saving three produced a seven-game masterpiece.
Western Conference Finals
2002 Los Angeles Lakers vs Sacramento Kings
The defending champions barely survived Sacramento’s beautiful offense, Robert Horry’s buzzer-beater and an overtime Game 7.
Eastern Conference Semifinals
2019 Toronto Raptors vs Philadelphia 76ers
Two loaded contenders needed seven games and four bounces on Kawhi Leonard’s unforgettable winner.
Eastern Conference Semifinals
2021 Milwaukee Bucks vs Brooklyn Nets
Durant’s brilliance pushed the eventual champions through injuries and into overtime of Game 7.
Eastern Conference First Round
2009 Boston Celtics vs Chicago Bulls
Seven games, seven overtimes and a young Bulls team refusing to yield to the defending champions.
Western Conference Finals
2016 Golden State Warriors vs Oklahoma City Thunder
The 73-win Warriors escaped a 3–1 hole behind Klay Thompson’s Game 6 eruption.
Eastern Conference Finals
1981 Boston Celtics vs Philadelphia 76ers
Boston erased a 3–1 deficit in a series whose final five games were decided by a combined 12 points.
Western Conference Finals
2000 Los Angeles Lakers vs Portland Trail Blazers
A deep Portland team forced Game 7 before the Lakers erased 15 in the fourth and Kobe found Shaq at the rim.
NBA Finals
1976 Boston Celtics vs Phoenix Suns
The triple-overtime Game 5 became the centerpiece of one of the Finals’ earliest universal classics.
NBA Finals
1962 Boston Celtics vs Los Angeles Lakers
Baylor scored 61, Russell answered with 40 rebounds in Game 7 and overtime decided the championship.
NBA Finals
1969 Boston Celtics vs Los Angeles Lakers
Russell’s aging underdogs spoiled the Lakers’ balloons in a two-point Game 7 road victory.
NBA Finals
2010 Los Angeles Lakers vs Boston Celtics
The modern rivalry rematch became a bruising defensive series settled late in Game 7.
NBA Finals
1988 Los Angeles Lakers vs Detroit Pistons
Isiah Thomas’s injured 25-point quarter and two razor-thin closing games pushed Showtime to its repeat.
Western Conference Finals
2018 Golden State Warriors vs Houston Rockets
Houston built specifically to beat Golden State, led 3–2, then watched its title chance disappear amid 27 straight missed threes.
Western Conference First Round
2020 Denver Nuggets vs Utah Jazz
Mitchell and Murray traded historic scoring explosions before Denver completed a 3–1 comeback by two points.
Western Conference Semifinals
2020 Denver Nuggets vs Los Angeles Clippers
Denver immediately overcame another 3–1 deficit and erased double-digit second-half leads in three straight wins.
Western Conference Semifinals
1994 Houston Rockets vs Phoenix Suns
Houston survived a second consecutive seven-game meeting with Phoenix on the way to its first championship.
Western Conference Finals
1995 Houston Rockets vs San Antonio Spurs
Hakeem Olajuwon’s answer to MVP David Robinson became the defining individual duel of Houston’s repeat.
Eastern Conference Semifinals
1988 Boston Celtics vs Atlanta Hawks
Bird and Dominique traded fourth-quarter baskets in a legendary Game 7 duel at Boston Garden.
Eastern Conference Finals
1993 Chicago Bulls vs New York Knicks
New York won the first two before Jordan’s Bulls answered the league’s most physical emerging rivalry.
Eastern Conference Finals
1998 Chicago Bulls vs Indiana Pacers
The only dynasty-era Eastern opponent to push Jordan’s Bulls to a Game 7 nearly ended the last dance early.
NBA Finals
1993 Chicago Bulls vs Phoenix Suns
Jordan averaged a Finals-record 41 points while Barkley’s Suns forced three overtime periods across six games.
NBA Finals
2005 San Antonio Spurs vs Detroit Pistons
Two elite defenses split six games before Duncan and the Spurs finally separated in the fourth quarter of Game 7.
Western Conference Semifinals
2006 Dallas Mavericks vs San Antonio Spurs
The West’s two best teams produced six close games and an overtime Game 7 shaped by Nowitzki’s three-point play.
Western Conference Semifinals
2007 San Antonio Spurs vs Phoenix Suns
Peak seven-seconds-or-less Phoenix met the eventual champions in a brilliant, bitter and controversial collision.
Eastern Conference Finals
2012 Miami Heat vs Boston Celtics
Boston pushed Miami to elimination before LeBron’s legacy-defining 45-point Game 6 in the Garden.
Western Conference First Round
2014 Los Angeles Clippers vs Golden State Warriors
A tense seven-game California matchup previewed Golden State’s rise and tested the Clippers amid franchise turmoil.
Western Conference First Round
2015 Los Angeles Clippers vs San Antonio Spurs
Two contenders met far too early and Chris Paul finished Game 7 on one leg with a shot over Tim Duncan.
NBA Finals
2019 Toronto Raptors vs Golden State Warriors
Toronto’s first championship closed the Warriors’ dynasty chapter through six dramatic, injury-shaped games.
Eastern Conference Finals
2019 Toronto Raptors vs Milwaukee Bucks
Milwaukee opened 2–0 before Toronto’s defense and a double-overtime Game 3 turned the entire series.
Eastern Conference Semifinals
2022 Boston Celtics vs Milwaukee Bucks
Giannis carried the short-handed champions to seven before Boston’s shooting finally broke the deadlock.
Eastern Conference Finals
2023 Miami Heat vs Boston Celtics
Boston nearly made history from 3–0 down after Derrick White’s Game 6 tip, only for Miami to dominate Game 7.
Western Conference Semifinals
2024 Minnesota Timberwolves vs Denver Nuggets
Minnesota took two in Denver, lost three straight, then erased a 20-point Game 7 deficit against the champions.
Eastern Conference Finals
1982 Boston Celtics vs Philadelphia 76ers
Philadelphia survived Boston’s attempted 3–1 comeback and left the Garden to chants of Beat L.A.
Eastern Conference Finals
1990 Detroit Pistons vs Chicago Bulls
Detroit’s championship defense survived Jordan and a seven-game test in the rivalry’s final year before Chicago broke through.
Eastern Conference Semifinals
1992 Chicago Bulls vs New York Knicks
Riley’s Knicks turned every possession physical and forced the defending champions into a punishing Game 7.
NBA Finals
1994 Houston Rockets vs New York Knicks
Olajuwon and Ewing anchored a rugged seven-game center duel decided by defense and Houston’s timely shooting.
Eastern Conference Semifinals
1995 Indiana Pacers vs New York Knicks
Reggie Miller’s eight points in nine seconds opened another seven-game chapter of a deeply personal rivalry.
Eastern Conference First Round
1998 New York Knicks vs Miami Heat
The fourth straight Knicks–Heat postseason meeting turned on a brawl and another winner-take-all finish.
Eastern Conference First Round
1999 New York Knicks vs Miami Heat
Allan Houston’s runner eliminated the top seed and launched New York’s unprecedented run from No. 8 to the Finals.
Eastern Conference Finals
2001 Philadelphia 76ers vs Milwaukee Bucks
Iverson’s MVP season reached the Finals only after seven high-scoring, contentious games against Milwaukee’s Big Three.
Western Conference First Round
2003 Dallas Mavericks vs Portland Trail Blazers
Portland came all the way back from 3–0 before Dallas recovered at home in Game 7.
Western Conference First Round
2005 Dallas Mavericks vs Houston Rockets
Houston won twice in Dallas, the Mavericks answered on the road, and a volatile series stretched to seven.
Western Conference First Round
2006 Phoenix Suns vs Los Angeles Lakers
Kobe’s overtime winner put the seventh seed up 3–1 before Nash’s Suns completed the comeback.
Eastern Conference Semifinals
2008 Boston Celtics vs Cleveland Cavaliers
LeBron and Pierce combined for 86 in Game 7 after six games of grinding defense.
Eastern Conference First Round
2013 Brooklyn Nets vs Chicago Bulls
The depleted Bulls survived a triple-overtime classic and then won Game 7 on the road.
Western Conference First Round
2014 Oklahoma City Thunder vs Memphis Grizzlies
Four consecutive overtime games and relentless defense made this first-round matchup feel like a conference final.
Western Conference Semifinals
2019 Denver Nuggets vs Portland Trail Blazers
A four-overtime Game 3 and a 17-point Portland comeback in Game 7 completed a marathon series.