Most Dramatic First-Round NBA Playoff Moments of the Past Decade

The first few days of the 2012 NBA playoffs are in the books, and with dramatic wins coming from left and right, it seems like we could have one heck of a month ahead of us.

The Clippers, of course, came from behind in one of the most impressive victories in league history as they erased a 27-point deficit to beat the Grizzlies 99-98. Then, we've had two close games from the Mavericks and Thunder, a few frustrating games from the Knicks and Heat, and a close game in the Magic-Pacers series.

Moving forward, all we can hope is that these games continue to be as exciting as they have been through the first three days.

However, with all this excitement, I started to get nostalgic for some of my favorite first-round moments in the recent past and it got me in the mood to write about it. I've found the best, most dramatic first-round moments in league history and thrown them together for you here.

13. Hawks Keep Jameer from Rose in the Second Round (2011)

This has to be one of the most underrated moments of the past decade, and it was definitely one of my favorite moments of last year's playoffs.

The video shows Jameer Nelson coming up to Derrick Rose after the Bulls and Magic played a game near the end of the season. As Jameer grabs him, he appears to say something along the lines of, "I'll catch you in the second round."

Well, Nelson did everything in those two seconds but come out and guarantee a win over the Hawks in the first round.

The first round of the playoffs came along and the Hawks won three of the first four games. Orlando stayed alive with a blowout in Game 5, but Atlanta finished off the Magic in Game 6.

With the ultimate middle finger back at Nelson, Atlanta left two tickets for Nelson at the box office in Chicago so he could "catch" Derrick Rose in the second round (via NBA.com). Nelson never claimed the tickets.

12. Brent Barry's Game-Tying Shot (2006)

As the Sacramento Kings were clinging on to the last of their great seasons from the early 2000s, the Spurs were looking for another title. As the top seed, San Antonio took a 1-0 lead over Sacramento with a win in Game 1, but a close Game 2 followed.

With the clock winding down and the Spurs down three, the ball ended up in Brent Barry's hands in the far corner. He put a shot up, and the ball hit a part of the rim that should have never ended with the ball going in. It bounced perfectly and fell right back down through the cylinder, sending San Antonio into a frenzy.

The game went into overtime as the Spurs ran off to a 128-119 victory.

It's a good thing the shot fell, too, because the Spurs would take six games to finish off the eighth-seeded Kings.

11. Richard Jefferson Takes Down the Raptors (2007)

In one of the most heated first-round playoff matches in recent memory, the Toronto Raptors took on the New Jersey Nets—a sentence that sounds ridiculous to utter five years later.

It was the first time the two teams had met in the playoffs since Vince Carter loafed his way into a trade from the Raptors back in 2004. Every time he touched the ball in Toronto, the boo birds pecked at him with feverish ferocity.

Game 6 was down to the wire, and with a shot at eliminating the Raps, Richard Jefferson took the game into his own hands. RJ hit the layup to put the Nets up by one, then he made a steal as Jose Calderon tried to dump the ball down low, locking up the game for the Nets.

10. Steve Nash's Assist Explosion (2007)

This game and this game alone is the sole reason I was rooting for Phoenix's Steve Nash to make the playoffs this year over the Jazz (sorry, Utah fans).

In what was the single greatest passing display since John Stockton, Nash dished out dime after dime. He ended up with 23 assists as the final buzzer sounded in the Suns' Game 4 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Nash's 23 assists were the second-most in playoff history, one behind Magic Johnson and Stockton. His 15 assists in the first half were good enough for the most assists in a half in playoff history. Oh, and he added 17 points just for good measure.

9. Allen Iverson Thrashes New Orleans (2003)

As one of the greatest offensive playoff performers of the past 20 years, Allen Iverson's career definitely wasn't short on memorable moments, but this one against the New Orleans Hornets was definitely one to speak of.

AI put up 55 points in the first game of this series, but then inexplicably went cold for the next four games as the Sixers pulled out to a 3-2 lead.

The sixth game in this series would be the last, but it wasn't for New Orleans' lack of trying. This was one of the most back-and-forth games in the past decade of playoff basketball (you can watch the entire fourth quarter on YouTube; this video is just the final part of it).

Iverson scored 15 of his 45 points in the final 12 minutes, and put in two huge buckets with two minutes left. We also get to witness a good game by young Baron Davis, a thunderous dunk from Jerome Moiso, Keith Van Horn's socks and clutch free throws by Eric Snow.

8. Entire Bulls-Celtics Series (2009)

I haven't watched every first-round series in the history of the NBA; I don't think there's a person alive who can say they've even come close. I can still guarantee that you'd be hard pressed to find a better first-round series than the one the Bulls and Celtics had back in 2009.

This series was so amazing that I had to have a separate slide for a certain game, which we'll get to a little later.

The Bulls were big underdogs coming in, but Derrick Rose's 36 points in his first playoff game (which tied Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most points in a playoff debut) showed Boston that this series wouldn't be a cakewalk.

Chicago stole that first game in Boston by two points. Boston would even it up in Game 2 and then take the series lead in Game 3 behind 30 points from Ray Allen and a Rajon Rondo triple-double.

Then came the overtimes. Over the next three games, six overtime periods would be played with no game being decided by more than three points.

It seemed all too anti-climactic that the Celtics would win by 10 points in the final game of the series, but no respect was lost for the amazing series that the Bulls played.

7. Brandon Roy's Rebirth (2011)

There are two first-round games in the past decade that still give me goosebumps. One is the triple-overtime game between Chicago and Boston back in 2009, and the other is Brandon Roy's swan song from last year.

Brandon Roy, knees missing cartilage and rumors swirling about the future of his career, had a turbulent 2011 season. Still, the playoffs—at least Game 4 of this series against the eventual-champion Mavericks—were his.

Dallas led by as much as 23 in the third quarter, as Portland missed its first 15 shots after halftime. Roy didn't let the Rose Garden down, and the fans responded by blowing the roof off the joint.

Portland was down by 18 points to start the fourth quarter and Roy had scored just six points at that point in the game. He would put up 18 in the fourth quarter to go along with four assists and two rebounds.

He energized the team, dragged them back from certain death and rallied them to win this game 84-82. If you want to relive this game, which I had to do after remembering it for a few seconds, I carried a live blog of it a year ago (I've dug it up for the three of you who are interested). 

I can say this with certainty: In my lifetime, only two retirements by non-Cavaliers have made my lip quiver just a bit when I heard the news. One was Michael Jordan; the other was Brandon Roy. All I know is the third will probably be Brian Scalabrine.

6. Kobe Bryant's Game-Winner in Game 4 (2006)

Kobe Bryant has a load of great playoff performances in his career, and this first-round matchup against the Phoenix Suns is just one of many great finishes he's had.

Kobe gets the ball with just a few seconds remaining, drives to the hoop and makes the layup to tie the game, sending it into overtime.

Then, once in overtime, Kobe hits one shot to bring the Lakers within one point. He then catches the tipoff from a jump ball, dribbles to the free-throw line and buries a buzzer-beater while double-teamed to win the game. Mike Breen chimes in with his usual, "BANG!"

5. Cavs-Wizards Games 5 and 6 (2006)

The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Washington Wizards had themselves quite the rivalry back when LeBron James and Gilbert Arenas were on those teams, respectively. Games like these stick in your mind for years.

Game 5 was the greatest back-and-forth performance of their matchups, as LeBron came out of the game with 45 points and Arenas with 44. James hit a baseline layup with fractions of a second remaining in overtime to give the Cavs the win, 121-120.

Game 6 was another great performance by the two, with LeBron putting up 32 points and Gilbert grabbing 36. This time, however, it was Damon Jones who hit the game-winner, sealing the series with a late three-pointer to give the Cavs the win, 114-113.

4. Grizzlies Upset Spurs (2011)

Last year's Spurs-Grizzles matchup was just the third time in NBA history that a No. 8 seed took down the No. 1 seed in the first round. What made it even cooler was that the Grizzlies nearly burst their way into the Western Conference finals with a tough series against the Thunder.

This series saw a continual building of excitement, as more and more people started to jump onto the bandwagon and realized what was coming.

Led by Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol, Memphis played gritty, manly defense and ended up taking the Spurs down in six games with a 99-91 victory in Game 6.

3. Clippers Comeback (2012)

The Clippers' comeback on Sunday night tied the biggest single-game comeback in NBA playoff history, as the Clippers came back from a 27-point deficit. Most of the people watching it had probably already gone to bed or switched channels.

The Clippers rattled off a 28-3 run with Chris Paul's determination and leadership, an offensive rebound by Reggie Evans, some threes by Nick Young and Blake Griffin being Blake Griffin (and at one point not being Blake Griffin by hitting two free throws in a row).

Paul had seven assists in the quarter, but his leadership and a few big free throws down the stretch gave the Clippers the most un-Clipper-like victory in team history.

2. Celtics-Bulls Triple-Overtime Game (2009)

I hear a moan or two coming from Los Angeles, but I had to put this ahead of the Clippers' comeback. It has gone down as possibly the single greatest first-round game in NBA playoff history.

With the Bulls and Celtics splitting the past two games, each going into overtime, everyone expected a hard-fought Game 6—and that's exactly what they got.

This was one of the few games in my memory with amazing individual performances and jaw-dropping teamwork in the same game—and for that, it will never leave my mind.

This was a game where: John Salmons put up 35 points; Joakim Noah had a 15-rebound night; Derrick Rose had a LeBron James box score with 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists; Glen "Big Baby" Davis put up 23 filling in for an injured Kevin Garnett; Paul Pierce displayed amazing leadership; and Ray Allen scored a forgotten 51—that's right, 51 points.

Somehow in the scrum we forget that Brad Miller had a double-double off the bench with 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulls, and Brian Scalabrine chipped in seven points for the Celtics.

In the end, Noah stole a pass and converted on a three-point play. Brad Miller hit two clutch free throws and Derrick Rose blocked Rajon Rondo's potential game-winning shot.

I still get goosebumps just remembering this game. It's the greatest single game of the past decade in the first round of the NBA playoffs, and it's definitely competing for the greatest of all time.

1. Warriors Take Down Mavericks (2007)

In what was the single greatest, loudest and most exciting first-round playoff series of the past decade, the Warriors took down the Dallas Mavericks in a sea of yellow as Oakland screamed in unison.

Baron Davis was the picture-perfect central figure for this series and this team. He played with such a controlled, yet frantic style that nobody could stop him but himself, and that's the way it went at times.

Golden State stole the first game in Dallas, but Dallas evened the series up in the next game. However, once the series got to The Oracle, the fans weren't letting Dallas win a game. Golden State won the next two games, Dallas won its next at home and then the Warriors finished the Mavs off in Oakland in Game 6. 

Just watch the above clip. There's not much more excitement in the game of basketball.

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