NBA Playoffs: The 15 Most Exciting Playoff Series of the Last Decade
When exciting NBA playoff series come to the top of the conversation pile, the most recent series that will be talked about is the 2009 Bulls-Celtics series, and for good reason.
That series had everything you could ask for in a playoff series, and it is the reason why the NBA went to the seven-game format in the first round in 2003.
The Bulls were a scrappy and young team that many expected to put up a fight, but not drive the Celtics to the brink. Meanwhile, the Celtics were looking to get back to the Finals after their "anything is posssibbbleeeee" win over the Lakers the previous year.
What happened in between the tip-off of Game 1 and the final buzzer of Game 7 is now legendary, and is easily one of the most exciting basketball series ever played.
That series gets you thinking about all of the other exciting series we have watched over the years, and because it's easy to get me reminiscing, I decided to go back and look at the matchups that got me sitting on the edge of my seat.
Here is my ranking for the best series' of the past decade in the NBA playoffs. Feel free to yell at me in the comments below if you have some beef with one of your favorite series being left off.
15. Milwaukee Bucks vs. Atlanta Hawks 2010
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This was the most recent playoff series that will probably be lost to the sands of time.
It was an extremely exciting series, but it didn't have much impact in terms of a huge upset or affecting which team would go on to the NBA Finals.
Nonetheless, this is the series that taught us all to "Fear the Deer" and it reminded us why we should never count anyone out in the playoffs.
The Bucks were an aberration it seemed, and the Hawks, which were one of the elite teams in the East a year ago, would dispense of them easily.
Milwaukee took the middle three games in the series to make it a contest, and while the scores weren't the closest game after game, there was some fun basketball going on.
14. Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Detroit Pistons 2006
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This was the Cavs-Pistons series the year before the Cavs-Pistons series that everybody talks about today, but it was still an exciting one.
After every game it seems, the talk around the Internet was that the Pistons would finish the series out quickly and move on to the next round, but they had to work a lot harder than people thought.
Cleveland fell behind after losing the first two games, but battled back to win the next three, including two games by two points.
Detroit then took the next game, winning it by two points, and ultimately suffocated the Cavs offense, holding them to 61 points in Game 7.
Also, you have no clue how stoked I am that I got to include a picture of Eric Snow in a slideshow. That's the high point of my day so far.
13. New Jersey Nets vs. Boston Celtics 2002
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This is a somewhat forgotten Eastern Conference Finals in a time when the Western Conference was dominating everything in the NBA, but it was still an exciting one.
It included the Celtics making it into the playoffs for the first time in seven years, and making it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals. If a few balls would have fallen differently, they might have gone on to face the Lakers in the NBA Finals.
They pulled off the biggest comeback in playoff history in Game 2. Down by 21 to start the fourth, the Celtics were looking at a 2-0 hole going back home, but Paul Pierce went on to score 19 points in the quarter, leading Boston to 41 overall in the quarter to New Jersey's 16.
Boston nearly pulled off back-to-back comebacks, but fell short in Game 3, losing 94-92.
12. Los Angeles Lakers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder 2010
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This was the coming-out party for the OKC Thunder, and it showed the rest of the league that they would be a force to be reckoned with in the coming years.
Oklahoma City got inspiring performances by Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and the then rarely talked-about Serge Ibaka.
Meanwhile, Kobe had games in which he played amazing and games in which he was held in check, and Pau Gasol was consistently good as always.
Kobe missed a series-clinching shot in Game 6, only to have it careen off the rim into the hands of Gasol, who put it back up and in to win the game for the Lakers, 95-94.
11. Miami Heat vs. Detroit Pistons 2005
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Going into the Eastern Conference Finals in 2005, Miami was the favorite, with many people doubting whether the Pistons could make it back to the NBA Finals a year after downing the Lakers.
Game 1 saw a hobbled Shaq return from an injury, and the Heat lost their first game of the postseason, as Detroit ended the game on a 10-1 run.
In Game 2, Dwyane Wade put on his leader pants and carried the Heat in the fourth quarter, scoring 20 of his 40 points, leading the team to a six-point win over Detroit.
Games 4 and 5 saw each team build a big lead late in the game, with the other team making a run and cutting the lead down, only to fall short in the end.
After being blown out without Wade in Game 6, Miami buckled down in Game 7 and was leading after three. Detroit mounted a comeback, however, and earned its trip to the NBA Finals.
10. San Antonio Spurs vs. Detroit Pistons NBA Finals, 2005
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What's that you say? Spurs? Exciting? Surely I'm joking.
Well, in terms of NBA Finals, this was a very thrilling one, especially compared to some of the stinkers we have had in the last decade.
Each team won respective home games in the first four games to even the series at two, and the series looked dull at that point, but the final three games gave the series its zest.
San Antonio then got the first road win of the series in a 96-95 overtime thriller in which the lead changed 12 times, the teams were tied 18 times and Robert Horry lived up to his "Big Shot" moniker as he hit the game-winning three with seconds left in overtime.
The two teams would go on to play the first Game 7 in the NBA Finals in 11 years.
Game 7 was tied going into the fourth quarter, and thanks to some clutch plays and shooting by Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, the Spurs pulled off the win to take home the title.
9. Phoenix Suns vs. Dallas Mavericks 2005
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This was one of my favorite series of the decade, just because it featured two of my favorite players of the past decade playing at their peaks.
In Game 2, Dirk Nowitzki hit a game-winning shot with less than five seconds left on the clock after the two teams had traded shots to tie and untie the game for about three minutes.
Game 6 may have been one of the most exciting second-round playoff games of the decade, as it saw the Steve Nash-led Suns mount a ferocious comeback to force overtime and eventually win the game.
This series did have a few blowouts, but it was an extremely fast-paced and exciting playoff series (thanks to the Mike D'Antoni offense) in comparison to the slowed down, dragged out, methodical play of many of the other series.
8. Los Angeles Lakers vs. San Antonio Spurs 2002
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The Lakers played the role of comeback kids in every game of this series. It was only a five-game series, but it was one of the most exciting and most memorable.
Los Angeles found itself down in the fourth quarter of four of the five games, only to come back and end up winning the games.
The Lakers were down four points in Game 1, six points in Game 2 (they lost by three), eight points in Game 4 and three points in Game 5.
Kobe Bryant put on quite a performance as he was finally starting to show himself to be at least an equal to Shaq, so he played with a bit of a chip on his shoulder.
Kobe averaged 26 points for the series while Tim Duncan boasted an amazing 29 points and 17 rebounds for the Spurs.
7. Philadelphia 76ers vs. Toronto Raptors 2001
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This is one of the first playoff series that I distinctly remember. I remember watching every bit of this epic battle and just being on the edge of my seat the whole time.
This series is, of course, the classic Vince Carter-Allen Iverson duel that stopped the Earth for just a few hours every time they played.
As much as it goes against everything I know about basketball today, in that series, none of the other players mattered. This was one of the most amazing performances by individual players in a single series of the past decade.
Iverson was exhausting to watch in this one. He averaged 34 points over the series, hitting 54 points in Game 2 and 52 in Game 5, even dishing out 16 assists in Game 7, to help clinch the win for the 76ers.
Carter averaged just over 30 points a game, scoring 50 points in Game 3, in which he went 9-for-12 from three.
6. Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Sacramento Kings 2004
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This is another one of those overlooked series that is an amazing one in retrospect. This was the series that showed the world that Kevin Garnett was both deserving of an MVP and able to drag a cast of corpses along behind him to success.
Game 1 saw Mike Bibby lead the Kings with 33 points in a shootout over Sam Cassell, who amazingly put up 40.
The Wolves would then pull off a Game 2 win with a ferocious 16-1 run to end the game and beat the Kings by five.
Garnett then took control in Game 4, scoring 15 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter and overtime to lead his team to a one-point win over the Kings.
Latrell Sprewell then went off for 34 in Game 5, as KG and the defense held Sacramento to 33-percent shooting from the field.
Chris Webber then went out and guaranteed a Game 7, and led the Kings to a victory in one of the most physical games of the playoffs, as Anthony Peeler was ejected for throwing 'bows at KG and Vlade Divac shoved one of the Wolves assistant coaches.
It even allowed KG to unleash this gem of a quote: "This is not a class act, I think you should have a little more respect for the game." How hilarious is that with the way that Garnett plays these days?
Garnett then came out with a 32-21 in Game 7 in a two-point victory to send the Wolves to the conference finals.
5. Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Detroit Pistons 2007
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The real coming-out party for LeBron James as the best player in the NBA was when the Cavs finally exorcised their Detroit demons.
Games 1 and 2 were heartbreaking for Cavs fans, as they both looked exactly like Game 6 from the 2006 series against the Pistons, with LeBron putting up only 10 points in Game 1 and the Cavs only scoring 26 points in the second half of Game 2.
The games, however, were down-to-the-wire thrillers, as both ended with scores of 79-76.
LeBron then took over Game 3, scoring 32, including two big shots in the final minutes of the game to seal the win.
Game 4 saw the most unlikely hero step up, bringing the name "Boobie" into everyone's lives. Boobie Gibson scored 21 points as a rookie in Game 4, and LeBron added another 25, 13 of which came in the fourth.
Not one to pussyfoot around at the time, in Game 5 LeBron took the game into his own hands and put up his most memorable night ever, scoring 29 of Cleveland's final 30 points, making my head explode in the process.
Everyone forgets about Game 6, though, when the Cavs finally clinched the trip to the Finals. Boobie wasn't happy with just scoring 21, so he went out and put up 31 in the series-clincher, draining three-pointers all night long.
The series saw only one game, Game 6, decided by more than six points.
4. Dallas Mavericks vs. Golden State Warriors 2007
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The aura of upset that was in the air puts this series this high to start with, and the great basketball that surrounded it has to legitimize it.
Every ESPN expert picked Dallas in five or six games, and really, who could blame them? Golden State was supposed to have no shot in a seven-game series against Dallas, the No. 1 team in the West.
Golden State stole the first game in Dallas by playing small ball against the Mavs, starting 6'9" Al Harrington as its biggest man on the floor.
The two teams split the next two games, and then Golden State won two of the last three games, blowing out Dallas in Game 6 to stun the Mavericks.
This series featured the loudest crowd I have heard at an NBA game since the Kings-Lakers series back in 2002, but there's more on that later.
3. Los Angeles Lakers vs. Boston Celtics NBA Finals 2010
13 of 15It seems the thing that most people are taking away from this terrific series is the 6-of-24 that Kobe put up in Game 7.
The series had everything you could ask for in an NBA Finals. It was back and forth, with the two teams trading victories in the first three games, Boston winning two and then Los Angeles winning the final two.
Boston put up the only stinker performance of the series in Game 6, when Los Angeles held the C's to 67 points, embarrassing them in Los Angeles.
Game 7 was the ultimate treat, as it wasn't a badly-played basketball game, but rather a well-defended game.
It was an absolute knock-em-down, drag-em-out game with possibly the best "No...no, NO! NONO! YEEESSS!" moment in the history of basketball, with Ron Artest's three-pointer late in the game. I still can't believe he even thought about taking that shot, but I am so glad that he did.
2. Los Angeles Lakers vs. Sacramento Kings 2002
14 of 15There are three things that this playoff series will always be remembered for.
First the bad. After a handful of questionable calls throughout the series, especially in Game 6, when the Lakers shot 18 more free throws than the Kings, it was alleged that there was some foul play, as the NBA would obviously want a Game 7 with these two (at the time) fierce rivals.
What has made it worse after the fact is that Tim Donaghy was one of the referees in the series. However, let's look at the bright side.
Shaquille O'Neal was an absolute monster in this one, averaging 30 points and 13.5 rebounds in one of his last truly dominant playoff series (besides the next one the Lakers played against the Nets).
This series will always be remembered for the Robert Horry three-pointer at the end of Game 4, a shot I would still say is my favorite buzzer beater of all-time, except for Michael Jordan's shot on Craig Ehlo in 1989 (even as a Cavs fan, that shot is too historic to hate).
The other thing I will always remember about this series is how loud the crowd at Arco Arena was back then. It was one of the first times I remember seeing the broadcast crew bring out sound-level meters to show how loud the crowd was.
They measured Arco to be at 112 decibels during Game 1, and I'm sure Game 7 was even louder.
1. Boston Celtics vs. Chicago Bulls 2009
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This series had so much going on with it that I don't know where to start, so I suppose I'll just dive in.
Derrick Rose led the Bulls to a Game 1 win in Boston thanks to 36 points and 11 assists, only the second player to both score 36 points in his playoff debut (Kareem Abdul-Jabar did it wayyy back in the day) and score at least 35 points and dish 10 assists (Chris Paul did it not so way back in the day).
He out-dueled Rajon Rondo in an amazing battle of point guards. This did two things: It woke up the Celtics, which looked like they were looking past Chicago in Game 1 (although the score did end up 105-103), and it gave the Bulls some confidence, allowing both teams to play at an extremely high level for the next six games.
The second game is the memorable battle of the former UConn guards. Ray Allen hit the game-winning three-pointer with two seconds to go en route to 28 points, while Ben Gordon put up an amazing 42 points.
This is the game when the elbows started to fly and the tempers started to flare, but not so much as to distract the two teams from playing basketball.
The first game in Chicago was a disappointment for the Bulls, as they lost by 11 points, but it seemed to give them the drive needed to keep playing at such a high level.
For the next three games, the world would become engrossed in three of the most exciting playoff basketball games ever played in a row. They featured six overtime sessions in three games, with Game 5 only featuring one overtime period (what sissies).
These three games saw individual performances that were just jaw-dropping.
In Game 4, Derrick Rose narrowly missed a triple-double, while Rajon Rondo pulled off the trip-dub, Brad Miller and Big Baby got into a small skirmish, and Ben Gordon hit a game-tying three in overtime (remember when he used to be clutch?)
Game 5 saw Rondo nearly pull down another trip-dub, Paul Pierce played 50 minutes of hardcore, Paul Pierce-style basketball, and Joakim Noah and Kendrick Perkins had a rebound battle, with Noah grabbing 17 and Perkins 19.
The memorable Game 6 saw Allen score 51, John Salmons pour in 35 points out of nowhere and Rondo dish 19 dimes, only to see his potential game-winner blocked by Rose.
Game 7 was a letdown, only because of what preceded it. If it didn't have to follow three stupendous games, it would have stood up as a good game in its own right, but it was disappointing by comparison.
Nonetheless, this is definitely the most exciting playoff series in the past decade of the NBA.
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