The 2016 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 2015–16 season. The season began on April 16 and ended on June 19 with the Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers defeating the defending champion and Western Conference champion Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals. It was their first championship in franchise history, and it notably ended the Cleveland sports curse after 52 years. The Cavaliers became the first team to overcome a 3–1 series deficit in the NBA Finals, and the eleventh team overall to do so in the playoffs. They also became the fourth team to win their first ten playoff games.
Overview
Western Conference The Golden State Warriors entered the playoffs with the best regular-season record in NBA history. The Warriors won 73 games, breaking the previous record of 72 wins set by the Chicago Bulls in the 1995–96 season. Golden State appeared in their fourth consecutive postseason for the first time since making six straight appearances from 1947 to 1952. However, they lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. The Oklahoma City Thunder returned to the postseason after a one-season absence. The San Antonio Spurs finished just six games behind the Warriors for the best record in the NBA, entering their 19th consecutive postseason, having just one home loss in the regular season, setting a new single-season franchise record for wins. The Spurs' 40–1 home record equaled the feat set by the 1985–86 Boston Celtics. However, they lost in the Conference Semifinals to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Eastern Conference The Cleveland Cavaliers earned the top seed in the Eastern Conference for the first time since 2010, the final season of LeBron James' first stint with the Cavaliers. The Toronto Raptors also finished with a franchise record for single-season victories, winning 56 games. They finished one game shy of the Cleveland Cavaliers for the best record in the Eastern Conference. However, they lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Conference Finals. The Detroit Pistons qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2009. The Miami Heat, Charlotte Hornets, and Indiana Pacers returned to the playoffs after a one-season absence. For the first time since 1999, all teams from the Eastern Conference finished with a better record against at least one team from the Western Conference. In addition, all Eastern Conference teams finished with records over .500 for the first time since 2012.
First Round Game 4 between the Cavaliers and the Pistons was the last playoff game played at the Palace of Auburn Hills, as well as the last major league postseason game played in Oakland County. The Pistons missed the playoffs the next year and moved to their new arena for the 2017–18 season. Game 7 between the Raptors and Pacers and the Heat and Hornets ensured a 17th straight postseason in which at least one Game 7 was played; 1999 was the last postseason to not feature a Game 7. With their Game 7 win over the Pacers, the Raptors won their first playoff series since 2001.
Conference Semifinals With their Conference Semifinals victory over the Atlanta Hawks, the Cleveland Cavaliers became the fifth team (since the first round was extended to a best–of–seven series in 2003) to go 8–0 through the first two rounds and the first to do it twice; they first did so in 2009. This also marked the sixth consecutive year that LeBron James played in the Eastern Conference finals. James played in the Conference finals with the Miami Heat from 2011 to 2014, and with the Cavaliers in 2015. With their Game 6 victory over the San Antonio Spurs, the Oklahoma City Thunder made the Western Conference Finals for the third time in five seasons. Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals between the Toronto Raptors and Miami Heat marked the first time since 2001 that two teams that played a Game 7 in the previous round of the playoffs faced off against each other in another Game 7 in the next round. This would later happen again 10 years later. With their Game 7 win over the Miami Heat, the Toronto Raptors advanced to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in their history. This meant they also became the first Canadian–based and non–U.S. team to do so.
Conference Finals For the first time since 2010, no Texas team was represented in the Western Conference finals. Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals between the Toronto Raptors and the Cleveland Cavaliers was Toronto's first ever Eastern Conference finals win. Game 4 of the Western Conference finals marked the first time that the Golden State Warriors had lost consecutive games during the season. With their Eastern Conference Finals victory over the Toronto Raptors, the Cleveland Cavaliers became the first team in NBA history to go 8–0 in the first two rounds, and qualify to play in the NBA Finals. This also marked the sixth consecutive NBA Finals appearance for LeBron James. He became the first player since the 1960s to accomplish this feat. The Western Conference finals went to a Game 7 for the first time since 2002, when the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Sacramento Kings in overtime. With their 96–88 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals, the Golden State Warriors became the tenth team in NBA History to come back from a 3–1 series deficit in the playoffs. As a result, this marked the second consecutive season an NBA team rallied from a 3–1 series deficit to win the series. The Warriors also became the first team to accomplish this feat in the Conference finals since the 1981 Boston Celtics.
NBA Finals With their 104–89 and 110–77 wins over Cleveland in Game 1 and 2 of the NBA Finals, the Warriors posted the highest winning margin in the first two games in the NBA Finals with an +48 point differential. Thanks to the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 120–90 Game 3 victory, the Golden State Warriors lost every Game 3 of their 2016 playoff run. Draymond Green became the first NBA player to be suspended for an NBA Finals game since Jerry Stackhouse in 2006. He was suspended for Game 5, due to incurring excessive flagrant foul points in Game 4 (in which the Warriors won 108–97). In Game 5, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving became the first pair to each record 40+ points in a single NBA Finals game in history, helping the Cavaliers win 112–97. In Game 6, Stephen Curry, the unanimous MVP of the regular season, was ejected for throwing a mouthpiece in the fourth quarter. His Golden State Warriors would go on to lose 101–115. The NBA Finals went to a Game 7 for the first time since 2013, when the Miami Heat defeated the San Antonio Spurs 95–88. Game 7 of the NBA Finals marked the first time that the Golden State Warriors had lost three consecutive games during the season, and the first time that they had lost consecutive home games during the season.
Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals Game 7 of the NBA Finals was extremely notable for The Block (basketball), in which LeBron James blocked a layup by Andre Iguodala to keep the score tied at 89. This block, along with Kyrie Irving's title winning three pointer would seal the win for the Cleveland Cavaliers. With the win, the Cleveland Cavaliers became the first team to win Game 7 of the NBA Finals on the road since the 1978 Washington Bullets accomplished the feat against the Seattle SuperSonics. They also became the first team overall to win a Game 7 on the road since the 2014 Brooklyn Nets (which was also decided on a game-winning block). With the loss, the Golden State Warriors became the first team to overcome a 3–1 series deficit and blow a 3–1 series lead in the same playoffs (copying what the 2003 Vancouver Canucks did in the NHL). They also became the first team in NBA history to win 70+ regular season games and fail to win the NBA championship. The Cavaliers became the 11th team to overcome a 3–1 series deficit and the first to do so in the NBA Finals. It is also the first time in playoff history two NBA teams rallied from a 3–1 deficit in the same year. They also clinched Cleveland's first major sports title since 1964, effectively ending the Cleveland sports curse. The Cleveland Cavaliers became the first team since the 2006 Miami Heat to win an NBA Championship despite a midseason coaching change and despite trailing 2–0 (they became the fourth team overall to win the NBA Finals despite losing the first two games (after the 1969 Boston Celtics, 1977 Portland Trail Blazers, and the aforementioned 2006 Miami Heat). The title the Cleveland Cavaliers won was clinched on Father's Day for the fourth time in NBA history (the previous occurrences were in 1996, 2003, and 2014). It also marked the first time since 2014 that when both teams made back-to-back Finals appearances, the team that lost in the Finals the year before won the title the next year. This would happen again the following year. The Cleveland Cavaliers became the third team to clinch an NBA title on Father's Day. The other two teams were the Chicago Bulls (1996) and the San Antonio Spurs (twice).
Format
Within each conference, the eight teams with the most wins qualify for the playoffs. The seedings are based on each team's record.
Each conference's bracket is fixed; there is no reseeding. All rounds are best-of-seven series; the team that has four wins advances to the next round. As stated above, all rounds, including the NBA Finals, are in a 2–2–1–1–1 format. The rule for determining home court advantage in the NBA Finals is winning percentage, then head-to-head record, followed by record vs. opposite conference.
Seeding On September 8, 2015, the NBA announced changes to how playoff teams were seeded. Previously, the division champions were guaranteed no worse than the fourth seed, while the team with the second-best record in the conference was guaranteed no worse than the second seed even if it wasn't a division champion. Starting with the 2016 playoffs, the eight playoff qualifiers in each conference were seeded solely based on regular-season record. If two teams finish with identical records, the team that wins the regular-season series would get the higher seed. If the regular-season series is tied and one of the teams is a division champion, the division champion would get the higher seed. If three or more teams finish with identical records and one of the teams is a division champion, the division champion would get the higher seed.
Playoff qualifying On February 27, 2016, the Golden State Warriors became the first team to clinch a playoff spot. This was the earliest a team had clinched a playoff spot in February since the 1987–88 Los Angeles Lakers. The Cleveland Cavaliers became the first Eastern Conference team to clinch a playoff spot on March 18, 2016.
Eastern Conference Seed Team Record ClinchedPlayoff berth Division title Best record in Conference Best record in NBA 1 Cleveland Cavaliers 57–25 March 18 March 21 April 11 — 2 Toronto Raptors 56–26 March 23 March 31 —— 3 Miami Heat 48–34 April 2 April 13 —— 4 Atlanta Hawks 48–34 March 29 ——— 5 Boston Celtics 48–34 April 3 ——— 6 Charlotte Hornets 48–34 April 2 ——— 7 Indiana Pacers 45–37 April 10 ——— 8 Detroit Pistons 44–38 April 8 ———
Western Conference Seed Team Record ClinchedPlayoff berth Division title Best record in Conference Best record in NBA 1 Golden State Warriors 73–9 February 27 March 13 April 7 April 7 2 San Antonio Spurs 67–15 March 2 March 12 —— 3 Oklahoma City Thunder 55–27 March 18 March 20 —— 4 Los Angeles Clippers 53–29 March 27 ——— 5 Portland Trail Blazers 44–38 April 6 ——— 6 Dallas Mavericks 42–40 April 11 ——— 7 Memphis Grizzlies 42–40 April 7 ——— 8 Houston Rockets 41–41 April 13 ———
Notes
Bracket