The 2019 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2018–19 season. The playoffs began on April 13 and ended on June 13 with the Toronto Raptors defeating the two-time defending champions Golden State Warriors in the 2019 NBA Finals. It was Toronto's first NBA championship in franchise history. Game 6 of the Finals was the last game to be played at the Oracle Arena in Oakland before moving to the Chase Center in San Francisco for the 2019–20 season.
The Los Angeles Clippers set the record for the largest comeback in NBA playoff history, overcoming a 31-point deficit against the Warriors. The Portland Trail Blazers' quadruple-overtime victory in game 3 of the conference semifinals against the Denver Nuggets was the longest NBA playoff game since 1953. The Raptors' Kawhi Leonard made the first ever game-winning buzzer beater in a game seven, which he did against the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this was the last postseason until 2022 to be played in its traditional April through June schedule. This was also the last NBA Finals featuring coaches wearing formal business attire, as the business attire for coaches was completely abandoned following the 2020 pandemic.
Overview Western Conference The Denver Nuggets made the playoffs for the first time in six years. The Golden State Warriors entered the postseason for the seventh straight year, a new franchise record. This was also their final season at Oracle Arena, as they moved to the new Chase Center the following season. They won the championship in 2015, 2017 and 2018. The San Antonio Spurs made the playoffs for the 22nd consecutive season; they have not missed the playoffs since drafting Tim Duncan, who retired in 2016. Until 2026, this was their most recent postseason appearance. The Los Angeles Clippers made the playoffs for the first time since 2017, featuring a roster without Blake Griffin, Chris Paul, or DeAndre Jordan. The Los Angeles Lakers missed the playoffs for the sixth year in a row despite the addition of LeBron James. This was also the first NBA Playoffs to not feature James since 2005.
Eastern Conference The Milwaukee Bucks entered the postseason with a 60–win season, their first since 1980–81, and with the best record in the league, the first time that has occurred since 1973–74. The Orlando Magic made the playoffs for the first time since 2012, breaking the longest Eastern Conference playoff appearance drought to date. The Brooklyn Nets made the playoffs for the first time in four years. The Detroit Pistons made the playoffs for the first time since 2016. The Cleveland Cavaliers, despite being the four-time defending Eastern Conference Champions, missed the playoffs for the first time since 2014, largely due to the departure of LeBron James to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Miami Heat missed the playoffs for the third time in five years.
First round In Game 2 of their series against the reigning champion Golden State Warriors, the Los Angeles Clippers completed the largest comeback in NBA playoff history, overcoming a 31–point deficit. Game 3 of the Bucks–Pistons series was the first playoff game played in the city of Detroit since Game 6 of the 1985 Eastern Conference semifinals, which took place at Joe Louis Arena. Postseason games featuring the Pistons had previously been held in the Palace of Auburn Hills and the Pontiac Silverdome. The Boston Celtics swept the Indiana Pacers in the first round, marking the 43rd straight year a sweep occurred in the NBA playoffs. The last year a sweep did not occur in the playoffs was 1976. It was also the Celtics’ first playoff sweep since 2011. With their first round sweep of the Detroit Pistons, the Milwaukee Bucks won their first series since 2001 when they defeated the Charlotte Hornets in the conference semifinals. Game 5 of the Trail Blazers–Thunder series was extremely notable thanks to Damian Lillard's 37 foot series winning 3–pointer over Paul George, capping a 118–115 victory for the Portland Trail Blazers. It was the second series winning three pointer made by Damian Lillard (the other being in 2014 against the Houston Rockets). It would also be Paul George's and Russell Westbrook's final game as members of the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Nuggets–Spurs series was the first of the 2019 playoffs to have a Game 7, making it the 20th consecutive NBA postseason with a Game 7. The last time a Game 7 did not take place in the playoffs was in 1999. All of the top seeds won the first round for the first time since 2008.
Conference semifinals Game 3 of the Trail Blazers–Nuggets series was the first quadruple overtime game played in the playoffs since 1955 (and second overall), as well as the first quadruple overtime game ever played during the shot clock era. With their conference semifinals victory over the Boston Celtics, the Milwaukee Bucks made the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2001. In addition, this was the first time since 1983 that the Bucks defeated the Celtics in a playoff series. Kawhi Leonard scored the first Game 7 buzzer-beater in NBA history, helping the Toronto Raptors defeat the Philadelphia 76ers 92–90 in the second round. Game 7 of the Nuggets–Blazers series was extremely notable for CJ McCollum's block on Jamal Murray, evoking memories of a similar block in 2016. With their Game 7 victory Portland Trail Blazers advanced to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2000. They also won a Game 7 on the road for the first time in franchise history. The Warriors–Rockets series is notable for Stephen Curry's 33–point second half. With their series victory, they advanced to the Western Conference finals for the fifth consecutive season.
Conference finals Stephen Curry (Warriors) and Seth Curry (Portland Trail Blazers) played each other in the Western Conference finals, becoming the first set of brothers to face each other in an NBA playoff series. With their Western Conference finals sweep against the Portland Trail Blazers, the Golden State Warriors earned their fifth consecutive trip to the NBA Finals, making them the second franchise in the NBA postseason history to do so after the Boston Celtics did it in ten consecutive years, starting from 1957 to 1966. The Portland Trail Blazers earned the dubious distinction of losing three straight games to the Golden State Warriors despite posting double digit leads in Games 2, 3, and 4. With their Eastern Conference finals victory over the Milwaukee Bucks, the Toronto Raptors advanced on to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history. Stephen Curry surpassed Shaquille O'Neal for most points in a sweep with 146 points.
NBA Finals The Toronto Raptors won the NBA Championship for the first time in franchise history, defeating the Golden State Warriors in six games in the 2019 NBA Finals. Game 1 was the first ever NBA Finals game played outside the US. Kawhi Leonard joined Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and LeBron James as the only players to win Finals MVP with more than one team, and became the first Finals MVP winner from both conferences. Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals was the last NBA game ever played at Oracle Arena, as well as the final NBA game ever played in Oakland. Game 5 of the Warriors–Raptors series was extremely notable as Kevin Durant ruptured his Achilles in an attempt to return to the playoffs, previously injuring it whilst playing the Clippers.
Format
Within each conference, the eight teams with the most wins qualified for the playoffs. The seedings were based on each team's record.
Each conference's bracket was fixed; there was no reseeding. All rounds were best-of-seven series; the series ended when one team won four games, and that team advanced to the next round. All rounds, including the NBA Finals, were in a 2–2–1–1–1 format. In the conference playoffs, home court advantage went to the higher-seeded team (number one being the highest). Seeding was based on each team's regular season record within a conference; if two teams had the same record, standard tiebreaker rules were used. Conference seedings were ignored for the NBA Finals: Home court advantage went to the team with the better regular season record, and, if needed, ties were broken based on head-to-head record, followed by intra-conference record.
Playoff qualifying On March 1, 2019, the Milwaukee Bucks became the first team to clinch a playoff spot.
Eastern Conference Seed Team Record ClinchedPlayoff berth Division title Best recordin conference Best recordin NBA 1 Milwaukee Bucks 60–22 March 1 March 21 April 4 April 4 2 Toronto Raptors 58–24 March 9 April 1 — — 3 Philadelphia 76ers 51–31 March 17 — — — 4 Boston Celtics 49–33 March 26 — — — 5 Indiana Pacers 48–34 March 22 — — — 6 Brooklyn Nets 42–40 April 7 — — — 7 Orlando Magic 42–40 April 7 April 7 — — 8 Detroit Pistons 41–41 April 10 — — —
Western Conference Seed Team Record ClinchedPlayoff berth Division title Best recordin conference Best recordin NBA 1 Golden State Warriors 57–25 March 16 March 31 April 7 — 2 Denver Nuggets 54–28 March 18 April 5 — — 3 Portland Trail Blazers 53–29 March 25 — — — 4 Houston Rockets 53–29 March 24 March 31 — — 5 Utah Jazz 50–32 March 28 — — — 6 Oklahoma City Thunder 49–33 March 30 — — — 7 San Antonio Spurs 48–34 March 30 — — — 8 Los Angeles Clippers 48–34 March 26 — — —
Notes
Bracket Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in its conference, and the numbers to the right indicate the number of games the team won in that round. The division champions are marked by an asterisk. Teams with home-court advantage, the higher-seeded team, are shown in italics.
First round Note: Times are EDT (UTC−4) as listed by the NBA. If the venue is located in a different time zone, the local time is also given.
Eastern Conference first round
(1) Milwaukee Bucks vs. (8) Detroit Pistons
+Regular-season seriesMilwaukee won 4–0 in the regular-season series
This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Pistons winning all four of the previous meetings. This was the Bucks first playoff win since 2001.
+Previous playoffs seriesDetroit leads 4–0 in all-time playoff series
(2) Toronto Raptors vs. (7) Orlando Magic
In Game 1, D. J. Augustin hit the game-winning three-point shot with 3.4 seconds left.
+Regular-season seriesTied 2–2 in the regular-season series
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Magic winning the first meeting.
+Previous playoffs seriesOrlando leads 1–0 in all-time playoff series
(3) Philadelphia 76ers vs. (6) Brooklyn Nets
+Regular-season seriesTied 2–2 in the regular-season series
This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, but the first since the New Jersey Nets relocated to Brooklyn and became the Brooklyn Nets in 2012, with each team winning one series.
+Previous playoffs seriesTied 1–1 in all-time playoff series
(4) Boston Celtics vs. (5) Indiana Pacers
+Regular-season seriesBoston won 3–1 in the regular-season series
This was the sixth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning three of the first five meetings.
+Previous playoffs seriesBoston leads 3–2 in all-time playoff series This is the most recent playoff series between the Celtics & Pacers until 2024.
Western Conference first round
(1) Golden State Warriors vs. (8) Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers trailed 94–63 with 7:31 remaining in the third quarter of Game 2. They would go on to outscore Golden State 72–37 en route to overcoming a 31-point deficit, the largest comeback in NBA playoff history.
+Regular-season seriesGolden State won 3–1 in the regular-season series
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Clippers winning the first meeting.
+Previous playoffs seriesL.A. Clippers leads 1–0 in all-time playoff series