2008 NBA playoffs

Tournament details
Dates	April 19–June 17, 2008
Season	2007–08
Teams	16
Final positions
Champions	Boston Celtics (17th title)
Runner-up	Los Angeles Lakers
Semifinalists	Detroit Pistons San Antonio Spurs
← 2007 2009 →

The 2008 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 2007–08 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics defeating the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals. Paul Pierce was named NBA Finals MVP.

Overview

Thanks to preseason trades for Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, the Boston Celtics entered the playoffs with an NBA best 66–16 record. It was also their first playoff appearance since 2005.

The Los Angeles Lakers entered their third consecutive postseason. Thanks to a midseason trade for Pau Gasol, they entered the playoffs as the top seed in the west for the first time since 2000.

The Phoenix Suns entered their fourth consecutive postseason. However, they lost to the defending champion San Antonio Spurs in the first round.

The Atlanta Hawks made the playoffs for the first time since 1999, taking the top seed and eventual champion Boston Celtics to seven games before bowing out.

The New Orleans Hornets made the playoffs for the first time since 2004 and for the first time as a member of the Western Conference. This was notable since this marks the playoff debut of Chris Paul and the Hornets’ first postseason appearance after Hurricane Katrina, pushing the defending champions San Antonio Spurs to seven games in the Conference Semifinals before bowing out. The Hornets would not win another playoff series until 2018, in which they were now known today as the Pelicans. To date, 2008 was the closest the New Orleans franchise had ever come from reaching the Conference Finals; as of 2024 the Pelicans and the Charlotte Hornets are the only active teams to never advance to the Conference Finals.

The Golden State Warriors won 48 games, more than 5 of the 8 playoff teams in the Eastern Conference. However, all eight qualifiers in the Western Conference finished with at least 50 wins, thus leaving the Warriors out of the postseason.

The New Jersey Nets missed the playoffs for the first time since 2001, largely due to a trade that sent Jason Kidd to the Dallas Mavericks. The Miami Heat missed the playoffs for the first time since 2003, thanks to a league worst 15–67 record. It also marked the first NBA postseason since 2003 not to feature Dwyane Wade. The Chicago Bulls also missed the playoffs for the first time since 2004.

With their first round series victory over the Toronto Raptors, the Orlando Magic won their first playoff series since 1996. However, they lost to the Detroit Pistons in the Conference Semifinals.

With their first round sweep of the Denver Nuggets, the Los Angeles Lakers won their first playoff series since 2004 (when they last made the NBA Finals). It also marked the only sweep of the 2008 playoffs.

With their conference semifinals win over the Orlando Magic, the Detroit Pistons entered their sixth consecutive conference finals. The Pistons also became the first team since the Showtime Lakers to accomplish this feat. As of 2024, this remains The Pistons’ most recent series win.

Game 7 of the conference semifinals between the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers became notable for a duel between Paul Pierce and LeBron James, who scored 41 and 45 points, respectively. The Celtics won this game and advanced to the conference finals.

With their conference finals win over the defending champion San Antonio Spurs, the Los Angeles Lakers returned to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2004. They also became the first top seed since 2003 to make the NBA Finals.

With their conference finals win over the Detroit Pistons, the Boston Celtics made the NBA Finals for the first time since 1987. As of 2024, Game 4 of the Conference Finals was The Pistons’ most recent playoff win.

For the first time since 2000, the top seeds from each Conference met in the NBA Finals. The 2008 Finals was also the first since 1998 to feature neither Shaquille O'Neal nor Tim Duncan.

The Boston Celtics played 26 playoff games (2 games short of a full length postseason of 28), breaking the 25 game record of the 1994 Knicks and 2005 Pistons by 1 game for the most playoff games in a single season played by 1 NBA team.^[1] The Knicks, however, only played a Best–of–5 First Round, and so had 2 fewer games to accomplish that feat.

Playoff qualifying

Eastern Conference

The following teams clinched a playoff berth in the East:

1. Boston Celtics (66–16, clinched Atlantic Division, and home court advantage throughout the playoffs)
2. Detroit Pistons (59–23, clinched Central Division title)
3. Orlando Magic (52–30, clinched Southeast Division title)
4. Cleveland Cavaliers (45–37)
5. Washington Wizards (43–39)
6. Toronto Raptors (41–41)
7. Philadelphia 76ers (40–42)
8. Atlanta Hawks (37–45)

Western Conference

The following teams clinched a playoff berth in the West:

1. Los Angeles Lakers (57–25, clinched Pacific Division title, and home-court advantage throughout the Western Conference playoffs)
2. New Orleans Hornets (56–26, clinched Southwest Division title, 34–18 record vs. Western Conference)
3. San Antonio Spurs (56–26, 33–19 record vs. Western Conference)
4. Utah Jazz (54–28, clinched Northwest Division title)
5. Houston Rockets (55–27, 2–2 head-to-head vs. PHO, 33–19 record vs. Western Conference)
6. Phoenix Suns (55–27, 2–2 head-to-head vs. HOU, 31–21 record vs. Western Conference)
7. Dallas Mavericks (51–31)
8. Denver Nuggets (50–32)

Bracket

This was the outlook for the 2008 NBA Playoffs. Teams in italics had home court advantage. Teams in bold advanced to the next round. Numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's original seeding in their respective conferences. Numbers to the right of each team indicate the number of games the team won in that round. The division champions possess an asterisk (*).

First round

Eastern Conference first round

(1) Boston Celtics vs. (8) Atlanta Hawks

This was the tenth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning eight of the first nine meetings.