preface
Since the playoffs are a knockout format, its confrontation and defensive intensity are unmatched in the regular season. In just one week of the season, there have been a number of injuries to players; The core of the team, Alphabet Brother and Leonard, have missed two consecutive series, and although the Bucks are 1-2 down, the situation against the Heat is even worse, and two big players Hiro and Oladipo are in a row; The Clippers have reached a point where their lives hang in the balance, trailing the Suns 1-3. Although Morant returned from the firing line, the team still fell behind 1-2, and even the 76ers, who swept the Nets 4-0 to advance first, also spread the bad news that Embiid only has a 50% chance of preparing for the second round.
Let's look at the series situation: in addition to the 76ers, the Nuggets, Suns in the West and the Celtics and Knicks in the East, these four teams have won the match point 3-1 with a big score; The remaining 3 sets of showdowns are more intense, with the Warriors, Lakers and Heat all on the impact. Although most of the matchups have been one-sided, in this series, there have been a number of historical records, let's take a look at them together
1, Harden: G1 cut 23 points and 13 assists, becoming the first player in NBA history to score 7 three-point + 13 assists in a single playoff game.
2, Mitchell: G1 cut 38 points and 8 assists, and the total score in the first 40 playoff games of his career reached 1143 points (the first in the active game), ranking 7th in history.
3, Fox: G1 cut 38 points and 5 assists, the second highest score in playoff debut history, second only to Doncic's 42 points, 7 rebounds and 9 assists.
4, James: G2 cut 28 points and 12 rebounds, 25+10 rebounds in the playoffs career reached 88 times, tied with O'Neal for the first in history.
5. Bucks: G2 hit 25 three-pointers, tying the NBA's all-time playoff record.
6, Jamal Murray: G2 cut 40 points and 5 assists, career 5 playoff points 40+, the first in Nuggets history.
7. Edwards: G3 scored 41 points, breaking the team's all-time playoff record for the highest single-game score, and became the fifth player in NBA history to score 40+ points before the age of 22.
8, Wei Shao: G3 game crazy 30 points, 8 rebounds and 11 assists, the 10th 30+10 assists in the playoffs career, tied Paul for fifth all-time. The G4 game exploded another 37+6+4, becoming the second-highest score in NBA history without a single free throw.
9, Morant: G3 exploded with 45 points, 9 rebounds and 13 assists for a quasi-triple-double, and scored 24 points in the fourth quarter to set a team's all-time playoff single-quarter scoring record.
10, Jokic: Averaged 26 points, 11.5 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game in his playoff career, the first player in NBA history to average more than 25+10+5 in the top 50 games.
After watching the records set this season, let's get down to business, what are the hard-to-break super records in the history of the NBA first-round series?
6. Record for the most number of seven games: 5
Record Setter: 10 teams in the playoffs
Born: 2014
If you look at the first-round series of the playoffs alone, the 13-14 season can definitely be called the fiercest year in NBA history, and except for the Bulls and Heat in the East, the rest of the participating teams played incomprehensibly.
In the East, the first place is George's Pacers (56-26), who lost the first game of the playoffs to the Hawks with only 38 wins, and after the first five games, the Hawks took the first 3-2 game; Fortunately, they stabilized their positions and won 2 games in a row to avoid the embarrassment of being black-eight. Followed by the third-place Raptors in the East (48-34), facing the sixth-ranked Nets (44-38), the opponent also took the first match point 3-2, and the final seven-game Raptors only narrowly won 104-103.
In contrast, the competition in the West is more fierce, and all three groups of matches have gone through seven to complete the promotion. The top-ranked Spurs (62 wins) were almost completed by the Lone Ranger, led by old rival Nowitzki, to complete the "Black Eight Miracle"; The second-place Thunder, 59-23, faced the Grizzlies with a fierce defense (50 wins), and the situation between the two sides can be described as extremely tragic; After the Thunder easily won the first big win in the first game, the next four matchups were all decided by overtime, and the Grizzlies narrowly won the battle of Tianwang Mountain by one point 100-99, taking the first game point; However, in the next two games, Du and Wei both broke out, and the Thunder won two consecutive games and finally completed the promotion.
The Clippers are third in the West with 57-25 against the 51-31 Warriors to draw 2-2 in their first four games. The Tianwang Mountain Clippers successfully won the game point with Jordan Jr.'s explosion of 25 points and 18 boards; However, the Warriors managed to win back the G6 and drag the series into a tie-break, but in the end, the Clippers were stronger and successfully advanced to the second round. The final group was the comparable Rockets (54 wins) and Blazers (54), and although the two teams did not drag the series to tie-for-seven, they were equally incomprehensible; In the 6-game series, the Battle of Tianwang Mountain had the largest point difference, with the Rockets winning by double digits 108-98, and the G6 game without Lillard's final killer goal, the two sides would have to go through a tie-break to determine the winner.
5. The maximum record of overtime in a single round: 4 games and 7 overtime
Record Creator: 2009
Born: Celtics vs Bulls
Looking back at the 08-09 season, Wade averaged 30.2 points per game to win the only scoring title of his career, James won the first MVP trophy of his career; Warcraft Howard won the rebounding king, block king (first) and DPOY (first), and led the Magic all the way to the Finals; After Kobe chased O'Neal, he finally ushered in his own boss championship and FMVP. It's just that this season, there is another rising star, that is, Chris Ross, the new star selected by the Bulls, "Windy City Rose".
Because of Ross's arrival, Chicago only had one season to make the playoffs again. After meeting the defending champion Celtics' Big Three in the first round, the newborn Rose did not have the slightest timidity, and gave a stunning double-double of 36+11 assists in his debut, while leading the team to win the first victory through overtime; The entire series was played until the tie-break seven, and the Celtics struggled to get through.
After seven big games, only the G3 battle Celtic won relatively easily, and the rest were all fought until the end to divide the winner and loser; And 4 games went through overtime, and the G4 Bulls narrowly won 121-118 through double overtime. However, the fiercest was the sixth game, when the Bulls went through three overtime hours to win 128-127. This series is the strongest single-round matchup in the history of the first-round playoffs, with a total of seven overtime records in four overtime games, which is difficult to break.
4. The strongest triple-double in a single game: 51+10+13
Record Creator: Wei Shao
Born: 2017
In the 2016-2017 season, despite the departure of his eldest brother Durant to the Golden State Warriors, Wilson led the Thunder to a 47-35 record and reached the playoffs as the fifth in the West. Facing his third brother Harden in the first round, he led the Rockets, and although he only won one victory, Wei Shao played historical statistics in this round of the series. He averaged 37.4 points, 11.6 rebounds and 10.8 assists in five games, especially in Game 2 of the series, where he played 41 minutes, and although he shot only 17 of 43 shots, he made 15-of-18 free throws and eventually scored 51 points, along with 10 rebounds, 13 assists, 4 steals and 1 block. It was also the first 50+ triple-double in playoff history, but unfortunately it didn't lead to a victory, and the Thunder eventually lost 111-115.
With the advent of the small-ball era, triple-doubles are already common, but in the playoffs with greater defensive intensity, it is still not easy to get a triple-double. Even the almighty king James currently has only 28 times, which is already ranked 2nd in history, only 2 times less than Magic; The latter rankings are even more precipitous, with Wilson ranking third all-time with 12 times, Kidd fourth with 11 times, and Green, Bird and Rondo tied for fifth place with 10 times. It can be seen that it is indeed quite difficult to get a triple-double in the playoffs, so it is not easy to break Wei Shao's 51+10+13 triple-double record.
3. Highest steals in a single game: 10
Record Creator: Iverson
Born: 1999
The 1998-1999 season was supposed to be the most turbulent season in NBA history, because of labor bargaining problems, the new season was postponed until February of the following year, so even the season's All-Star weekend was canceled; In addition, Jordan announced his retirement again before the start of the game, and the Bulls dynasty disintegrated, and the league once again presented a situation of princes competing for hegemony. At this time, the Philadelphia 76ers were 28-22 this season under the leadership of Iverson, and the team finally returned to the playoff stage after 8 years, and easily defeated the Magic 3-1 in the first round to advance.
The biggest impression of fans about the golden generation champion is, of course, the unsolvable breakthrough and explosive scoring, often ignoring Iverson's stealing ability, which he has won three consecutive seasons steal king in 01-03. In this series in '99, he fully demonstrated his scoring and stealing ability, averaging 28.3 points, 6 assists and 4 steals per game in four games. Especially in the crucial third game, Iverson played a near-all-round performance, playing 43 minutes and contributing 33 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists on 14-of-28 shooting; In addition, he contributed 10 steals and 2 blocks on the defensive end, thus setting a record for the highest steals in a single game in playoff history, which is still unbroken, and it will be even more difficult to break if it is limited to the first-round series.
2. The highest score in a single game: 63 points
Record Creator: Jordan
Born: 1986
As the NBA's all-time No. 1 quarterback, Jordan's scoring ability is undoubted, winning 10 consecutive scoring championships, as well as ranking first in history in the regular season (30.1 points) and playoffs (33.4 points). When it comes to the record of the highest score per game, Jordan's career high of only 69 points in the regular season is far less than Chamberlain and Kobe, and even the current Booker, Mitchell and Lillard have scored 70+ per game; But in the playoffs with fierce defensive intensity, Jordan is still an invincible existence, with 50+ times in a single game in his playoff career, ranking first in history, and the best 63 points in a single game is still maintained by the god of basketball, and this masterpiece happened in the first round of the series.
In the 1984 draft, Jordan was selected by Chicago as a scout, and he averaged 28+6.5+5.9+2.4 steals per game in his rookie season, and won the Best Rookie Award for Big Dream. In his second year of career, after playing only three games after the start of the season, Jordan suffered a fractured left foot injury and was not able to return to the field until the end of the season. With a 30-52 record, the Bulls barely caught the last train of the playoffs, only to face the league's No. 1 Celtics (67 wins) in the first round.
In the first game of the series, Jordan efficiently scored 49 points on 18-of-36 shooting, but the Green Army's starting five Tigers combined to score 105 points, and the Bulls lost 104-123. When he went to golf with Danny Angie of the Celtics after the game, he was ridiculed by the other party's trash talk; So after coming to the G2 game, Jordan, who played away from home, still played the strongest game of his playoff career, playing 53 minutes, shooting 21 of 41 shots and scoring 63 points, plus 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks; Although the Bulls still lost another game 131-135 after 2 overtime, Jordan's performance convinced everyone, and Bird shouted after the game "God is playing in the No. 23 jersey tonight."
In the subsequent G3 game, Jordan played 39 minutes and made 6 fouls, only scoring 19 points, and the Bulls were directly swept 3-0. In fact, there is another story behind this, probably because the media and fans touted Jordan's 63 points, and Bird once again released a bold statement before the start of the third game of the series: "If Jordan can cut 20+, I will retire to be a truck driver." Unexpectedly, Bird once again managed to X, and the young Jordan was caught by the crazy bag of the Celtics, his offensive efficiency really declined, and he was already carrying 4 fouls before the end of the first half, and finally failed to reach 20+ by one point.
1. Highest winning streak in the first round: 21 wins
Record Creator: James
Born: 2012-2017
As the "proud son of heaven", although James participated in the draft as a high school student, the Cavaliers still did not hesitate to send away the core of the team and began to rot 2 years in advance. Fortunately, they successfully drew the 2003 draft and successfully brought the little emperor back to Cleveland; And James did not disappoint them, since the beginning of his rookie season, he became the youngest player in NBA history to reach 1,000 points, and since then, he has continuously set new records for 2,000 points, 3,000 points and other scoring stages; With a steady output throughout his career, he successfully completed his overtake over Abdul-Jabbar this season and was promoted to the new all-time scoring leader, and his scoring ability still shows no signs of declining, and it is very likely that the "411" project will be completed before retiring.
Over the past 20 years of his career, James has set numerous all-time records, including All-Star Game and Playoff Games, all-time firsts. At the same time, he is also the only player in NBA history to lead three teams to win the championship and win the Finals MVP, not only led the Cavaliers to win the Finals 1-3 behind in 16 years, but also set a series of five statistics that are the highest records of both teams.
In addition, James also played a hard-to-break record in the first round series, that is, 21 consecutive first-round wins. Since leading the Heat to defeat the Knicks in Game 5 of the first round in 2012, he has not lost a game in the first round series for five consecutive years, sweeping the 2013 Bucks, 2014 Hornets, 2015 Celtics, 2016 Pistons, and 2017 Pacers 4-0. Knowing that the teams that can make the playoffs have a certain quality, it is not easy to complete the sweep and advance, not to mention the need to be unbeaten for more than 5 consecutive seasons, so this record may be difficult to be broken.
For the above 6 first-round series records, which record do you think is the hardest, and which one will be the first to be broken? Welcome to leave a comment below!