Preface
Now the playoff situation in the East and West is gradually becoming clearer, the Lakers defeated the Pelicans in the playoffs in the West to face the Nuggets again in the first round, and the last playoff spot will be born between the Pelicans and the Kings, and the East is likely to be the Heat and the 76ers finally join hands to advance to the playoffs.
Since there are almost no teams in the league this season, there is a high probability that any group of playoff matchups will be very intense, so fans are expected to be able to feast their eyes on it. The more intense the game, the easier it is to make or break more history, but the six first-round series records we've reviewed below will be hard to break even in a few decades.
6. In 2014, there were 5 tie-breaks in the first round
In the first round of the playoffs in the 2013-2014 season, a total of 5 sets of matchups were played to the tiebreaker to determine the winner, which is only once in history, and the protagonists at that time were Pacers vs Hawks, Raptors vs Nets, Spurs vs Mavericks, Thunder vs Grizzlies, Clippers vs Warriors.
Let's talk about the matchup between the Pacers and the Hawks first, the former is the first team in the East in the regular season that season, no one could have imagined that they would play with the Hawks who are eighth in the East, and as soon as the playoffs start their first loss to the Hawks, fans realize that this series will not be as simple as imagined. Later, the Pacers also fell behind 2-3 and were taken the lead by the Hawks to get the match point, but fortunately, they stabilized their position and won two consecutive games to get through the danger, and George cut 30 points and 11 rebounds in the seventh game and became a big contributor to the team.
Although the series between the Raptors and the Nets was also very intense, when the Raptors got the match point, everyone thought that the series was going to end, but then the Nets won two games in a row and directly completed the reversal, and six players from the seven teams scored double-doubles, and the star Joe Johnson scored 26 points to lead the team to advance.
Compared with the East, the competition in the West is more intense, as can be seen from their record in the regular season, the gap between the playoff teams is not large, the Mavericks ranked eighth in the West have 49 wins, and they did almost overturn the Spurs in the first round of the West, but unfortunately Nowitzki was completely locked up, only 8 of 21 shots, and the team lost the game in the end. There are also the Grizzlies who are seventh in the West, they are not afraid of the Thunder who are second in the West, and under the leadership of the "Black and White Bears", they also dragged the series into a tiebreaker, but unfortunately in the last game Randolph was banned, and the Grizzlies' strength was greatly reduced, and they failed to reverse in the end.
There is also the last group is the Clippers who are third in the West against the Warriors who are sixth in the West, the first four games between the two sides have been fought back and forth to a 2-2 draw, and the Clippers relied on Jordan Jr. to slash 25 points and 18 rebounds to take the lead in getting the match point, and the seven games Griffin, Paul, and Redick combined to score 66 points to help the team win the final victory.
5.4 games with 7 overtime
After the Bulls drafted Rose in 2008, they finally had hope of revival, and under the latter's leadership, they won 41 regular season in the 2008-2009 season and finished seventh in the East to make the playoffs. In the first round against the Celtics, who were second in the East, no one was optimistic about the Bulls, and some even predicted that they would be swept, but it was clear that in the end, the Celtics' path to qualification was far more difficult than a sweep.
The united Bulls not only dragged the series into a tie-break through their own efforts, but they also caused very big problems for the Celtics in each game, they played four games in overtime to decide the winner, and the G4 sides played two overtimes, and the Bulls played a total of 8 players in that game, 7 of whom scored in double figures.
4.威少单场51+10+13
After Durant left Golden State in 2016, the Thunder were left with one less star, and the team roster was all role players except for him. However, Wei Shao did not give up, he played an average of 30+10+10 per game in the regular season, not only was elected MVP, but also led the team to the playoffs.
In the first round against the Rockets led by his former good brother Harden, the Thunder's strength on paper is very different from that of the opponent, but Wei Shao still gives everything he has in every game, especially in the series G2, in that game, Wei Shao played 41 minutes, 43 shots and 17 of 51 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists of a big triple-double, plus 4 steals and 1 block, but even so the Thunder failed to win this game, and in the end they were eliminated by the Rockets with a score of 1-4.
3. Iverson had 10 steals in a single game
1998 was a turbulent period for the NBA, as negotiations over collective bargaining agreements were deadlocked, and the 1998-1999 season did not officially start until February 1999. However, the 76ers led by Iverson, not only were they not affected, but they also made the playoffs, which is also the first time Iverson has led the team to the playoffs since entering the league.
In the first round against the Magic, the 76ers won the series with a score of 3-1, and in the crucial third game, Iverson also showed his super stealing ability, in that game he efficiently cut 33+5+5 on the offensive end, and 10 steals and 2 blocks on the defensive end. To this day, Iverson's 10 steals in a single game are not only the highest single-game steals in the first round, but also the highest single-game steals in playoff history.
2. Jordan scored 63 points in a single game
As one of the most scoring players in NBA history, Jordan has won the scoring title 10 times throughout his career, averaging more than 30 points per game in both the regular season and the playoffs. In terms of single-game scoring explosion, Jordan may not be as good as many players in the regular season, and his career-high 69 points in a single game in the regular season is lower than many active players, but Jordan's record in the playoffs is far behind others.
In the second season of his career, in the playoff series against the Celtics, although the Bulls were swept by their opponents, Jordan contributed the strongest scoring performance in NBA playoff history, and in that game he scored 63 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks on 22-of-41 shooting. In this game, Jordan also convinced Bird, who bluntly said after the game, "God is playing in the No. 23 jersey tonight", and you must know that Jordan has been plagued by injuries this season, he only played 18 games in the regular season, if there are no injuries, Jordan may really lead the team to win one or two games.
It is worth mentioning that after Jordan played this famous scene, before the third game, Bird said again: "If Jordan can get 20+ this time, then I will retire and become a truck driver", and in the end he really pretended, under the combined limit of the Celtics, Jordan only scored 19 points in the last game before six fouls.
1. James won 21 consecutive games in the first round
He has set too many historical records in James' career, such as the familiar all-time scoring champion, playoff scoring champion, 40,000 + 10,000 + 10,000 and so on, these records are also difficult to break. James' 21-game winning streak in the first round is rarely mentioned, and in fact this difficulty is no less difficult than other records, since the Heat defeated the Knicks 4-1 in the first round in 2013, James's team swept opponents in the first round, and it was not until 2018 that this record was finally interrupted by the Pacers.
If you want to break this record, you must be extremely strong, at least you have to lead the team to the playoffs for 5 consecutive seasons, and then there can be no slack in the first round, after all, since it is a team that can enter the playoffs, it proves that they have a certain strength, and they may overturn if they are not careful.