Thanks to preseason trades for Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, the Boston Celtics entered the playoffs with an NBA best 66–16 record.

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.

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 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.

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).

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.

3 minutes into the 2nd half, the series' tensions finally boiled over when Marvin Williams was ejected for committing a hard foul on Rajon Rondo.

Detroit was behind by 10 in Game 4 at halftime and in danger of falling behind 3–1 going back home, but three second-half 3s by Rasheed Wallace and strong showings by Tayshaun Prince and Chauncey Billups keyed an 18-point 3rd quarter turnaround which evened the series.

Richard Hamilton keyed a similar start in Game 6, scoring 13 points, as the Pistons took an 18-point first quarter lead and eventually rolled into the second round.

[5] Scoring 25 points and grabbing 22 rebounds, Dwight Howard gave the Magic their first playoffs win since 2003 as they practically led the entire game.

The Raptors would respond with a strong Game 3 victory keyed by great point guard play from T. J. Ford and José Calderón.

LeBron James, labeled as "overrated" by Wizards guard DeShawn Stevenson, scored 20 of his 32 points in the second half to help the Cavs draw first blood in their third first round meeting in as many years.

[8] The Cavs and Wizards traded blowouts in Games 2 and 3, but Cleveland took a 3–1 lead in the Verizon Center off of Delonte West's last second 3.

Washington stayed alive by winning Game 5 when Caron Butler converted a running shot with only seconds left, capping off his 32-point performance.

This series was marked by several physical plays on James, with Brendan Haywood, Stevenson, and Darius Songaila picking up technical and flagrant fouls for hard contact on him.

Kobe Bryant gave the fans a vintage performance in Game 2 by scoring 49 points and adding 10 assists in a blowout at Staples Center.

[12] In his playoff debut, Chris Paul scored 35 points, dished out 10 assists, and stole the ball 4 times to lead the Hornets to a comeback home win against the Mavericks.

Michael Finley made a game-tying three in regulation, Tim Duncan scored 40 points, including a rare three-point field goal to force a second overtime, and Manu Ginóbili clinched victory with a drive to the basket to break the 115-all deadlock with 1.8 seconds left to win a classic Game 1.

But costly missed free throws by Shaquille O'Neal and key turnovers by Steve Nash helped San Antonio to prevail in Game 5, led again by Parker's 31 points.

The Jazz had a balanced game from Andrei Kirilenko, Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams to steal the home court advantage away from the Rockets.

Williams responded with a strong performance in a Game 4 victory, plus got some help from Mehmet Okur with his offensive rebound off of his two missed free throws.

Although the Celtics had a quick turnaround from their unexpected seven-game series with Atlanta, they managed to hold off the Cavs by winning the first two games in Boston.

James's shooting improved in the return to the Garden in Game 5, but received minimal help from his teammates as Rajon Rondo, Garnett, and Paul Pierce all scored over 20 points to push Boston over the top.

After being quiet in Game 1, the Magic's 3-point shooting picked up (11/26, with Jameer Nelson making 5-of-8), but could not overcome 19 turnovers and fell down in the series 2–0.

Tayshaun Prince made the go-ahead basket with 8.9 seconds left and Hedo Türkoğlu missed a layup as time ran out.

Rip Hamilton again led Detroit with 31 points, and Prince made the crucial defensive play by blocking Türkoğlu's layup in the waning seconds.

After being presented with the season's NBA MVP award in Game 2, Kobe Bryant led the Lakers to victory with 34 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists.

[23] The Hornets, who earned the home-court advantage via winning the Southwest division, were able to gain a quick 2–0 lead over the veteran Spurs.

However, that all changed when a much anticipated Game 7 saw the Spurs build a 15-point lead after 3 quarters, which proved to be enough (even after the Hornets cut the deficit to 3 with 1:35 left) to send them to another Western Conference Finals.

In Game 4 the Lakers never trailed (the Spurs missed several opportunities to take the lead) and led comfortably late, but a furious run by the Spurs and several mistakes by the Lakers (Bryant attempting a running fallaway with plenty of time on the shot clock, Gasol missing 2 free throws) gave San Antonio a chance to tie or win with seconds left.