2015 NBA playoffs
Despite making the Western Conference Finals the previous year and winning 45 games this season, the Oklahoma City Thunder missed the playoffs due to a tie-breaker with the New Orleans Pelicans.
The Heat and their fellow Floridian team, the Orlando Magic, both missed the playoffs in the same season for the first time since 1993.
Despite starting their respective seasons in a rebuilding mode, both the Milwaukee Bucks and the Boston Celtics returned to the playoffs after a one-year absence.
With the Spurs being eliminated in the first round, none of the eight teams remaining at the beginning of the Conference Semifinals had previously won an NBA championship in the 21st century.
With their series win over the Chicago Bulls, the Cleveland Cavaliers made the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2009.
The Hawks, Warriors, and Rockets were the three NBA teams which had been waiting for the longest time for a return to the conference finals prior to this postseason.
For the first time in NBA playoff history, both conference finals teams, the Warriors of the West and the Cavaliers of the East, held commanding 3–0 series leads.
[7][8] For the first time since the inaugural Basketball Association of America season in 1946–47, two rookie coaches, David Blatt of the Cavaliers and Steve Kerr of the Warriors, met each other in the NBA finals.
This led NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to suggest changing the playoff format, where the top 16 teams throughout the entire league would qualify, regardless of division or conference.
[11] The Golden State Warriors became the first Western Conference team to clinch a playoff spot on March 16.
[12] During the final minute of the game, Derrick Rose drove inside then passed to Pau Gasol who laid it in as he was fouled.
With 1.3 seconds left, Jared Dudley found the lead pass for Jerryd Bayless, due to a defensive breakdown by Rose, who then hit the game-winning lay-up at the buzzer, allowing the Bucks to stave off elimination for at least one more game.
The Spurs won 111–107 in the Staples Center, tying the series 1–1, led by Tim Duncan's 27 points.
In Game 6, Spurs Tim Duncan, Manu Ginóbili, Tony Parker, Kawhi Leonard along with Clippers Chris Paul and Blake Griffin struggled offensively.
On the ensuing possession, Paul Pierce, who was double-teamed, hit a fadeaway jumper off the backboard at the buzzer to give the Wizards a 103–101 victory and a 2–1 lead in the series.
John Wall then misses the half-court buzzer beater, and the Hawks take the 3–2 series lead.
But when officials reviewed the play, the clock reached 0:00 before Pierce released the ball and therefore the shot did not count.
Rose shot a deep three that went off the backboard and into the basket, giving the Bulls a 99–96 win and a 2–1 series lead.
LeBron led the Cavs with 27, but he continued to struggle with his shot and Jimmy Butler's defense, going 8/25 for the game and 1/7 on threes.
Led by J.R. Smith and Timofey Mozgov, the Cavs would rally, opening the 4th quarter on a 19–5 run to take an 80–73 lead with just under 5 minutes to play.
However, James swung his arm at Dunleavy and committed an offensive foul, giving the ball back to the Bulls with 14 seconds remaining.
James fired a jumper over Butler that went through the hoop as the buzzer sounded, giving the Cavs an 86–84 win.
After Rose made the layup to tie the game at 84–84, Cavaliers head coach, David Blatt, attempted to call timeout.
None of the officials noticed Blatt signaling timeout as James ran up the court for what would eventually lead to his game winning buzzer beater.
Following the game, the NBA officiating report revealed that Blatt should have been charged with a timeout that would have drawn a technical and Cavs turnover.
The Cavs never relinquished control, leading by double digits for the entire second half and going up by as many as 27 points in the 4th quarter.
The Clippers missed 14 straight shots as Josh Smith and Corey Brewer dominated much of the 4th quarter combining for 29 points.
The 4th quarter spark led Houston to a decisive Game 7, and they completed one of the greatest comebacks in NBA playoff history.
This was the ninth time in NBA history a team has come back from a 3–1 deficit to win a series.
This injury kept Korver out for the rest of the postseason and would require surgery in the off-season along with an injured elbow that bothered him for most of the season.
