With the COVID-19 pandemic impacting the NBA for the second consecutive year, the regular season was reduced to 72 games for each team and the start date of the playoffs was moved from its usual time in mid-April to May 22, 2021.
Both the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers and the 2020 NBA Finals runner-up Miami Heat lost in the first round to the eventual finalists: the Phoenix Suns and the Milwaukee Bucks, respectively.
[1] It was the first year the NBA used a 20-team playoff, with a two-stage system in both conferences, with 16 of the 20 teams advancing to the second stage.
The NBA Board of Governors approved a format for the 2020–21 season to have a play-in tournament involving the teams that ranked 7th through 10th in each conference.
The game went into overtime thanks to a game-tying, buzzer-beating layup by Jimmy Butler, but Milwaukee was able to pull away and win on a Khris Middleton jump shot, made with only 0.5 seconds left.
The Bucks erupted for 46 points in the first quarter, setting a new franchise playoff record, en route to a dominating 132–98 victory.
Joel Embiid then committed a clear path foul, giving Atlanta 2 free throws and possession of the ball.
After Embiid got fouled and made both free throws to make it 101–100, and a turnover by John Collins, the 76ers had a chance at leading the series 3 games to 1.
After Trae Young made both of his free throws to make it a 3-point game, the 76ers had 6.6 seconds left to tie it, but Seth Curry's game-tying 3-pointer was no good, giving Atlanta the comeback victory.In the pivotal Game 5, the 76ers appeared to be on their way to victory, leading by as much as 26 points and with a 99.7% win probability according to ESPN.
With 12 seconds left, a blocking foul by Danilo Gallinari sent Joel Embiid to the line with the Hawks leading by 3.
Once the final buzzer sounded, the 76ers' faithful booed their entire team off the floor due to the collapse.
The Hawks became the 6th team in NBA Playoffs history to win a playoff game after trailing by 18+ points entering the 4th quarter in the shot clock era.With the Hawks looking to advance to the Eastern Conference finals on their home floor, they led by as much as 12 points during the 2nd quarter.
Once the lights came back on, Philadelphia immediately responded by preserving the lead as Tobias Harris would make 2 game-sealing free throws to send the series back to Philadelphia for Game 7 on Sunday night.In front of a loud Wells Fargo Center, Game 7 was a deadlocked affair, with neither team able to gain a double-digit lead.
Kevin Huerter attempted a 3-point shot that missed, but was fouled by Matisse Thybulle, sending him to the line where he made 3 free throws.
On the next possession, Danilo Gallinari stripped Joel Embiid of the ball and then dunked to make it 98–92 in favor of the Hawks, who from that point on had complete control of the game.
Kevin Huerter was the Hawks' top scorer with 27 points, John Collins grabbed 16 rebounds and Trae Young had 10 assists.
Eventually it would be Ben Simmons, Andre Drummond & Seth Curry's last playoff game as a 76er, as all of them were traded to the Brooklyn Nets on February 10, 2022.
With the score tied at 109, Milwaukee had a chance to win the series, but Giannis Antetokounmpo's turnaround jump shot missed, sending the game into overtime.
The Nets had possession in the last 15 seconds of the game, with Durant shooting a similar turnaround game-tying, almost-three-point jump shot; however, it was an airball.
The Bucks subsequently sealed the game on two free throws by Brook Lopez (a former Net), sending them to the Eastern Conference finals for the second time in three years.
), the 2006–07 Utah Jazz, 2007–08 San Antonio Spurs, the 2015-16 Cleveland Cavaliers and the 2017–18 Cleveland Cavaliers, and followed by 2021–22 Dallas Mavericks, and also the third team in NBA playoff history to win game seven on the road in overtime joined the 2001–02 Los Angeles Lakers, and the 2005–06 Mavericks' team.
In the fourth, the momentum from the third quarter and Utah's struggles allowed the Clippers to complete the comeback, becoming the first team to recover from being down 0–2 twice in the same playoffs, and reaching their first Conference finals in franchise history.
Trailing by 2 points going into the 4th quarter, the Bucks' Khris Middleton would carry Milwaukee to victory in game 3, outscoring Atlanta in the final quarter by himself, 20–17, en route to a game-high 38 points, putting the Bucks back in the lead in the series and getting back homecourt advantage.
In addition to Lopez, 3 other Bucks starters (Khris Middleton, Jrue Holiday, and Bobby Portis) scored at least 20 points.
While Atlanta kept the game close, aided by Bogdan Bogdanovic's 28 points, the Bucks took a 3–2 series lead, leaving them one win away from the Eastern Conference championship.
Facing elimination, the Hawks got Trae Young back to start game 6, but he still struggled with his injured foot, scoring only 14 points.
[48] Four months later, two teams from Milwaukee and Atlanta would meet again in a sports postseason as the Braves beat the Brewers in the 2021 NLDS.
Chris Paul's 41 points matched his career high with that of his performance as a member of the Houston Rockets in Game 5 against the Utah Jazz in 2018, both of which were series clinchers.
Patrick Beverley shoved Paul during a timeout, which led to an ejection, a flagrant foul, a technical foul and being suspended by the league president, former All-Star player and former head coach Kiki VanDeWeghe and current league commissioner Adam Silver for the first game of the 2021–22 season.
Albert, who turned 80 in June, had spent most of the previous 31 years as the lead broadcaster for NBA coverage on TNT and NBC.