Who Made It To The Playoffs NBA 2021?

The 2021 NBA playoffs are finally here! Who made it to the postseason?

Eastern Conference

After an eventful and thrilling regular season, the 2021 NBA playoffs are finally here. In the east, the Milwaukee Bucks claimed the top seed with a 56-17 record. The Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, and Toronto Raptors round out the top four. The east is loaded with talent and it will be interesting to see who comes out on top.

Milwaukee Bucks

The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league’s Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 as an expansion team, and play at the Fiserv Forum. Former U.S. Senator Herb Kohl was the long-time owner of the team, but on April 16, 2014, a group led by billionaire hedge fund managers Wes Edens and Marc Lasry agreed to purchase a majority interest in the team from Kohl, a sale which was approved by the NBA on April 18. The new owners appointed John Hammond as general manager.

In May 2018, the Bucks hired Mike Budenholzer as head coach, replacing interim head coach Joe Prunty who had served since Jason Kidd’s firing midseason. On June 20, 2019, Kawhi Leonard’s Toronto Raptors defeated Budenholzer’s Bucks in six games in the Eastern Conference Finals, preventing Milwaukee from making its first NBA Finals appearance since 1974.

Brooklyn Nets

Led by stars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, the Brooklyn Nets finished the regular season with the best record in the Eastern Conference. The Nets hope to make a deep run in the playoffs after falling short last season.

Philadelphia 76ers

The Philadelphia 76ers (27-14) are the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference for the first time since the 2000-01 season. They clinched the top spot when they defeated the Indiana Pacers on Sunday. The Sixers have won seven in a row and are 15-2 in their last 17 games.

This is just the third time in franchise history that they have been the No. 1 seed — they were also the top team in 1980 and 1982 — and it comes after they went 49-23 last season and lost to the Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Coach Doc Rivers has done a great job, as he has instilled a defensive mentality in this team. The Sixers are holding opponents to an NBA-low 104.3 points per game. They are also second in defensive efficiency, allowing just 109 points per 100 possessions.

Rivers has gotten solid production from his entire roster, as 10 players are averaging at least 8 points per game.

Joel Embiid is obviously the star of this team, as he is averaging 29.9 points, 11.5 rebounds and 3 assists per game while shooting 50% from the field and 39% from three-point range. He is one of the frontrunners for MVP and Defensive Player of the Year honors.

The other starters are Tobias Harris (19 ppg), Danny Green (9 ppg), Ben Simmons (15 ppg, 8 rpg, 8 apg) and Seth Curry (12 ppg).

Green is a very good three-point shooter (43%) but his overall numbers are down because he is coming off the bench now behind rookie Tyrese Maxey (9 ppg). Maxey has been very impressive and gives them another scorer to go along with Embiid, Harris and Simmons.

Furkan Korkmaz (11 ppg) and Matisse Thybulle (7 ppg) give them two more three-point shooters off the bench, while Shake Milton (9 ppg) provides some scoring punch as well. Dwight Howard (7 ppg, 7 rpg) gives them a big body inside who can rebound and block shots.

The bottom line is that Rivers has a deep team that can score, rebound and play defense. They will be a tough out in the playoffs and it would not be surprising to see them reach the NBA Finals for just the second time in franchise history.(The other time was when they lost to the Lakers in 1980).

Miami Heat

The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league’s Eastern Conference Southeast Division. They play their home games at American Airlines Arena, and have won three NBA championships.

Western Conference

The Los Angeles Lakers(1) secured their spot in the playoffs as the number one team in the Western Conference. They will be joined by the Denver Nuggets(2), the Los Angeles Clippers(3), the Utah Jazz(4), the Dallas Mavericks(5), the Portland Trail Blazers(6), the Memphis Grizzlies(7), and the Phoenix Suns(8).

Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league’s Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their home games at Staples Center, an arena shared with the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers, the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women’s National Basketball Association, and the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League. The Lakers are one of the most successful teams in the history of the NBA, and have won 16 NBA championships, tied with the Boston Celtics for second-most in NBA history behind the San Antonio Spurs’ 22 titles.

Los Angeles Clippers

After an eventful offseason in which they added both Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, the Clippers came into the season with championship aspirations.

Led by Leonard, who averaged 27.1 points per game, 7.1 rebounds per game, and 4.9 assists per game, the Clippers finished the regular season with a 47-25 record, good for second place in the Western Conference.

In the playoffs, the Clippers defeated the Dallas Mavericks in six games in the first round before losing to the Denver Nuggets in seven games in the second round.

Denver Nuggets

The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver, Colorado. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league’s Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the Denver Larks in 1967 as a charter franchise of the American Basketball Association (ABA), but changed its name to Rockets before play began. It changed its name again to the Nuggets in 1974. After the name change, the Nuggets played for the final ABA Championship title in 1976, losing to the New York Nets.

The team has had some periods of success, qualifying for the ABA Playoffs for all seasons from 1967 to the 1976 ABA playoffs where it lost in the Conference Finals. In 1983, Denver qualified for what proved to be its first NBA Playoffs: Darrent Williams led Denver with 22 points and 11 rebounds while Eduardo Nájera added 21 points as contributing role players off of the bench, but ultimately they were no match for Karl Malone and John Stockton and were swept by the second-seeded Utah Jazz.

The team began to rebuild itself immediately after offseason moves such as firing coach Doug Moe and trading away squeaky-clean star player Bill Hanzlik.

Portland Trail Blazers

The Portland Trail Blazers, commonly known as the Blazers, are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league’s Western Conference Northwest Division. The Trail Blazers play their home games at the Moda Center.

The franchise began play as an expansion team in 1970, and has enjoyed a strong following: from 1977 to 1995, the team sold out 814 consecutive home games, the longest such streak in American major professional sports at the time, and only since surpassed by Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Sox. The Trail Blazers have been NBA champions twice (1977 and 1990), were Western Conference champions five times (1977, 1990, 1992, 1999, 2000), and have made nine appearances in the NBA Finals overall. As of 2020–21 season, they have missed the playoffs in 18 of their last 19 seasons.