The2019 NBA playoffs was thepostseason tournament of theNational Basketball Association's2018–19 season. The playoffs began on April 13 and ended on June 13 with theEastern Conference championToronto Raptors defeating the two-time defending NBA champion andWestern Conference championGolden State Warriors in 4 games to 2 to win their first title in franchise history.Kawhi Leonard was named the NBA Finals MVP for the first time since 2014.

Due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, this was the last postseason until2022 to be played in its traditional April through June schedule. This was also the last NBA Finals featuring coaches wearing formal business attire, as the business attire for coaches was completely abandoned following the 2020 pandemic.

• TheDenver Nuggets made the playoffs for the first time in six years.
• TheGolden State Warriors entered the postseason for the seventh straight year, a new franchise record. This was also their final season atOracle Arena, as they moved to the newChase Center thefollowing season. They won the championship in2015,2017 and2018.
• TheSan Antonio Spurs made the playoffs for the 22nd consecutive season; they have not missed the playoffs since draftingTim Duncan, who retired in 2016. However, as of 2025, this was their most recent postseason appearance.
• TheLos Angeles Clippers made the playoffs for the first time since2017, featuring a roster withoutBlake Griffin,Chris Paul, orDeAndre Jordan.
• TheLos Angeles Lakers missed the playoffs for the sixth year in a row despite the addition ofLeBron James. This was also the first NBA Playoffs to not feature James since2005.

• TheMilwaukee Bucks entered the postseason with a 60–win season, their first since1980–81, and with the best record in the league, the first time that has occurred since1973–74.
• TheOrlando Magic made the playoffs for the first time since 2012, breaking the longest Eastern Conference playoff appearance drought to date.
• TheBrooklyn Nets made the playoffs for the first time in four years.
• TheDetroit Pistons made the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
• TheCleveland Cavaliers, despite being the four-time defending Eastern Conference Champions, missed the playoffs for the first time since 2014, largely due to the departure ofLeBron James to theLos Angeles Lakers.
• TheMiami Heat missed the playoffs for the third time in five years.

• In Game 2 of their series against the reigning championGolden State Warriors, theLos Angeles Clippers completed thelargest comeback in NBA playoff history, overcoming a 31–point deficit.
• Game 3 of the Bucks–Pistons series was the first playoff game played in the city of Detroit since Game 6 of the1985 Eastern Conference semifinals, which took place atJoe Louis Arena. Postseason games featuring the Pistons had previously been held in thePalace of Auburn Hills and thePontiac Silverdome.
• TheBoston Celtics swept theIndiana Pacers in the first round, marking the 43rd straight year a sweep occurred in the NBA playoffs. The last year a sweep did not occur in the playoffs was1976. It was also the Celtics’ first playoff sweep since2011.
• With their first round sweep of the Detroit Pistons, the Milwaukee Bucks won their first series since2001 when they defeated the Charlotte Hornets in the conference semifinals.
• Game 5 of the Trail Blazers–Thunder series was extremely notable thanks toDamian Lillard's 37 foot series winning 3–pointer overPaul George, capping a 118–115 victory for the Portland Trail Blazers. It was the second series winning three pointer made by Damian Lillard (the other being in2014 against theHouston Rockets). It would also be Paul George's andRussell Westbrook's final game as members of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
• The Nuggets–Spurs series was the first of the 2019 playoffs to have a Game 7, making it the 20th consecutive NBA postseason with a Game 7. The last time a Game 7 did not take place in the playoffs was in1999.
• All of the top seeds won the first round for the first time since2008.

• Game 3 of the Trail Blazers–Nuggets series was the first quadruple overtime game played in the playoffs since1955 (and second overall), as well as the first quadruple overtime game ever played during the shot clock era.
• With their conference semifinals victory over theBoston Celtics, the Milwaukee Bucks made the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since2001. In addition, this was the first time since1983 that the Bucks defeated the Celtics in a playoff series.
• Kawhi Leonard scored the first Game 7 buzzer-beater in NBA history, helping theToronto Raptors defeat thePhiladelphia 76ers 92–90 in the second round.
• Game 7 of the Nuggets–Blazers series was extremely notable forCJ McCollum's block onJamal Murray, evoking memories ofa similar block in2016.
• With their Game 7 victoryPortland Trail Blazers advanced to the Western Conference finals for the first time since2000. They also won a Game 7 on the road for the first time in franchise history.
• The Warriors–Rockets series is notable for Stephen Curry's 33–point second half. With their series victory, they advanced to the Western Conference finals for the fifth consecutive season.

• Stephen Curry (Warriors) andSeth Curry (Portland Trail Blazers) played each other in the Western Conference finals, becoming the first set of brothers to face each other in an NBA playoff series.^[1]
• With their Western Conference finals sweep against the Portland Trail Blazers, the Golden State Warriors earned their fifth consecutive trip to the NBA Finals, making them the second franchise in the NBA postseason history to do so after theBoston Celtics did it in ten consecutive years, starting from1957 to1966.
• The Portland Trail Blazers earned the dubious distinction of losing three straight games to the Golden State Warriors despite posting double digit leads in Games 2, 3, and 4.
• With their Eastern Conference finals victory over the Milwaukee Bucks, theToronto Raptors advanced on to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.
• Stephen Curry surpassedShaquille O'Neal for most points in a sweep with 146 points.

• TheToronto Raptors won the NBA Championship for the first time in franchise history, defeating the Golden State Warriors in six games in the2019 NBA Finals.
• Game 1 was the first ever NBA Finals game played outside the US.
• Kawhi Leonard joinedKareem Abdul-Jabbar andLeBron James as the only players to win Finals MVP with more than one team, and became the first Finals MVP winner from both conferences.
• Game 6 of the2019 NBA Finals was the last NBA game ever played atOracle Arena, as well as the final NBA game ever played inOakland.
• Game 5 of the Warriors–Raptors series was extremely notable asKevin Durant ruptured his Achilles in an attempt to return to the playoffs, previously injuring it whilst playing the Clippers.

Within each conference, the eight teams with the most wins qualified for the playoffs. Theseedings were based on each team's record.

Each conference's bracket was fixed; there was no reseeding. All rounds were best-of-seven series; the series ended when one team won four games, and that team advanced to the next round. All rounds, including the NBA Finals, were in a 2–2–1–1–1 format. In the conference playoffs, home court advantage went to the higher-seeded team (number one being the highest). Seeding was based on each team's regular season record within a conference; if two teams had the same record, standard tiebreaker rules were used. Conference seedings were ignored for the NBA Finals: Home court advantage went to the team with the better regular season record, and, if needed, ties were broken based on head-to-head record, followed by intra-conference record.

On March 1, 2019, theMilwaukee Bucks became the first team to clinch a playoff spot.^[2]

Notes

Teams inbold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in its conference, and the numbers to the right indicate the number of games the team won in that round. The division champions are marked by an asterisk. Teams with home-court advantage, the higher-seeded team, are shown initalics.

Note: Times areEDT (UTC−4) as listed by the NBA. If the venue is located in a different time zone, the local time is also given.

This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Pistons winning all four of the previous meetings.^[5]

• In Game 1,D. J. Augustin hit the game-winning three-point shot with 3.4 seconds left.

This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Magic winning the first meeting.^[6]

This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, but the first since the New Jersey Netsrelocated to Brooklyn and became the Brooklyn Nets in 2012, with each team winning one series.^[7]

This was the sixth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning three of the first five meetings.^[8]

The Clippers trailed 94–63 with 7:31 remaining in the third quarter of Game 2. They would go on to outscore Golden State 72–37 en route to overcoming a 31-point deficit, thelargest comeback in NBA playoff history.^[9]

This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Clippers winning the first meeting.^[10]

This was the seventh playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Spurs winning five of the first six meetings.^[11]

Damian Lillard scored 50 points in Game 5 and finished off the series by hitting a 37-foot three at the buzzer to break a 115–115 tie, sending the Blazers through to the conference semifinals. This was Lillard's second series-winning 3-pointer; his first came against Houston in2014. He is the only player besidesMichael Jordan to hit two series-winning field goals. This was also the last Thunder game to feature bothRussell Westbrook andPaul George.

This was the fifth playoff meeting between the SuperSonics/Thunder and the Blazers, but the first since theSeattle SuperSonicsrelocated to Oklahoma City and became the Thunder in 2008. The two teams have split their previous four playoff matchups.^[12]

This was the ninth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Jazz winning five of the first eight meetings.^[13]

Note: Times areEDT (UTC−4) as listed by the NBA. If the venue is located in a different time zone, the local time is also given.

This was the seventh playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning five of the first six meetings.^[14]

As Game 7 came down to the final seconds, Joel Embiid cut a three-point Raptors lead to one with two free throws, then after Kawhi Leonard split his free throws, Jimmy Butler led the fast break and made a layup with 4.2 seconds left to tie the game. After a Toronto timeout, Leonard was given the ball, dribbled around the perimeter and shot it from the baseline, just inside the three-point arc. The shot bounced four times on the rim before going in to give the Raptors the series win. It was the first buzzer-beater to win a Game 7 in NBA history, and only the second such shot in a winner-take-all playoff game, afterMichael Jordan'sshot to win theChicago Bulls'1989 first-round series against theCleveland Cavaliers. (In 1989, first-round playoff series were best-of-5 instead of the current best-of-7.)

This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with Philadelphia winning the first meeting in the2001 Eastern Conference semifinals.^[15]

All 6 games in the series finished with a differential of less than or exactly 6 points, making it the first playoff series in NBA history to accomplish this feat.

This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with Golden State winning the previous three meetings.^[16]