# 2009 NBA playoffs

The 2009 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 2008–09 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers defeating the Eastern Conference champion Orlando Magic 4 games to 1 in the NBA Finals. Kobe Bryant was named NBA Finals MVP.

## Overview

The Portland Trail Blazers made the playoffs for the first time since 2003 and earned home court advantage in a playoff series for the first time since 2000.
The Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls returned to the playoffs after a one-year absence. They pushed their first round opponents, the Atlanta Hawks and Boston Celtics (respectively) to seven games before losing.
The first round series between the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls set an NBA Playoff record for the most overtime games (4) and periods (7) played. However, the Boston Celtics prevailed in seven games.
With their first round win over the Portland Trail Blazers, the Houston Rockets won a first round series for the first time since 1997, when they last made the conference finals. They pushed the eventual champion Lakers to seven games before losing. The Rockets would not return to the playoffs until 2013.
With their first round win over the Miami Heat, the Atlanta Hawks won a playoff series for the first time since 1999. However, they were swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the conference semifinals.
With their first round win over the New Orleans Hornets, the Denver Nuggets won a playoff series for the first time since 1994, when they became the first eighth seed to win a playoff series.
As for the Detroit Pistons and San Antonio Spurs, they failed to advance past the first round for the first time since 2000. The Pistons were swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers, while the Spurs lost to the Dallas Mavericks in a five-game upset. The Pistons would not return to the playoffs until 2016, while the Spurs would exact revenge against the Mavericks in next year's playoffs.
By sweeping the Atlanta Hawks in the Conference Semifinals, the Cleveland Cavaliers became only the second team in NBA History (after the Miami Heat) to go 8–0 through the first two rounds by sweeping the Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks (they would duplicate this feat in 2016, against the same two teams). This was also LeBron James’ last conference finals appearance as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers until 2015.
With their conference semifinals victory over the Dallas Mavericks, the Denver Nuggets made the conference finals for the first time since 1985. However, they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in six games, and would not return to the conference finals until 2020.
With their Game 7 road win over the Boston Celtics, the Orlando Magic made the Conference Finals for the first time since 1996. It also marked the first time the Boston Celtics lost a playoff series despite leading 3–2.
With their conference finals victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Orlando Magic made the NBA Finals for the first time since 1995. The Cavaliers would not return to the Conference Finals until 2015.
Game 3 of the NBA Finals marked the first ever finals win for the Orlando Magic. However, they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in five games.
Game 4 of the NBA Finals marked the first time since 1985 that two overtime games were played in the same NBA Finals series.
With the Lakers’ Game 5 win over the Orlando Magic, Phil Jackson overtook Red Auerbach with the most NBA Championships won by a head coach (10). It also marked the Lakers’ first NBA Finals series win since 2002.
Game 5 of the NBA Finals was also the last NBA Finals game ever played at Amway Arena.

## Format

The 3 division winners and 5 other teams with the most wins from each conference qualify for the playoffs. The seedings are based on each team's record; however, a division winner is guaranteed to be ranked at least 4th, regardless of record. All series are in a best-of-7 format with the Games 1–2, 5 and 7 on the home court of the team with the better record, regardless of their seed. For the NBA Finals, the team with the better record plays Games 1–2 and 6–7 at home.

### Tiebreak procedures

The tiebreakers that determine seedings are:
* Division leader wins tie from team not leading a division
* Head-to-head record
* Division record (if the teams are in the same division)
* Conference record
* Record vs. playoff teams, own conference
* Record vs. playoff teams, other conference
* Point differential, all games
If there are more than 2 teams tied, the team that wins the tiebreaker gets the highest seed, while the other teams are "re-broken" from the first step until all ties are resolved. Since the three division winners are guaranteed a spot in the top 4, ties to determine the division winners must be broken before any other ties.

## Playoff qualifying
### Eastern Conference

| Seed | Team | Wins | Tiebreaker | Clinched | Clinched | Clinched | Clinched |
| Seed | Team | Wins | Tiebreaker | Playoff berth | Division title | Home court in Conference Finals | Home court in NBA Finals |
| 1 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 66 | — | March 4 | March 13 | April 10 | April 13 |
| 2 | Boston Celtics | 62 | — | March 4 | March 18 | — | — |
| 3 | Orlando Magic | 59 | — | March 11 | March 25 | — | — |
| 4 | Atlanta Hawks | 47 | — | March 25 | — | — | — |
| 5 | Miami Heat | 43 | — | April 3 | — | — | — |
| 6 | Philadelphia 76ers | 41 | Conf.: 25–27 | April 4 | — | — | — |
| 7 | Chicago Bulls | 41 | Conf.: 24–28 | April 10 | — | — | — |
| 8 | Detroit Pistons | 39 | — | April 10 | — | — | — |

### Western Conference

| Seed | Team | Wins | Tiebreaker | Tiebreaker | Clinched | Clinched | Clinched |
| Seed | Team | Wins | Tiebreaker | Tiebreaker | Playoff berth | Division title | Home court in Conference Finals |
| 1 | Los Angeles Lakers | 65 | — | — | March 12 | March 12 | March 27 |
| 2 | Denver Nuggets | 54 | Div.: 12–4 | 2–1 vs. SA | March 31 | April 13 | — |
| 3 | San Antonio Spurs | 54 | Skipped | 1–2 vs. DEN | March 31 | April 15 | — |
| 4 | Portland Trail Blazers | 54 | Div.: 11–5 | — | April 5 | — | — |
| 5 | Houston Rockets | 53 | — | — | April 5 | — | — |
| 6 | Dallas Mavericks | 50 | — | — | April 8 | — | — |
| 7 | New Orleans Hornets | 49 | — | — | April 7 | — | — |
| 8 | Utah Jazz | 48 | — | — | April 5 | — | — |