The 2009 NBA Playoffs is the postseason for the National Basketball Association's 2008–09 season. The playoffs started on April 18 with ABC, ESPN, TNT, and NBA TV broadcasting the games in the United States. Eight teams from each of the league's two conferences qualified for the playoffs, all seeded 1 to 8 in a tournament bracket, with all rounds in a best-of-seven format.
In the Western Conference playoffs seedings below #1 (the Los Angeles Lakers) were unable to be determined until the final day of the regular season.[1] In the Eastern Conference, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the number one seed, won the Central Division for the first time in 33 years, and earned the home court advantage throughout the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.
The Nuggets had lost seven consecutive postseason series before beating the Hornets this postseason.Until this year, the Nuggets had not advanced past the first round of the playoffs since 1994.
* The Nuggets are the only active former ABA franchise never to win a title in the ABA or NBA.
* Carmelo Anthony has won only one postseason series (1-5).
* Nuggets coach George Karl has taken five franchises to the postseason. Only Larry Brown has done it with more teams (seven).
* The Lakers have made the most NBA Finals in history with 29 but are just 14-15 in those series.
* Lakers point guard Derek Fisher has never lost a first-round series in his NBA career (11-0).
* The Lakers won five of their 14 NBA titles while the franchise was located in Minneapolis.
* Phil Jackson has won nine NBA titles as a coach. He is tied with Red Auerbach for the most all time.
We now have a pair of NBA playoff series worth watching. Both the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Orlando Magic, as well as the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets, are tied 1-1 in their re-spective best-of-seven series.
