NBA Finals Phoenix Suns vs. Milwaukee Bucks Game 1: Phoenix 118, Milwaukee 105 Game 2: Phoenix 118, Milwaukee 108 Game 3: Milwaukee 120, Phoenix 100 Game 4: Milwaukee 109, Phoenix 103 Game 5: Milwaukee 123, Phoenix 119 Game 6: Milwaukee 105, Phoenix 98 Milwaukee wins series, 4-2 Eastern Conference finals No. 3 Milwaukee Bucks vs. No. 5 Atlanta Hawks Game 1: Atlanta 116, Milwaukee 113 Game 2: Milwaukee 125, Atlanta 91 Game 3: Milwaukee 113, Atlanta 102 Game 4: Atlanta 110, Milwaukee 88 Game 5: Milwaukee 123, Atlanta 112 Game 6: Milwaukee 118, Atlanta 107 Milwaukee wins series, 4-2 Western Conference finals No. 2 Phoenix Suns vs. No. 4 Los Angeles Clippers Game 1: Phoenix 120, L.A. Clippers 114 Game 2: Phoenix 104, L.A. Clippers 103 Game 3: L.A. Clippers 106, Phoenix 92 Game 4: Phoenix 84, L.A. Clippers 80 Game 5: L.A. Clippers 116, Phoenix 102 Game 6: Phoenix 130, L.A. Clippers 103 Phoenix wins series, 4-2 Eastern Conference second round No. 1 Philadelphia 76ers vs. No. 5 Atlanta Hawks Game 1: Atlanta 128, Philadelphia 124 Game 2: Philadelphia 118, Atlanta 102 Game 3: Philadelphia 127, Atlanta 111 Game 4: Atlanta 103, Philadelphia 100 Game 5: Atlanta 109, Philadelphia 106 Game 6: Philadelphia 104, Atlanta 99 Game 7: Atlanta 103, Philadelphia 96 Atlanta wins series, 4-3 No. 2 Brooklyn Nets vs. No. 3 Milwaukee Bucks Game 1: Brooklyn 115, Milwaukee 107 Game 2: Brooklyn 125, Milwaukee 86 Game 3: Milwaukee 86, Brooklyn 83 Game 4: Milwaukee 107, Brooklyn 96 Game 5: Brooklyn 114, Milwaukee 108 Game 6: Milwaukee 104, Brooklyn 89 Game 7: Milwaukee 115, Brooklyn 111 (OT) Milwaukee wins series, 4-3 Western Conference second round No. 1 Utah Jazz vs. No. 4 Los Angeles Clippers Game 1: Utah 112, L.A. Clippers 109 Game 2: Utah 117, L.A. Clippers 111 Game 3: L.A. Clippers 132, Utah 106 Game 4: L.A. Clippers 118, Utah 104 Game 5: L.A. Clippers 119, Utah 111 Game 6: L.A. Clippers 131, Utah 119 L.A. Clippers win series, 4-2 No. 2 Phoenix Suns vs. No. 3 Denver Nuggets Game 1: Phoenix 122, Denver 105 Game 2: Phoenix 123, Denver 98 Game 3: Phoenix 116, Denver 102 Game 4: Phoenix 125, Denver 118 Phoenix wins series, 4-0 Western Conference first round No. 1 Utah Jazz (52-20) vs. No. 8 seed Memphis Grizzlies (38-34) Game 1: Memphis 112, Utah 109 Game 2: Utah 141, Memphis 129 Game 3: Utah 121, Memphis 111 Game 4: Utah 120, Memphis 113 Game 5: Utah 126, Memphis 110 Utah wins series, 4-1 No. 2 Phoenix Suns (51-21) vs. No. 7 Los Angeles Lakers (42-30) Game 1: Phoenix 99, L.A. Lakers 90 Game 2: L.A. Lakers 109, Phoenix 102 Game 3: L.A. Lakers 109, Phoenix 95 Game 4: Phoenix 100, L.A. Lakers 92 Game 5: Phoenix 115, L.A. Lakers 85 Game 6: Phoenix 113, L.A. Lakers 100 Phoenix wins series, 4-2 No. 3 Denver Nuggets (47-25) vs. No. 6 Portland Trail Blazers (42-30) Game 1: Portland 123, Denver 109 Game 2: Denver 128, Portland 109 Game 3: Denver 120, Portland 115 Game 4: Portland 115, Denver 95 Game 5: Denver 147, Portland 140 (2OTs) Game 6: Denver 126, Portland 115 Denver wins series, 4-2 No. 4 Los Angeles Clippers (47-25) vs. No. 5 Dallas Mavericks (42-30) Game 1: Dallas 113, L.A. Clippers 103 Game 2: Dallas 127, L.A. Clippers 121 Game 3: L.A. Clippers 118, Dallas 108 Game 4: L.A. Clippers 106, Dallas 81 Game 5: Dallas 105, L.A. Clippers 100 Game 6: L.A. Clippers 104, Dallas 97 Game 7: L.A. Clippers 126, Dallas 111 Eastern Conference first round No. 1 Philadelphia 76ers (49-23) vs. No. 8 Washington (34-38) Game 1: Philadelphia 125, Washington 118 Game 2: Philadelphia 120, Washington 95 Game 3: Philadelphia 132, Washington 103 Game 4: Washington 122, Philadelphia 114 Game 5: Philadelphia 129, Washington 112 Philadelphia wins series, 4-1 No. 2 Brooklyn Nets (48-24) vs. No. 7 Boston (36-36) Game 1: Brooklyn 104, Boston 93 Game 2: Brooklyn 130, Boston 108 Game 3: Boston 125, Brooklyn 119 Game 4: Brooklyn 141, Boston 126 Game 5: Brooklyn 123, Boston 109 Brooklyn wins series, 4-1 No. 3 Milwaukee Bucks (46-26) vs. No. 6 Miami Heat (40-32) Game 1: Milwaukee 109, Miami 107 (OT) Game 2: Milwaukee 132, Miami 98 Game 3: Milwaukee 113, Miami 84 Game 4: Milwaukee 120, Miami, 103 Milwaukee wins series, 4-0 No. 4 New York Knicks (41-31) vs. No. 5 Atlanta Hawks (41-31) Game 1: Atlanta 107, New York 105 Game 2: New York 101, Atlanta 92 Game 3: Atlanta 105, New York 94 Game 4: Atlanta 113, New York 96 Game 5: Atlanta 103, New York 89 Atlanta wins series, 4-1 Western Conference play-in Memphis Grizzlies 100, San Antonio 96 L.A. Lakers 103, Golden State 100 Memphis 117, Golden State 112 (OT) Eastern Conference play-in Indiana 144, Charlotte 117 Boston 118, Washington 100 Washington 142, Indiana 115

Why did the NBA need a play-in tournament?

Technically, they didn’t, and there’s been some debate about the value of its existence. On one hand, you’ve got LeBron James, Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban complaining about the play-in as an event that invalidates a team’s body of work in the regular season. On the other hand, the play-in tournament is an antidote to both tanking and the usual dog days of the NBA season because it incentivizes teams with mediocre-to-bad records at the end of the year. The Washington Wizards, for example, appeared dead in the water with little to play for without the play-in format. But this season, they went all-out to claim a spot in the play-in tournament in the East all for … a shot at playing the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the actual playoffs. Stephen Curry might not have been busting scoreboards if not for the play-in. The league has been batting around the idea of a play-in for more than a decade — read about that more in Ben Golliver’s interview with the unofficial play-in czar himself — but there’s little question as to why they instated it this year: TV revenue. More eyeballs on the sport later in the season is always good for the league, especially when the league is coming off a pandemic-interrupted season in which it lost, to be exact, a metric ton of revenue. As an added benefit, the play-in helped teams such as the Wizards, who were one of a few clubs decimated by the coronavirus this season, get a chance to make up games in a season with so many unforeseen circumstances.

Will there be a play-in tournament next season?

No one knows! The Board of Governors will have to vote on the issue during the offseason.

How will coronavirus protocols factor into the playoffs?

The league earlier in the season batted around the idea of reentering a bubble environment for the playoffs, similar to the one it used last summer to complete the season, but with vaccines now widely available that chatter has almost completely faded. Players, coaches and team personnel will still be regularly tested, and many of the same health and safety protocols the NBA has enforced all season will remain in effect during the postseason. Sign up for our weekly NBA newsletter to get the best basketball coverage in your inbox

NBA

What to know about the 2021 NBA Finals

By Ava Wallace

and

Ben Golliver

July 8, 2021 at 11:40 p.m. EDT

The Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks are meeting in the NBA Finals. (Justin Casterline/Getty Images)

The NBA playoffs opened with a pack of title contenders that was deeper than usual and full of new blood. None of the conference finalists from the bubble playoffs claimed a top-two seed in their respective conferences and last season’s Finals teams, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Miami Heat, were eliminated in the first round.

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The Phoenix Suns survived in the Western Conference and the Milwaukee Bucks won the Eastern Conference. After falling behind 2-0 in the NBA Finals, the Bucks won the next four games to earn their first NBA title since 1971.

Here’s a look at the final postseason results:

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