2021 NBA playoffs

The 2021 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 2020–21 season. With the COVID-19 pandemic impacting the NBA for the second consecutive year, the regular season was reduced to 72 games for each team and the start date of the playoffs was moved from its usual time in mid-April to May 22, 2021. It ended with the 2021 NBA Finals in July.

The 2021 NBA Finals matchup featured the Milwaukee Bucks and the Phoenix Suns. The Bucks won the NBA Finals in six games after being down 0–2, their first championship since 1971.

Both the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers and the 2020 NBA Finals runner-up Miami Heat lost in the first round to the eventual finalists: the Phoenix Suns and the Milwaukee Bucks, respectively. The Suns advanced to their first NBA Finals since 1993 after winning the Western Conference finals against the Los Angeles Clippers in six games; the Bucks also won the Eastern Conference finals in six games, against the Atlanta Hawks to reach their first NBA Finals since 1974.^[1]

It was the first year the NBA used a 20-team playoff, with a two-stage system in both conferences, with 16 of the 20 teams advancing to the second stage. The first stage, the NBA play-in games, was a four-team playoff in each conference for the No. 7 to No. 10 seeds in each conference. In this format, the No. 7 and No. 8 teams need to win one game to advance to the second stage, with a double chance, while the No. 9 and No. 10 teams need to win two games to advance, eliminated by just one loss.