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The 2011 NBA Playoffs was the postseason for the National Basketball Association's 2010-11 season. In a rematch of the 2006 NBA Finals, the Dallas Mavericks won their first NBA Championship in franchise history by defeating the Miami Heat 4-2 in the NBA Finals. Dirk Nowitzki was named NBA Finals MVP.

The Chicago Bulls achieved several "firsts" since the 1997–98 season: best record in the East, a Central Division title, and over 60 victories. They also clinched the NBA's best record for the first time since the 1996–97 season, guaranteeing home-court advantage in every round. The Bulls advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 1998.

The Indiana Pacers appeared in the playoffs for the first time since 2006, as did the Memphis Grizzlies. The New York Knicks made the playoffs for the first time since 2004, but this was their first playoff appearance as an above-.500 team since 2001. The Philadelphia 76ers and New Orleans Hornets appeared for the third time in four years. The other 11 teams were in the 2010 NBA Playoffs. The Oklahoma City Thunder headed to the playoffs with their first Northwest Division title under this incarnation.

For the first time since the 16-team format was introduced in 1984, the top two seeds from the same conference (San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Lakers of the West) lost Game 1 of the first round. The Spurs lost to the Grizzlies, who won their first playoff game in team history, while the Lakers fell to the Hornets. Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic tied a franchise record with 46 points (31 in the first half) in Game 1 of the first round against the Atlanta Hawks, tying Tracy McGrady's total in Game 2 of the 2003 First Round against the Detroit Pistons.

With a 4–1 series win over the Denver Nuggets, the Thunder achieved their first playoff series win since relocating to Oklahoma City. The Boston Celtics swept a best-of-seven playoff series for the first time since winning the 1986 Eastern Conference Finals with a 4-game sweep of the Bucks; prior to the series win they had not swept a series overall since 1992, in Larry Bird's final season.

The Grizzlies followed up their first playoff-game win with their first playoff series win ever. They became the fourth 8th-seeded team ever to advance to the Conference Semifinals after defeating the Spurs in 6, and the second since the first round expanded to a best-of-7 format in 2003. In addition, this marked the first time that no first-round series was pushed to a Game 7 since the current format was introduced. Also, the 2011 Playoffs was the first time since 2007 that only 1 series went to a Game 7.

The Los Angeles Lakers, who went to the Finals the previous 3 years, were swept by the Dallas Mavericks in the second round. It was the first time that Lakers head coach Phil Jackson had been swept in a playoff series. It would be the first time since 1996 and only the second since 1990 in which the Lakers lost a Western Conference playoff series despite having home court advantage.

Game 7 of the Grizzlies–Thunder series ensured a 12th straight postseason with at least one Game 7 played. The last without one was the 1999 NBA Playoffs.

Format[link]

The 3 division winners and 5 other teams with the most wins from each conference qualified for the playoffs. The seedings are based on each team's record. However, a division champion is guaranteed to be ranked at least fourth, regardless of their record and their winnings.

Tiebreak procedures[link]

The tiebreakers that determine seedings were:

1. Division leader wins tie against team not leading a division
2. Head-to-head record
3. Division record (if all tied teams are in the same division)
4. Conference record
5. Record vs. playoff teams, own conference (top 8 of the conference east/west) (including tied teams)
6. Record vs. playoff teams, other conference (top 8 of the conference east/west) (including tied teams) (this tiebreaker does not apply if 3 or more tied teams)
7. Point differential, all games

Playoff qualifying[link]

Eastern Conference[link]

— = Did not achieve

Western Conference[link]

— = Did not achieve

Los Angeles Lakers clinched #2 seed over Dallas Mavericks based on winning Pacific Division.

New Orleans Hornets clinched #7 seed over Memphis Grizzlies based on division record (9-7 vs. 8-8).

Bracket[link]

Teams in bold 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. Home court advantage for the whole playoffs does not necessarily belong to the higher-seeded team, but instead the team with the better regular season record; teams with home court advantage are shown in italics. If two teams with same record met in a round use normal tiebreakers. Tiebreakers in NBA finals are head to head and record vs opposite conference.

Eastern Conference[link]

All times are in Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4)

First Round[link]

(1) Chicago Bulls vs. (8) Indiana Pacers[link]

Regular-season series

Chicago won 3–1 in the regular-season series:

Last Playoffs meeting: 1998 Eastern Conference Finals (Chicago won 4–3).

This series pitted the team with the best record in the regular season against the team with the worst record in the playoffs. As such this series was expected to be a very easy one for the Bulls. However, despite the Bulls winning 4-1 the series was much closer than this figure would indicate. Except for the last game each was heavily contested with each of the first 4 being decided by 6 points or less. The series could have easily gone 6 or 7 games had the Pacers been able to convert in the end of game situations in each of the first 3 games. However, despite their struggles the Bulls were able to take the series and advance to the Eastern Conference Semifinals for the second time since the Michael Jordan era (they advanced to the Eastern Conference Semifinals in 2007).

(2) Miami Heat vs. (7) Philadelphia 76ers[link]

Regular-season series

Miami won 3–0 in the regular-season series:

Last Playoffs meeting: This is the first meeting between the Heat and 76ers.

The newly revamped Heat, with the much publicized acquisition of all stars and franchise players LeBron James and Chris Bosh during the off-season, were heavy favorites going into this series against the Philadelphia 76ers. Along with Dwyane Wade, James and Bosh comprised the "Big 3", and were eager to show critics that they were a team that could compete in the playoffs after some slip-ups during the regular season (a 9-8 start, a 5 game losing streak, and a not so favorable record against the best teams in the league). However, many pundits believed that the end of the season showed the Heat playing the best they had all season. Although the Sixers offered some resistance to the Heat, including some close games and a come from behind victory the Heat were able to take it in five and advance out of the first round for the first time since their NBA Championship in 2006.

(3) Boston Celtics vs. (6) New York Knicks[link]

Regular-season series

Boston won 4–0 in the regular-season series:

Last Playoffs meeting: 1990 Eastern Conference First Round (New York won 3–2).

Due to the Celtics' struggles at the end of the regular season as well as the star power of the New York Knicks in Amar'e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony this was a favorite first round upset for many. In the first two games the Knicks were indeed able to show they could contend with the defending Eastern Conference champions. In Game 1, Ray Allen made a game winning three pointer after being freed up by a controversial screen. The next three games the Celtics took fairly easily as injuries to both Chauncey Billups and Amar'e Stoudemire took their toll on the Knicks. This was the only sweep of the first round.

(4) Orlando Magic vs. (5) Atlanta Hawks[link]

Regular-season series

Atlanta won 3–1 in the regular-season series:

Last Playoffs meeting: 2010 Eastern Conference Semifinals (Orlando won 4–0)

Despite having won the season series against the Magic the Atlanta Hawks were touted as underdogs against the Orlando Magic, led by Defensive Player of the Year Dwight Howard. In the first game of the series the Hawks were unable to contain Howard as he scored 46 points - however, by limiting the contributions of the Magic's role players they were able to get a victory and steal home court advantage from the Magic. Although the Magic won the next game, better play by the Hawks down the stretch and the inability of the Magic to convert on 3 point shots (the Magic shot 2-23 from beyond the arc in game 4) gave the Hawks a 3-1 lead. The next two games were split and the Hawks advanced to the Eastern Conference Semifinals for the third straight year.

Conference Semifinals[link]

(1) Chicago Bulls vs. (5) Atlanta Hawks[link]

Regular-season series

Chicago won 2–1 in the regular-season series:

Last Playoffs meeting: 1997 Eastern Conference Semifinals (Chicago won 4–1)

(2) Miami Heat vs. (3) Boston Celtics[link]

Regular-season series

Boston won 3–1 in the regular-season series:

Last Playoffs meeting: 2010 Eastern Conference First Round (Boston won 4–1)

The series was seen as a way for Heat small forward LeBron James to exact revenge on the Celtics after Boston eliminated James' former team the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2008 and 2010. James called the series "personal," saying "...You don't want to keeping getting beat by the same team, the same team keep sending you home to plan a vacation..."^[1]

The Heat won the first two games of the series to take a 2-0 lead. However, the Celtics cut the series lead in half by winning Game 3 97-81. In that game, Boston point guard Rajon Rondo dislocated his left elbow in the third quarter. Despite his injury, Rondo still contributed to the Celtics' victory with his 11 assists and 4 points in the fourth quarter.^[1]

Miami bounced back after the Game 3 loss and won Games 4 and 5, winning the series 4-1 and returning to their first Eastern Conference Finals since the 2006 NBA Playoffs.^[1]

Conference Finals: (1) Chicago Bulls vs. (2) Miami Heat[link]

Regular-season series

Chicago won 3–0 in the regular-season series:

Last Playoffs meeting: 2007 Eastern Conference First Round (Chicago won 4–0)

Going into the series, Chicago had swept Miami in the regular season. The Bulls took Game 1 by blowing out the Heat 103-82. However, Miami won the next four consecutive games to win the series 4-1. In Game 5, Miami came back from a 12-point deficit with only three minutes left in the fourth quarter to win the game 83-80.^[2]

This series marked the first time the Bulls lost 4 consecutive games in the season.^[2] In addition, Joakim Noah was fined $50,000 for using an anti-gay slur against a Heat fan in Game 3.^[3]

Western Conference[link]

First Round[link]

(1) San Antonio Spurs vs. (8) Memphis Grizzlies[link]

Regular-season series

Teams were tied 2–2 in the regular-season series:

Last Playoffs meeting: 2004 Western Conference First Round (San Antonio won 4–0)

The eighth seeded Grizzlies won their first playoff game in franchise history after they defeated the top seeded Spurs 101-98 in Game 1. The Spurs evened the series up in Game 2, but the Grizzlies won Games 3 and 4 to take a 3-1 lead in the series. In Game 5 with only 1.7 seconds left in regulation, Gary Neal tied the game with a 3-point buzzer beater to force OT. The Spurs won in OT 110-103. In Game 6, the Grizzlies won their first ever playoff series in franchise history when they defeated the Spurs 99-91, winning the series 4-2. In addition, the Grizzlies became just the second eighth seeded team to knock off a top seeded team since the NBA went to a best-of-seven series in the first round.^[4]

(2) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (7) New Orleans Hornets[link]