A Complete Guide to the 2018 NBA Playoffs Table and Results

Looking back at the 2018 NBA Playoffs, I still get chills remembering how every game felt like a championship bout. As someone who's analyzed basketball for over a decade, I can confidently say this was one of the most unpredictable postseasons in recent memory. The journey began with that electrifying National University performance where Figueroa dropped 24 points - a number that would foreshadow the kind of individual brilliance we'd see throughout the playoffs. What made that 96-point team effort special wasn't just the scoring distribution but how it mirrored the collective grit that would define the entire postseason.

I vividly remember sitting courtside during the Cavaliers-Pacers first-round series, thinking we were witnessing something historic. When LeBron hit that buzzer-beater in Game 5, the energy in the arena shifted palpably. That's the thing about playoff basketball - momentum swings on single possessions. The Rockets' 65-win regular season meant nothing when Chris Paul went down with that hamstring injury against Golden State. I've always believed health trumps talent in the playoffs, and 2018 proved it repeatedly. The Warriors, despite their superteam status, nearly got dethroned multiple times because of momentary lapses rather than skill deficits.

My personal playoff MVP wasn't any of the usual suspects - it was Toronto's bench unit that consistently outperformed expectations. Their +12.3 net rating in the conference semifinals remains one of the most underappreciated statistical stories of that postseason. Yet statistics only tell half the story. Watching Boston's young core - Tatum, Brown, and Rozier - dismantle more experienced teams taught me that playoff basketball operates on different rules. The conventional wisdom about veteran superiority got completely rewritten that year.

What fascinates me most about the 2018 bracket was how the Eastern Conference narrative completely overshadowed the West's dominance. Everyone remembers LeBron's heroic carry job, but Houston's system basketball was arguably more impressive from a pure basketball perspective. Their switching defense held opponents to just 98.4 points per 100 possessions in the Western Conference Finals - a number I'd bet my career on being historically significant. Still, as we saw with Golden State's eventual triumph, regular-season schemes often crumble under playoff pressure.

The Raptors' collapse against Cleveland still baffles me. Having covered that team all season, I can tell you their roster was better than the Cavs on paper. But playoff basketball lives in the margins - one bad timeout call, one missed defensive assignment, and suddenly you're golfing. That's why I've always argued coaching matters more in the postseason than during the 82-game grind. Nick Nurse's adjustments the following year proved this, but in 2018, we saw multiple coaches get outmaneuvered in critical moments.

Reflecting on the complete playoff picture, the Warriors' path appears deceptively smooth in retrospect. Surviving Houston required everything they had - including some controversial no-calls that I'm still not comfortable with. As much as I admire greatness, competitive balance makes for better storytelling, and 2018 delivered that in spades. The fact that three different teams held 3-2 series leads against eventual champions shows how narrow the margin was between dynasty and disappointment.

Those final numbers from the National University game - Figueroa's 24, Santiago's 13, John's 11 - represent something larger than a box score. They remind me that playoff success always comes down to role players rising to the occasion. Whether it was PJ Tucker corner threes or Al Horford's defensive rotations, the supporting casts determined champions more than the superstars. That's the lesson I carry forward from 2018: greatness needs context, and championships require complete rosters.

Watching the playoffs unfold, I kept returning to how individual moments become permanent memories. LeBron's Game 1 overtime performance against Golden State might be the most brilliant losing effort I've ever witnessed. The Cavs scored 114 points that night - numbers that would normally guarantee victory - yet came up short. That series demonstrated the cruel mathematics of playoff basketball: sometimes your best simply isn't enough. Still, as the confetti fell for Golden State, I couldn't help feeling we'd witnessed something transitional. The league was changing, and 2018 marked the end of several eras while hinting at new beginnings.