The Best NBA Playoff Games To Watch While Sports Are Shut Down

We may not be able to watch live sports right now, but we can revisit the greatest games in history — at least those that are up on YouTube. We used statistics and expert opinions to look for some of the all-time greatest upsets, comebacks, matchups and most memorable games, then we collected video of those games in this archive. To relive those moments, filter to see the games in each category — and scroll down to see the criteria we used to find these particular games — or just hit the “random” button and let us pick a perfect game for you.

All classic games Legendary matchups Stunning upsets Iconic comebacks Expert picks Finals games only Full games only Highlights/partial games only Watch a random game 🎲 showing games ▲ older games 1972 Playoffs @ MIL LAL@ MIL Game 3 Highlights/partial game 1972 Playoffs @ MIL LAL@ MIL Game 6 Highlights/partial game 1980 Finals @ PHI LAL@ PHI Game 6 Full game 1984 Finals @ LAL BOS@ LAL Game 4 Full game 1985 Finals @ LAL BOS@ LAL Game 4 Full game 1986 Playoffs @ MIL BOS@ MIL Game 3 Highlights/partial game 1987 Finals @ BOS LAL@ BOS Game 4 Full game 1988 Finals @ LAL DET@ LAL Game 6 Full game 1988 Finals @ LAL DET@ LAL Game 7 Full game 1989 Playoffs @ SEA LAL@ SEA Game 4 Full game 1989 Playoffs @ DET CHI@ DET Game 1 Full game 1989 Finals @ DET LAL@ DET Game 2 Full game 1990 Finals @ POR DET@ POR Game 5 Full game 1991 Finals @ CHI LAL@ CHI Game 1 Full game 1992 Playoffs @ CHI NYK@ CHI Game 1 Full game 1993 Playoffs @ PHO LAL@ PHO Game 1 Full game 1993 Playoffs @ PHO LAL@ PHO Game 2 Full game 1993 Finals @ PHO CHI@ PHO Game 6 Full game 1994 Finals @ HOU NYK@ HOU Game 6 Full game 1995 Playoffs @ SEA LAL@ SEA Game 2 Full game 1995 Playoffs @ SAS LAL@ SAS Game 5 Highlights/partial game 1995 Finals @ ORL HOU@ ORL Game 1 Full game 1996 Playoffs @ SEA SAC@ SEA Game 2 Full game 1996 Playoffs @ CHI ORL@ CHI Game 2 Full game 1996 Finals @ CHI SEA@ CHI Game 2 Full game 1997 Finals @ CHI UTA@ CHI Game 1 Full game 1997 Finals @ UTA CHI@ UTA Game 5 Full game 1997 Finals @ CHI UTA@ CHI Game 6 Full game 1998 Playoffs @ UTA HOU@ UTA Game 1 Highlights/partial game 1998 Playoffs @ UTA LAL@ UTA Game 2 Highlights/partial game 1998 Finals @ UTA CHI@ UTA Game 1 Full game 1998 Finals @ UTA CHI@ UTA Game 6 Full game 1999 Playoffs @ UTA SAC@ UTA Game 2 Highlights/partial game 1999 Playoffs @ SAS MIN@ SAS Game 2 Full game 2000 Finals @ IND LAL@ IND Game 4 Full game 2001 Finals @ LAL PHI@ LAL Game 1 Full game 2002 Playoffs @ BOS NJN@ BOS Game 3 Full game 2002 Playoffs @ LAL SAC@ LAL Game 4 Full game 2005 Finals @ DET SAS@ DET Game 5 Full game 2006 Finals @ MIA DAL@ MIA Game 5 Full game 2008 Finals @ LAL BOS@ LAL Game 4 Full game 2009 Playoffs @ BOS CHI@ BOS Game 1 Full game 2009 Finals @ LAL ORL@ LAL Game 2 Full game 2011 Playoffs @ ORL ATL@ ORL Game 1 Highlights/partial game 2011 Playoffs @ CHI ATL@ CHI Game 1 Highlights/partial game 2012 Playoffs @ MEM LAC@ MEM Game 1 Highlights/partial game 2012 Playoffs @ CHI PHI@ CHI Game 2 Highlights/partial game 2012 Playoffs @ LAC SAS@ LAC Game 3 Highlights/partial game 2012 Playoffs @ OKC SAS@ OKC Game 4 Highlights/partial game 2012 Playoffs @ SAS OKC@ SAS Game 5 Highlights/partial game 2013 Playoffs @ MIA CHI@ MIA Game 1 Highlights/partial game 2013 Playoffs @ MIA IND@ MIA Game 2 Highlights/partial game 2013 Finals @ MIA SAS@ MIA Game 1 Highlights/partial game 2013 Finals @ MIA SAS@ MIA Game 6 Full game 2013 Finals @ MIA SAS@ MIA Game 7 Highlights/partial game 2015 Playoffs @ NOP GSW@ NOP Game 3 Highlights/partial game 2015 Playoffs @ GSW MEM@ GSW Game 2 Highlights/partial game 2015 Playoffs @ GSW HOU@ GSW Game 1 Highlights/partial game 2015 Finals @ GSW CLE@ GSW Game 2 Highlights/partial game 2015 Finals @ CLE GSW@ CLE Game 3 Highlights/partial game 2016 Playoffs @ OKC DAL@ OKC Game 2 Highlights/partial game 2016 Playoffs @ OKC SAS@ OKC Game 3 Highlights/partial game 2016 Playoffs @ SAS OKC@ SAS Game 5 Highlights/partial game 2016 Playoffs @ GSW OKC@ GSW Game 1 Full game 2016 Finals @ GSW CLE@ GSW Game 7 Highlights/partial game 2017 Playoffs @ IND CLE@ IND Game 3 Highlights/partial game 2017 Playoffs @ GSW SAS@ GSW Game 1 Highlights/partial game 2017 Finals @ CLE GSW@ CLE Game 3 Full game 2018 Playoffs @ PHI MIA@ PHI Game 2 Highlights/partial game 2018 Playoffs @ OKC UTA@ OKC Game 5 Highlights/partial game 2019 Playoffs @ GSW LAC@ GSW Game 2 Highlights/partial game more recent games ▲ showing games

Methodology

How did we decide which games truly deserved “classic” status? For each sport we looked at (starting with the NBA), we searched for playoff games1 that fit into the following categories:

Legendary matchups: Which games that ended within a two-score margin 2 featured the best combination of pregame Elo ratings, according to their harmonic mean?

Which games that ended within a two-score margin featured the best combination of pregame Elo ratings, according to their harmonic mean? Stunning upsets: Which underdogs who wound up shocking a more dominant team had the lowest chance of winning before the game began, according to our Elo predictions?

Which underdogs who wound up shocking a more dominant team had the lowest chance of winning before the game began, according to our Elo predictions? Iconic comebacks: Which teams won after trailing by a seemingly insurmountable margin? 3 (This data was supplied by ESPN’s Stats & Information Group and supplemented by additional research.)

Which teams won after trailing by a seemingly insurmountable margin? (This data was supplied by ESPN’s Stats & Information Group and supplemented by additional research.) Expert picks: We know that statistics can’t capture everything, so to make sure we didn’t miss any all-time great games, we also included up to 15 additional games from subjective lists like ESPN’s ranking of best NBA Finals games if they hadn’t already qualified in one of our stats-based categories.

For each of these categories, we picked up to 20 of the highest-ranking games in each sport4 for which we could find clips or (preferably) the whole game on YouTube. For sports with playoff series, the “legendary matchups” category tended to yield a top 20 that was full of games from just a few series, so added one more rule: If multiple games from the same series were in the top 20, we included only the highest-rated game from that series so our database would have more variety.5 But if a series went to six or seven games and had multiple games in the top 20, we included up to one additional game. For this, we prioritized the series clincher if it matched our criteria. If not, we took the series’ next-highest-rated game. That’s why there are more than 20 “legendary matchups” in the NBA and why, for example, there are two games from the 1998 NBA Finals series between the Utah Jazz and the Chicago Bulls.

If we couldn’t find a YouTube upload of a game’s full broadcast, we settled for condensed games or highlights. Some clips will include only the fourth quarter of the game or other partial coverage; those games have a “highlight/partial game” label so you know what to expect. If you find a more complete or higher-quality version of a game than the one we’re showing, email us at contact@fivethirtyeight.com and let us know.