1994 NBA Playoffs

The 1994 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1993-94 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Houston Rockets defeating the Eastern Conference champion New York Knicks 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals. Hakeem Olajuwon was named NBA Finals MVP.

The biggest upset came in the first round, when the Denver Nuggets came back from a 2-0 deficit to beat the Seattle SuperSonics in 5, marking the first time in NBA history that an 8th-seed had defeated a #1 seed. Denver stretched their second-round playoff series with the Utah Jazz to 7 games, but Utah defeated them in Game 7 91-81.

The playoffs also featured the very first playoff series victory for the Indiana Pacers in their 18-year NBA existence, as they swept the Orlando Magic (who were making their first playoffs appearance in franchise history) in the first round, and then eliminated the top-seeded Atlanta Hawks 4-2 in the second round. The Pacers advanced within one game of the NBA Finals, but lost Games 6 and 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals to the Knicks.

This was the first time since the ABA-NBA merger prior to the 1976-77 season that all the former ABA teams (Pacers, Nuggets, Spurs, and Nets) made the playoffs in the same year.

For the Chicago Bulls, this was the only playoff run they accomplished between the first retirement of Michael Jordan and his return on March 17, 1995. After sweeping the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round, they fell in 7 games to the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

For the Knicks, they made history by playing a record 25 playoff games (1 short of a full length postseason), the most postseason games that an NBA team had ever played. The 2005 Detroit Pistons tied this record. However, it was broken by the 2008 Celtics. Their easiest series was the first-round 3-1 advancement over the Nets. New York then forced 3 straight Game 7's, eliminating the Bulls 4-3 in the Conference Semifinals, knocking off the Pacers 4-3 in the Conference Finals, both times at Madison Square Garden, before falling in Game 7 to the Rockets at The Summit in the NBA Finals, which meant New York was denied both NBA and NHL titles. Game 4 of the Finals took place at the Garden a day after the New York Rangers won their first Stanley Cup in 54 years in Game 7 of the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals. Knicks coach Pat Riley made history by becoming the first (and to this date, the only) person in NBA history to have coached a Game 7 in the NBA Finals on 2 different teams, having been with the Lakers in 1984 and 1988. However, he had the unfortunate distinction to have become the first (and as of 2012, only) coach to lose a Game 7 in the NBA Finals on two different teams, as his Lakers lost to the Celtics in 1984. It also denied him the distinction of becoming the first coach to win a Game 7 in the NBA Finals with two different teams, as his Lakers defeated the Detroit Pistons in 1988.

This was the last playoff appearance for the Golden State Warriors until 2007.

This was also the first time that the Boston Celtics since 1979, and Los Angeles Lakers since 1976, did not make the playoffs and their first-ever absence since the playoff field expanded to 16 teams in 1984. This was the first (and so far, only) time that both teams missed the playoffs in the same year.

Game 3 of the Bulls-Cavaliers series was the last game ever played at the Coliseum at Richfield.

Game 6 of the Bulls-Knicks series was the last game ever played at Chicago Stadium.

Game 5 of the Nuggets-Sonics series was the last to be played at Seattle Center Coliseum before the renovations and renaming into KeyArena two years later. The Sonics played the intervening 1994–95 NBA season at Tacoma Dome in nearby Tacoma, Washington.