2005 NBA playoffs

The 2005 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 2004–05 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion San Antonio Spurs defeating the Eastern Conference champion Detroit Pistons 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals. Tim Duncan was named Finals MVP.

The Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards ended long playoff droughts in 2005, meeting each other in the first round. For the Washington Wizards, it was their first playoff appearance since 1997 — even more ironic their opponents for that postseason appearance were the Bulls who swept them on their way to their fifth NBA title. For the Chicago Bulls, it was their first post-Michael Jordan playoff appearance, as their last playoff game was Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals. They consistently placed at or near the bottom of the Central Division in between, and their 47–35 season in 2005 was a 24–game improvement from 2004.

The Phoenix Suns returned to the NBA playoffs after a one season absence. The Houston Rockets and the Memphis Grizzlies entered their second consecutive postseason.

For the Los Angeles Lakers, it marked the first time in 11 seasons (dating back to 1994) and the fifth time in NBA history that they missed the playoffs. This was thus the last time until 2018 that the playoffs would be played entirely outside of Los Angeles. The Minnesota Timberwolves missed the playoffs for the first time since 1996.

This was the last time that the Seattle SuperSonics would be in the playoffs before they relocated to Oklahoma to become the Oklahoma City Thunder.

For the third straight year (fifth overall) the Pacers met the Celtics in the first round. Boston won in 2003 4–2, while Indiana swept Boston in 2004. This time, Indiana won 4–3. It would be Boston's last playoff appearance until 2008.

With their first round series win over the Chicago Bulls, the Washington Wizards won their first playoff series since 1982, and first playoff game since 1988. They also won a best of seven series for the first time since 1979. With their first round sweep of the Memphis Grizzlies, the Phoenix Suns won their first playoff series since 2000.

With their conference semifinals sweep of the Washington Wizards, the Miami Heat became the first team to go 8–0 through the first two rounds after the first round was made into a best-of-7 in the 2003 playoffs. The 2009 Cavaliers, 2010 Magic, 2012 Spurs, 2016 Cavaliers, 2017 Cavaliers and the 2017 Warriors followed suit. No team (until 2016) has made the finals after going 8–0 in the first two rounds, let alone win 12 straight games going to the NBA Finals (until the 2017 Warriors), though the Spurs came close in 2012 when they won their first 10 playoff games, then lost their next four to the Oklahoma City Thunder. In 2016, the Cleveland Cavaliers became the first team to go 8–0 through the first two rounds and make the NBA Finals.