2003 Playoffs

Major Season Events

The first ten picks of the draft were:

Player	Team
Yao Ming	KCC
Amare Stoudemire	Midwest
Drew Gooden	River City
Zack Randolph	KCC
Nene Hilario	Rottingham
Caron Butler	River City
Matt Harpring	Long Beach
Carlos Boozer	Midwest
Jamal Crawford	Santa Ana
Emanuel Ginobli	Rottingham

Midwest, who had the 2nd-worst record the prior season, drafted wisely and made it into the playoffs. However, Baja proved you don't need high draft choices to win; their first pick wasn't until the 2nd round (no. 18) and they used that pick to draft their 6th man, Kurt Thomas. Baja also made a shrewd trade, acquiring Gary Payton, who was the key figure in winning the Finals in game 7 (39 pts, 11 assists, 17-22 FGs). Baja also proved that a more solid starting five was able to defeat KCC's deeper bench in the Finals. Finally, Coach Bublak became only the 2nd coach to appear in the Finals 3 straight times.

Notable playoff performances:

Kevin Garnett, Rottingham, 30 pts, 24 rebs in game 2 of the playoffs.
Dirk Nowitzki (38 pts, 13-13 FTs) and Shaq (43 pts, 17 rebs, 17-23 FGs), combining for 81 pts and 24 rebs in game 3 of the Finals.
Gary Payton, 32 pts, 12 assists, 0 TOs in game 4 of the Finals.
Gary Payton, 39 pts, 11 assists, 17-22 FGs in game 7 of the Finals.
Playoff Co-MVPs: Gary Payton & Allen Iverson. KCC's defensively-deficient guards couldn't stop Baja's dynamic duo. In the last 4 games of the Finals (which Baja swept), Payton averaged 27.8 points (including 39 in game 7) while Iverson scored 30 per game. Both dished out over 7 assists per game throughout the playoffs.

Finals

Baja wins 4-3

Game 1: KCC 136, Baja 125
Game 2: KCC 119, Baja 106
Game 3: KCC 138, Baja 114
Game 4: Baja 136, KCC 125
Game 5: Baja 125, KCC 124
Game 6: Baja 135, KCC 116
Game 7: Baja 130, KCC 108

Baja's playoff stats.
KCC's playoff stats.

Division Finals:

East:
Baja wins 3-0.
Game 1: Baja 107, Rottingham 87
Game 2: Baja 103, Rottingham 88
Game 3: Baja 118, Rottingham 110

Rottingham playoff stats.

West:
KCC wins 3-0.
Game 1: KCC 99, Midwest 90
Game 2: KCC 124, Midwest 116
Game 3: KCC 122, Midwest 119

Midwest playoff stats.