Top 10 most stunning NBA playoffs upsets of all time
10. The Rockets were the 6 seed in the Western Conference playoffs, yet they rampaged through everyone, including the powerful Magic who were led by a few guys named Shaquille O’Neal and Penny Hardaway. But Houston’s duo of Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler had different plans, and they swept Orlando for the title.
9. The Cavaliers won a franchise-record 66 games in 2008-09 thanks largely to LeBron James’ magnificent MVP season. This was supposed to be the year he brought a title home to Cleveland. But after coasting through the first two rounds of the playoffs with eight straight wins, the Cavs ran into the Superman version of Dwight Howard and his Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference finals. The Magic squeaked out enough narrow wins to send the Cleveland packing in six games.
8. The St. Louis Hawks’ surprising defeat of the Boston Celtics in the 1958 Finals represented the only time between 1957-1966 the mighty Celtics didn’t win the title. The Hawks were led in the series by Hall of Famer Bob Pettit, who helped defeat fellow Hall of Famer and that year’s league MVP, Bill Russell.
7. Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks caught fire in the 2011 playoffs, and that carried the team all the way past the newly formed Miami Heat “Super Team” of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in six games. Dallas knocked off a seemingly unbeatable roster and gave rise to a lot of the anti-clutch criticism LeBron still faces.
6. The 61-win Spurs saw their title hopes quickly derailed in the first round by the pesky 8-seeded Grizzlies. Memphis big men Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol simply bullied San Antonio on the way to a six-game series victory.
5. The 1994 Denver Nuggets became the first 8 seed to defeat a 1 seed in the playoffs under it’s current 16-team format. And it was a whopper of an 8 vs. 1 mismatch on paper, with the SuperSonics boasting a 63-19 regular season record. The Nuggets stormed back after falling behind 2-0 in the series, helped by 31 blocks from Dikembe Mutombo, and won in five games.
4. The 1973 New York Knicks were no slouches, but the Celtics were legendary that year with 68 wins and a roster rife with Hall of Famers like Dave Cowens, Jo Jo White and John Havlicek. But Walt Frazier and the Knicks were that year’s team of destiny, knocking off the Celtics in seven games in the Eastern Conference finals before eventually winning the NBA title.
3. The 2004 NBA Finals still defies logic. Kobe and Shaq had already won three titles with the Lakers and appeared well on their way to a fourth against the Pistons, who were the 3 seed in the East. This Lakers team even featured Gary Payton and Karl Malone (albeit at 40 years old). But Chauncey Billups put together a Finals MVP performance and the physical, relentless Detroit team dispatched the Lakers in just five games to steal the championship.
2. Coming into the 1984 playoffs, the New Jersey Nets had never even won a playoff game. That made it all the more surprising when they downed the then-defending champion 76ers in an epic five-game series in the first round. The Nets won all three of their games in the series on the road. And this was a 76ers team that featured Moses Malone and Julius Erving.
1. Golden State has also been on the other side of a big upset. The 8th-seeded, Baron David-led Warriors’ win over the top-seeded Mavericks in the first round in 2007 is rated as the biggest upset in playoff history, according to Basketball-Reference’s team strength metrics. Adding to the shock value of the upset, the Mavs won 67 games and were seemingly rolling with MVP Dirk Nowitzki leading the charge.
Major upsets date back to the very early days of the NBA and they have come in all forms. Sometimes it’s an 8 seed knocking off a 1 seed in the first round and other times it’s a stunning result in the NBA Finals. Here’s a look at some of the biggest playoff shockers of the past.
