While the team that emerges from the NBA Finals as the champion is usually considered the best team in the league, there are times when the seemingly inferior team on paper pulls off the upset.
Let's take a look at the biggest upsets in NBA Finals history.
5. 1969: Celtics squeeze another one with Bill Russell on the way out
The Boston Celtics were undoubtedly the most dominant team of the 1960s. By the 1968-69 season, they had already won eight titles through the decade. However, just like with any other team, they started to age.
Coming off a championship in 1968, not many expected the 1969 Celtics to lift up another championship that season. They finished as the No. 4 seed in the East with a 48-34 record. Surprisingly, they managed to get past the Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks to make a return trip to the NBA Finals.
However, the Los Angeles Lakers were waiting for them.
The Lakers, having acquired superstar big man Wilt Chamberlain to add to their star duo of Jerry West and Oscar Robertson, had a strong season and finished as the top seed in the West. Los Angeles won the first two games of the series and everybody though the Celtics were done. However, Boston managed to win Games 3 and 4. The teams split the next two games, setting the table for a classic Game 7 featuring the greatest rivalry in the league.
With home-court advantage, the Lakers made a huge mistake by setting up balloons in the rafters of their arena. This only gave Russell and the Celtics more motivation to take the crown. Boston shocked the Lakers crowd and held a 15-point lead entering the final quarter. Los Angeles managed to claw its way back. However, the Celtics held on and won Game 7, 108-106, to win their ninth title in the 1960s.
Russell shortly retired after, ending his Hall of Fame career on the highest of notes.
4. 2016: Cavaliers spoil Warriors' historic season
Led by unanimous MVP Stephen Curry, the Golden State Warriors plowed through the competition in the 2015-16 season. There was no reason to believe that Golden State would be denied to end a magical 73-9 campaign.
Despite going through a major obstacle in the Western Conference Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder, many expected Golden State to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. The Warriors handled their business at home, winning the first two games of the series. They took control by defeating the Cavs in Cleveland in Game 4. With Game 5 back at Oracle Arena, everybody expected the Warriors to close the deal in five.
However, Golden State didn't have Swiss Army knife big man Draymond Green due to a controversial suspension. With Green out and Cleveland getting monster games from superstars LeBron James and Kyrie Irving (41 points each), the Cavs held on and swung the series back to Cleveland for Game 6.
Cleveland dominated on its home floor and forced a Game 7 at Oracle Arena. With home-court advantage in the decider, many still expected the 73-9 Warriors to come out on top. Game 7 saw both teams fight neck-and-neck throughout the game until the last few minutes. A game-saving block from James and a breathtaking go-ahead triple from Irving in the last two minutes proved to be the two championship-winning plays for Cleveland.
The Cavs won their first title in franchise history and pulled off the upset against one of the greatest teams in NBA history.
3. 1975: Warriors sweep the Bullets
The Washington Bullets entered the 1975 as the heavy favorite to win the NBA championship. Led by superstars Wes Unseld and Elvin Hayes, Washington finished with a 60-22 record. Meanwhile, the Warriors won 48 games and managed to get by the Seattle SuperSonics and Chicago Bulls on their way to the Finals.
Many experts predicted the Bullets to breeze their way to the 1975 NBA championship, especially after taking down the defending champion Boston Celtics in the previous round. The regular-season series also didn't give the experts any reason to believe that an upset would eventually transpire in the NBA Finals, as Washington won three of the four meetings that year.
However, the exact opposite of everyone's expectations happened. Golden State shocked the world and ended up sweeping Washington. Finals MVP Rick Barry averaged 29.5 points through the series, including a 36-point outing in Game 2 and a 38-point explosion in Game 3.
2. 2011: Mavs spoil the South Beach party
LeBron James predicted “not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, not seven … ” championships for the Miami Heat when he and Chris Bosh teamed up with Dwyane Wade in South Beach. The Heat's Big Three made the NBA Finals in their first season together and were the heavy favorite against the Dallas Mavericks.
The Mavs were having a magical playoffs themselves, led by an unbelievable run from superstar Dirk Nowitzki. Despite sweeping the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers in Round 2 and dismantling the upstart Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals, many believed the Mavs' magical run would come to an end at the hands of Miami in the NBA Finals.
On paper, the Heat certainly had the upper hand, just with their Big Three of James, Wade, and Bosh. Dallas, led by Nowitzki, had a cast full of veterans already past their primes, such as Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, Shawn Marion, and Tyson Chandler.
The Heat opened the series with a dominant Game 1 win. Miami also looked well on its way to winning Game 2, building a 15-point lead with less than seven minutes remaining in the fourth. However, as they had done all playoffs long, the Mavs never quit and slowly inched their way back. Led by Nowitzki, who scored the game-tying 3 and go-ahead layup with 3.6 seconds left, the Mavs stole Game 2 in Miami.
Despite losing Game 3, the Mavs won Games 4 and 5 on their home floor. When the series shifted back to Miami for Game 6, Dallas completed the upset with a 105-95 victory. With the win, not only did the Mavs pull off the major upset and spoil Miami's premature coronation, but they also erased years of playoff pain and failures in the past.
1. 2004: Pistons take down the mighty Lakers
The 2003-04 Los Angeles Lakers reloaded their squad by adding Hall of Fame veterans Karl Malone and Gary Payton. Despite a roller-coaster regular season, the star-studded Lakers plowed their way to the 2004 NBA Finals. Opposite them were the Detroit Pistons, who finished as the No. 3 seed in the East.
Detroit certainly didn't have any superstars the magnitude of Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, a tandem that led the Lakers to a three-peat from 2000-2002. Not many gave the Pistons a chance, considering the talent discrepancy on paper. Likewise, many expected Shaq to just bully his way inside, given Detroit's matchup for the big man was a 6-foot-9 Ben Wallace.
Nonetheless, Wallace, a relentless defender and shot-blocking machine, managed to do a respectable job on O'Neal in the series. The Pistons shocked the Lakers by defeating them in Los Angeles in Game 1, 87-75. Los Angeles won Game 2, but that ended up becoming the team's only win in the series. Detroit pummeled L.A. in Game 3 by 20 points and proceeded to win the series in five, effectively ending the Lakers' dynasty of the early 2000s.
The Pistons used their suffocating defense and held the Lakers to an average of just 81.8 points per game through the series, with Kobe struggling mightily. Despite not having any real superstar, the Pistons took down the mighty Lakers in convincing fashion.
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