Teams With Worst Records To Make Finals & Win A Title
Posted: Tue Jan 8, 2013 7:33 am
So, I did some research about which teams made The Finals and won an NBA Championship with the worst regular season records.
It was actually the same franchise. So give yourself 5 extra bonus points if you already know the answer.
The information for the team that made the NBA Finals but didn't win the title is a bit outdated. I'll explain that below.
Yes, this information is for Lakers fans, to give them some hope.
1. TEAM WITH THE WORST REGULAR SEASON RECORD TO MAKE THE NBA FINALS
1980-81 Houston Rockets -----> 40-42 ---- 6th seed in the West
This is when there were only 23 teams in the NBA. There were only 6 teams from each conference to make the playoffs. Houston beat the Lakers (#3 seed), the Spurs (#2 seed), and the Kansas City Kings (#5 seed) to make The Finals. They lost in The Finals to the Boston Celtics.
To help put into perspective how weak the Rockets were in the regular season, they were just 14-19 through their first 33 regular season. This year's Lakers are currently 15-18 through their first 33 games.
Of course, there are now 30 teams in the league and the Western Conference is a lot tougher now than it was then. 40 wins isn't likely to cut it.
2. TEAM WITH THE WORST REGULAR SEASON RECORD TO WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP
1994-95 Houston Rockets -----> 47-35 ---- 6th seed in the West
(Edit: This is incorrect; see DavidSterned's post below. Rockets were the lowest-seeded team to ever win the NBA Title, but they were not the team with the worst record to ever win an NBA Title)
The defending NBA Champions won their second consecutive title behind the play of Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, and others.
The Rockets started well that year. They were 22-11 through their first 33 regular season games. But they only went 25-24 the rest of the way in the 82-game schedule.
So, if you are a Lakers fan, those are probably the two best examples you could hang your hat on.
The 2002-03 Lakers, 3x defending NBA Champions, started the season 13-20, or two games worse than LA's current mark of 15-18. That 2003 squad then went on a tear, finishing the regular season at 50-32 after going 37-12 (.750+) to close out the 82-game marathon. The Lakers lost that year in the second round of the 2003 playoffs, to the #1-seeded Spurs.
I guess this may all be moot with the injuries to Howard, Gasol and Hill. Still, it has been done before and these would probably be the best teams to emulate if the Lakers are going to try to climb that mountain and make a run.
REFERENCES:
============
1980-81 Houston Rockets schedule and results -- Basketball Reference
http://bit.ly/ZADLT5
1981 NBA Playoffs and seedings -- Wikipedia
http://bit.ly/VM4Tsp
1981 NBA Finals -- Wikipedia
http://bit.ly/TI3lBz
1994-95 Houston Rockets schedule and results -- Basketball Reference
http://bit.ly/VArKY7
1995 NBA Playoffs and seedings -- Wikipedia
http://bit.ly/TZP5Dd
1995 NBA Finals -- Wikipedia
http://bit.ly/UFmGSK
2002-03 LA Lakers schedule, results and record by game -- ESPN
http://es.pn/VM1V6H
It was actually the same franchise. So give yourself 5 extra bonus points if you already know the answer.
The information for the team that made the NBA Finals but didn't win the title is a bit outdated. I'll explain that below.
Yes, this information is for Lakers fans, to give them some hope.
1. TEAM WITH THE WORST REGULAR SEASON RECORD TO MAKE THE NBA FINALS
1980-81 Houston Rockets -----> 40-42 ---- 6th seed in the West
This is when there were only 23 teams in the NBA. There were only 6 teams from each conference to make the playoffs. Houston beat the Lakers (#3 seed), the Spurs (#2 seed), and the Kansas City Kings (#5 seed) to make The Finals. They lost in The Finals to the Boston Celtics.
To help put into perspective how weak the Rockets were in the regular season, they were just 14-19 through their first 33 regular season. This year's Lakers are currently 15-18 through their first 33 games.
Of course, there are now 30 teams in the league and the Western Conference is a lot tougher now than it was then. 40 wins isn't likely to cut it.
2. TEAM WITH THE WORST REGULAR SEASON RECORD TO WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP
1994-95 Houston Rockets -----> 47-35 ---- 6th seed in the West
(Edit: This is incorrect; see DavidSterned's post below. Rockets were the lowest-seeded team to ever win the NBA Title, but they were not the team with the worst record to ever win an NBA Title)
The defending NBA Champions won their second consecutive title behind the play of Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, and others.
The Rockets started well that year. They were 22-11 through their first 33 regular season games. But they only went 25-24 the rest of the way in the 82-game schedule.
So, if you are a Lakers fan, those are probably the two best examples you could hang your hat on.
The 2002-03 Lakers, 3x defending NBA Champions, started the season 13-20, or two games worse than LA's current mark of 15-18. That 2003 squad then went on a tear, finishing the regular season at 50-32 after going 37-12 (.750+) to close out the 82-game marathon. The Lakers lost that year in the second round of the 2003 playoffs, to the #1-seeded Spurs.
I guess this may all be moot with the injuries to Howard, Gasol and Hill. Still, it has been done before and these would probably be the best teams to emulate if the Lakers are going to try to climb that mountain and make a run.
REFERENCES:
============
1980-81 Houston Rockets schedule and results -- Basketball Reference
http://bit.ly/ZADLT5
1981 NBA Playoffs and seedings -- Wikipedia
http://bit.ly/VM4Tsp
1981 NBA Finals -- Wikipedia
http://bit.ly/TI3lBz
1994-95 Houston Rockets schedule and results -- Basketball Reference
http://bit.ly/VArKY7
1995 NBA Playoffs and seedings -- Wikipedia
http://bit.ly/TZP5Dd
1995 NBA Finals -- Wikipedia
http://bit.ly/UFmGSK
2002-03 LA Lakers schedule, results and record by game -- ESPN
http://es.pn/VM1V6H