Best non-Shaq/Kobe team of the 2000s

[SK21209]

The 2000s vs. 2010s thread got me thinking about the great teams of the 2000s again. I think its fair to say that the 01 Lakers are generally considered the best team of that decade. Who was the best non-Shaq/Kobe team of the decade though? The league was really good at the top in these seasons, with their routinely being multiple 60 win teams.

[HeartBreakKid]

Any reason in particular you put in the 06 Mavs over the 06 Heat?

[SHAQ32]

Without looking at the metrics, I would think 2008 Celtics.

[Matt15]

2009 Lakers

[SK21209]

Any reason in particular you put in the 06 Mavs over the 06 Heat?

Lol no just a mistake in my part, sorry Heat fans!

[No-more-rings]

I’d say probably 2008 Celtics with 2005 Spurs a close 2nd.

[No-more-rings]

Any reason in particular you put in the 06 Mavs over the 06 Heat?

A lot of people put that Heat championship as a fluke unfortunately, even though the season before they won 59 games and were a game away from beating the defending champions and consecutive finalists.

[One_and_Done]

2008 Celtics were stackec

[SNPA]

Kings. Your poll is invalid.

[JimmyFromNz]

Would have to be 2003 or 2005 Spurs to me - sure Spurs fans have a preference.

As an aside, the 2009 Celtics prior to the KG injury would have been my clear favourite. But that's all hypothetical.

[70sFan]

Probably 2005 and 2007 Spurs, with 2008 Celtics close behind.

[Jaivl]

05 Spurs
08 Celtics
09 Lakers

Kings. Your poll is invalid.

Playing the 02 Lakers to a standstill is really carrying a lot of weight there. I wouldn't really consider a team that got beat by good, but hardly historic Dallas and Minnesota teams.

[AdagioPace]

I don't see them mentioned so I give a shout-out to the 2007 Suns. Unsung heroes like the 2018 Rockets

PS:yeah, the usual suspects are pseudo-supertream Celtics and pseudo threepeat-capable 05-07 spurs

[SK21209]

By the numbers you almost have to say its the 08 Celtics. 66-16 record, +11.2 net rating, 9.30 SRS, they profile as an all-time team. The hangup with them is the relative playoff struggles, they went to 7 against a bad Hawks team and a pretty mediocre Cavs team before righting the ship and beating the Pistons and Lakers in 6 each.

That said, the 07 Spurs and 09 Lakers have legit arguments IMO. I think the 07 Spurs are the best Spurs team of that decade; 58-24 record, +9.3 net rating, 8.35 SRS. They won the title pretty easily beating the Nuggets in 5, the Suns in 6 (yes, they win that series even without the Amare/Diaw suspensions), the Jazz in 5 and the Cavs in 4. The 09 Lakers were 65-17 with a +8.1 net rating and 7.11 SRS. That team had so much skill and size in its rotation and also won the title relatively easily beating the Jazz in 5, the Rockets in 7, the Nuggets in 6 and the Magic in 5. The 09 Lakers are overlooked historically for some reason, I think its because we didn't get the LeBron/Kobe or Lakers/Celtics rematch in the Finals that year.

[eminence]

RS net ratings and PO relative net ratings for each championship squad by series.

'03 Spurs (+8.3 RS/PO average, equally weighting RS/PO):
+6.0 RS
+7.0 vs Suns
+9.0 vs Lakers
+13.8 vs Mavs
+12.4 vs Nets
+10.6 PO series average

'04 Pistons (+9.1 RS/PO):
+6.6 RS
+15.3 vs Bucks
+6.7 vs Nets
+9.5 vs Pacers
+14.8 vs Lakers
+11.6 PO series average

'05 Spurs (9.1 RS/PO):
+8.7 RS
+13.3 vs Nuggets
+10.5 vs Sonics
+12.0 vs Suns
+2.1 vs Pistons
+9.5 PO series average

'06 Heat (+6.4 RS/PO):
+4.2 RS
+3.9 vs Bulls
+8.6 vs Nets
+13.8 vs Pistons
+8.0 vs Mavs
+8.6 PO series average

'07 Spurs (+9.3 RS/PO):
+9.3 RS
+8.6 vs Nuggets
+7.1 vs Suns
+9.5 vs Jazz
+11.4 vs Cavs
+9.2 PO series average

'08 Celtics (+10.3 RS/PO):
+11.2 RS
+12.2 vs Hawks
-1.7 vs Cavs
+10.4 vs Pistons
+16.8 vs Lakers
+9.4 PO series average

'09 Lakers (+10.4 RS/PO):
+8.1 RS
+12.7 vs Jazz
+12.6 vs Rockets
+7.6 vs Nuggets
+17.5 vs Magic
+12.6 PO series average

'10 Lakers (+7.1 RS/PO):
+5.0 RS
+5.5 vs Thunder
+13.6 vs Jazz
+9.7 vs Suns
+8.0 vs Celtics
+9.2 PO series average

I think you can reasonably argue for any champ between '04-'09 other than Miami.

[iggymcfrack]

Probably 2005 and 2007 Spurs, with 2008 Celtics close behind.

I originally considered the ‘05 and ‘07 Spurs, but even in the playoffs their NetRtg wasn’t as good as the ‘08 Celtics and in the regular season, the Celtics obviously performed massively better. What’s the case for Spurs over Celtics?

[rk2023]

Kings. Your poll is invalid.

I don't remember it being explicitly stated that you can't vote for another team than the ones listed.. Aside from the 2006 Mavs (which looks to be a typo), there's a parallel theme of taking the champions. No need to "invalidate" a good discussion just because you personally disagree.

[rk2023]

1. One of the latter-two Spurs teams (lean 2007).

2. 2009 Lakers

3. 2008 Celtics

It's close between all three of them though.

[70sFan]

Probably 2005 and 2007 Spurs, with 2008 Celtics close behind.

I originally considered the ‘05 and ‘07 Spurs, but even in the playoffs their NetRtg wasn’t as good as the ‘08 Celtics and in the regular season, the Celtics obviously performed massively better. What’s the case for Spurs over Celtics?

I think the Spurs have a better roster and faced a better competition than the Celtics. Healthy 2005 Spurs were arguably better in the RS and have the same rNetRtg for the playoffs, while beating his opponents easier than Celtics who went to 7 games way too many times.

[TheGOATRises007]

Probably the 2009 Lakers. Celtics were easily the best RS team, but their subpar playoffs puts me off them.