Who is the worst team to make the finals?

[J Shuttlesworth]

Let's say since the 80s. Who are the wost teams to be in the finals since then?

[Milbuck]

Jason Kidd's Nets.

[plowking]

I don't think the Nets in the early 2000's were that good. Bron's 07 Cavs were pretty bad too. Magic in 09 were meh too.

[JohnMax]

2011 Heat

[toxicxr6]

'02 Nets. Team wouldn't even make the playoffs in the west this year.

Yes but they would have been top 4 seed in the east this year.. Which isn't saying much given that I think only miami and pacers would be quaranteed playoffs spots in the west this year.. The rest I think prob wouldn't make it

[navy]

Hmm....The East teams in the Shaq 3 peat era were pretty bad.

[Magic 32]

Knicks 1999
76'ers 2001
Nets 2002
Nets 2003
Cavs 2007

[Warfan]

81' Rockets

[1987_Lakers]

The '81 Rockets were 40-42.

In recent memory I would say the '07 Cavs, they were pretty bad. Honorable mention to the '01 Sixers, '02 & '03 Nets.

[Real14]

11 heat, 07 cavs, and 03 nets.

[t-rex]

The '81 Rockets were 40-42.

In recent memory I would say the '07 Cavs, they were pretty bad. Honorable mention to the '01 Sixers, '02 & '03 Nets.



The 81' Rockets beat the Lakers with PRIME Kareem and Magic in the first round of the playoffs. They also took Bird's Celtics 6 games in the NBA Finals.


The Rockets had Moses Malone and NOTHING else.


The 1981 Rockets were probably the most one man show in NBA Finals team history.

[t-rex]

My top 3 in any order.


81' Rockets

07' Cavs

01' Sixers

I want to include the Nets too. The Nets/Lakers NBA Final was one of the most hapless, boring spectacles ever produced in the history of professional sports. But IMHO, the fact that they made it to the NBA Finals in back to back years keeps them off the list.

The Eastern Conference in the immediate aftermath of the Bulls dynasty was really bad.

Over the next 5 years (1999-2003) you had some of the worst Finals teams in history, including the 1999 Knicks, 2001 Sixers, and 2002-03 New Jersey Nets. That might be the worst 5 year run in NBA history for one conference.

[D-FENS]

Cavs 2007


Thread over

[All Net]

2007 Cavs based on talent alone.

[PJR]

2007 Cavs all things considered. The coaching and the overall personnel (outside of James) was just terrible.

[Reggie43]

02 and 03 Nets easily

[JohnFreeman]

02 Nets
07 Cavs
01 76ers

[Nikola_]

91 Lakers- dead mans showtime
93 Suns- no d
99 Knicks- no ewing
02 Nets-early 00s east
03 Nets- early 00s east
07 Cavs- bran
09 Magic- dwight
12 Thunder - bunch of betas

[JohnFreeman]

91 Lakers- dead mans showtime
93 Suns- no d
99 Knicks- no ewing
02 Nets-early 00s east
03 Nets- early 00s east
07 Cavs- bran
09 Magic- dwight
12 Thunder - bunch of betas
Stacked.

[wally_world]

Nets for sure

If you guys are saying the Cavs, then AI's 6ers have to make the list too.

[SHAQisGOAT]

The 81' Rockets beat the Lakers with PRIME Kareem and Magic in the first round of the playoffs. They also took Bird's Celtics 6 games in the NBA Finals.


The Rockets had Moses Malone and NOTHING else.


The 1981 Rockets were probably the most one man show in NBA Finals team history.

Too much of a stretch there.. They also had Calvin Murphy who was still good for like 19 ppg on pretty good efficiency and the main responsible for getting them past the Spurs as he dropped 42 in game7 with the rest of them really struggling (but then got injured close to the Finals though), and they also had Robert Reid who was a pretty good all-around SF, good combination of scoring, rebounding, passing and defense... Some other solid role players but yea that team had like no business being in the Finals, they were winning against (clearly) better teams on paper.

[Psileas]

The '59 Lakers got to the Finals after only posting a 33-39 record. Of course, they took advantage of the weakness of the Western division, but they still managed to put down the Hawks, who finished 49-23 (=56 wins per 82 games). The Hawks destroyed them in Game 1, then the Lakers pulled out a tough victory in Game 2, the Hawks destroyed them again in Game 3, then the Lakers won the next 3 games by 10, 1 and 2 points respectively.

[T_L_P]

07 Cavs
01 Sixers

[SpanishACB]

this thread makes me wonder why don't they do without the arbitrary system of separating teams by geography instead of doing overall playoff from an overall ranking

[JtotheIzzo]

Knicks 1999
76'ers 2001
Nets 2002
Nets 2003
Cavs 2007

Nailed it

[SilkkTheShocker]

07 Cavs and it's really not even close either.

The 02 Nets at least had prime Kenyon Martin. The 01 Sixers had the DPOY, 6th man of the year, and a good coach.

The 07 Cavs had literally no talent. It was LeBron and a bunch of garbage no other team wanted. Daniel Gibson, a rookie 2nd round PG was being asked to help carry the scoring load :oldlol: 3rd year Varejao was probably their 2nd best player overall.

Larry Hughes-Sasha-Pavlovic-LeBron-Drew Gooden-Big Z with Mike Brown as head coach. :oldlol:

That is an abortion of a team. How many wins does that team get without LeBron?

[TheMan]

07 Cavs and it's really not even close either.

The 02 Nets at least had prime Kenyon Martin. The 01 Sixers had the DPOY, 6th man of the year, and a good coach.

The 07 Cavs had literally no talent. It was LeBron and a bunch of garbage no other team wanted. Daniel Gibson, a rookie 2nd round PG was being asked to help carry the scoring load :oldlol: 3rd year Varejao was probably their 2nd best player overall.

Larry Hughes-Sasha-Pavlovic-LeBron-Drew Gooden-Big Z with Mike Brown as head coach. :oldlol:

That is an abortion of a team. How many wins does that team get without LeBron?
I have to agree with Silkk, that team had no business being in the Finals, hence they got merked 4-0 in the Finals once they actually faced a good team. That's the main reason LeBron leading that team to the Finals is waaaaay overrated. The East was pure garbage, the 07 Cavs ain't sniffing the Finals in the 80s for example with the Bird Celtics, Dr J/MMalone 76ers, Thomas Pistons, Moncrief Bucks, MJ Bulls or Nique Hawks in their way.

[SilkkTheShocker]

I have to agree with Silkk, that team had no business being in the Finals, hence they got merked 4-0 in the Finals once they actually faced a good team. That's the main reason LeBron leading that team to the Finals is waaaaay overrated. The East was pure garbage, the 07 Cavs ain't sniffing the Finals in the 80s for example with the Bird Celtics, Dr J/MMalone 76ers, Thomas Pistons, Moncrief Bucks, MJ Bulls or Nique Hawks in their way.


It's not overrated. I get bashing them for getting swept. But team would have been lucky to win 10 games without LeBron.

[TheMan]

It's not overrated. I get bashing them for getting swept. But team would have been lucky to win 10 games without LeBron.
What I mean by overrated is that team doesn't make the Finals earlier in the decade (Billups/Wallace Pistons) nor later (Pierce, Garnett, Allen Celtics). Bron was a beast and props to him but he led that team in the perfect year for a really flawed team to get as far as it got. Like I said, the 07 Cavs wouldn't make the Finals in the 80s, nor in the 90s for that matter.

[Kiddlovesnets]

99 knicks.

[jzek]

Pistons in the 00s

Pacers this year if they beat the Heat

[SilkkTheShocker]

Pistons in the 00s

Pacers this year if they beat the Heat

You're really dumb.

[Ne 1]

2007 Cavs all things considered. The coaching and the overall personnel (outside of James) was just terrible.
They played elite defense and were among the best rebounding teams with a solid front court (Big Z, Gooden, Varejo) and despite the hate Mike Brown gets, it's hard to ignore how much the Cavs improved after hiring him.

[GODbe]

Lakers 09/10

[SavageMode]

Cavs 07. Done next, close.

Ez sit.

[LeBron 06]

They played elite defense and were among the best rebounding teams with a solid front court (Big Z, Gooden, Varejo) and despite the hate Mike Brown gets, it's hard to ignore how much the Cavs improved after hiring him.

With the exception of LeBron, the cavs offense were horrible


Second best scorer was Larry Hudges with 14 PPG on 40%

[J Shuttlesworth]

Pistons in the 00s

Pacers this year if they beat the Heat
wtf? Seriously? :lol You realize they won the chip right?

[Celtics 1825]

07 Cavs no question. Literally the definition of a one-man army.

[TheMarkMadsen]

it really sinks in how terrible the east is when a guy averaging 25ppg on 41.6% throughout the playoffs is able to lead a team to the finals

not surprising they were swept and made to look like they didn't belong in the finals

[robert_shaww]

99 knicks
02 nets
03 nets
07 cavs
09 magic

[Ne 1]

With the exception of LeBron, the cavs offense were horrible


Second best scorer was Larry Hudges with 14 PPG on 40%
But basketball isn't just one side, defense is half of the game. So with Cleveland's defense doing such a great job, LeBron didn't need that much offensive support to get through the East. A great example of this is the Pistons series people point out as evidence that LeBron carried the Cavs as "one man army." Game 3: James carried the load with 32/9/9, but a big key was also Cleveland's defense holding Detroit to 82 points. So with Cleveland's defense doing such a great job, LeBron didn't need that much offensive support, having 3 teammates in double figures(Z- 16, Pavlovic- 13, Gooden- 12) was more than enough.

Game 4: LeBron had 25/7/11, but again, Cleveland held Detroit to just 87 points and Daniel Gibson scored 21 points on great efficiency(4/7 from the field, 12/12 from the line) and Gooden also had 19/8.

Game 5: This is about as close as a player can come to winning a game by himself, we all know about Lebron's 48/9/7 game.

Game 6: Lebron had 20/14/8, though his efficiency was poor (3/11 FG, 14/19 FT), but again Cleveland's defense shut down Detroit. The Pistons scored just 82 points and Daniel Gibson led all scorers with 31 points on amazing efficiency (7/9 FG, 5/5 3P, 12/15 FT).