The Miami Heat and How 65-Win Teams Did in the Playoffs

The Miami Heat are wrapping up their outstanding regular season and will be heavy favorites to repeat as NBA champions. They are already the 16th team to win 65 games in a season and with a win over Orlando tomorrow night, they will be the 13th team to reach 66 wins.

Here are the other 15 teams that won 65+ games, listed with their finish in the postseason:

Year	Tm	W	L	Finish
1967	PHI	68	13	Won NBA Finals
1971	MIL	66	16	Won NBA Finals
1972	LAL	69	13	Won NBA Finals
1973	BOS	68	14	Lost Eastern Finals
1983	PHI	65	17	Won NBA Finals
1986	BOS	67	15	Won NBA Finals
1987	LAL	65	17	Won NBA Finals
1992	CHI	67	15	Won NBA Finals
1996	CHI	72	10	Won NBA Finals
1997	CHI	69	13	Won NBA Finals
2000	LAL	67	15	Won NBA Finals
2007	DAL	67	15	Lost First Round
2008	BOS	66	16	Won NBA Finals
2009	LAL	65	17	Won NBA Finals
2009 2013	CLE MIA	66 66	16 16	Lost Eastern Finals Won NBA Finals

Included among the 15 are a dozen of the NBA's greatest champions. The 1996 and 1997 Bulls are first and tied for second on this list, respectively. It's worth noting that the Sonics and Jazz teams they beat in the Finals both won 64 games and missed this list by one win. Talk about earning your titles.

Three of these 65-win teams fell short of the championship.

The 1973 Celtics lost to the third-seeded 57-win Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals 4-3.

2007 brought one of the greatest upsets in NBA history. The Mavericks were stunned by the 42-40 eighth-seeded Warriors in the first round 4-2.

We expected a Kobe-LeBron Final in 2009 after both the Lakers and Cavs cracked 65+ wins. It was the first season in which two teams reached that mark, but the 59-win third-seeded Magic upended Cleveland in the Eastern Finals 4-2.