Wednesday, April 17, 2013

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.

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