What are the biggest upsets in NBA Playoff history? 8 seeds defeating 1 seeds
The Minnesota Timberwolves landed the first blow in the 7 vs. 2 match up in the first round of the Playoffs. Could they be on the upset trail?
There are some juicy matchups in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, and we have already seen some surprises in the opening games of each series. The seventh seeded Minnesota Timberwolves landed the first punch against the two seed Memphis Grizzlies in FedEx Forum, while the seventh seeded Brooklyn Nets were just seconds away from defeating the two seed Boston Celtics at TD Garden.
There is big upset potential in the first round of the playoffs this year, which got us opening up the history books and recalling the biggest upsets in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
8 Nuggets vs. 1 Sonic 1994
If you’re old enough to remember, then you most certainly will remember Dikembe Mutombo’s 7′2″ frame sprawled out after the Denver Nuggets defeated the Seattle Super Sonics in the 94 playoffs.
It went all the way to a fifth and final game after Shawn Kemp, Gary Payton and Seattle won the first two games at home by landslides. But Denver held serve in the next to games in the Mile High City.
Who knows how history would have changed if Gary Payton didn’t get hurt early in the final game, but after he went down Kemp fizzled and the Nuggets pulled off the first ever upset of a one seed by and eight seed.
8 Warriors vs. 1 Mavericks 2007
Dirk Nowitzki performed many miracles in his two decade long playing career, but the first round he and the Dallas Mavericks had against the Golden State Warriors in ‘07 will be a series he will want to forget.
The Mavs came into the 06/07 season on the heels of a finals appearance which they lost 4-2 to the LeBron James and the Miami Heat. There was a lot of pressure for the Mavs to get back to the championship series, as Dirk Nowitzki had a career season and won his first and only MVP award.
After a 67 win regular season the Mavs had the top seed in the West, and would square up against the Golden State Warriors in the pre-Curry era. After splitting two games in Dallas the series headed out west and the Warriors put on an endless onslaught of three balls as the fans at Oracle Arena went berserk.
Baron Davis and Golden State needed every ounce of good shooting to get past the Mavs who won Game 5 after the Warriors took a 3-1 series lead. The series went back to Oakland and the G.S. Warriors
8 Knicks vs 1 Heat 1999
It was one of the most heated rivalries in the NBA at the end of the millennium. Patrick Ewing and the New York Knicks seemed to meet Alonzo Mourning and the Heat every year in the late 90′s and each of the series were filled with drama, emotion and the occasional skirmish.
While the Heat were the one seed and the Knicks were the eight seed, it must be noted that the year was cut short by a lockout so take the seedings as you please. The difference in regular season records between the 1 seed and 8 seed in the East that year was six games.
Short season or not, there was still loads of drama in a series that went down a Game 7. Allen Houston was was the hero for the Knicks after hitting a buzzer beating runner to ice the series and move New York on to the second round of the playoffs.
7 Warriors vs. 2 Jazz 1989
This wasn’t one of the five one seeds that fell to an eight seed, but the Chris Mullen and Tim Hardaway squeaked in the playoffs as a seven seed and matched up against the Karl Malone, John Stockton and the Utah Jazz.
This was well before the Jazz were making their finals runs against Michael Jordan and the Chicago, but Utah did finish with a 51-31 record and had made it to the second round of the tournament the year before.
Hardaway and Mullin went wild in the series as the Warriors swept through the Jazz in three games as the pair averaged almost 60 points a game combined. Mullin posted 32.7 ppg while Hardaway had 25.7 points and 8.3 rebounds in the first round series.
8 Grizzlies vs. 1 Spurs 2011
What makes this so unbelievable isn’t that an eight seed beat a one seed. It’s the fact that a young Memphis franchise took down the institution that was the San Antonio Spurs.
San Antonio was four years removed from their last title, and looking like they were back to being contenders after finishing first in the season in first place in the West. With Gregg Popovich on the sidelines and Tim Duncan in the post, the Spurs looked prime roll through the West after finishing the season with 61 wins and 21 losses.
The Grizzlies had never won a playoff series in their blossoming years, but exploded onto the scene on the shoulders of Mark Gasol and Zach Randolph.
The Grizzlies big men had their way against Tim Duncan in the paint as Gasol averaged a double double over the series, and Randolph had 21.5 points a game.
Memphis won the first game in Texas, and then held home court in back at home. With the series at 3-1 the Spurs dug in to stretch it to a sixth game, but once back in Memphis, the Grizzlies ended the Spurs title hopes and and became the fourth eight seed to knock off an eighth seed.