The 12 Biggest Upsets To Ever Transpire In The First Round Of The NBA Playoffs

The NBA playoffs won’t officially kick off until the play-in round solidifies the final lineup, and the teams who win that miniature tournament will be facing an uphill battle in their quest for a championship. However, there are plenty of underdog stories they can turn to for inspiration.

The teams that finish with the best record in the NBA during the regular season usually don’t have to sweat too much heading into the first round of the playoffs, as the low seeds have historically struggled to make it past that point.

However, there are still been a number of pretty shocking upsets since the field was expanded to 16 teams in 1984.

1994: The Nuggets Beat The Supersonics

There have been six instances where a top seed has fallen victim to the team that secured the final spot, and I’m going to list them in chronological order instead of attempting to sort them by magnitude.

The one-seed had an unblemished record in the first round for a decade after the field grew to 16 teams at a time when the opening series was still a best-of-five affair (it expanded to seven games in 2003).

The SuperSonics had the best record in the NBA in 1994 at 63-19 thanks to a roster led by Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton, and Seattle pulled out to a 2-0 lead in the series with a couple of double-digit wins.

However, the Nuggets (who went 42-40 in the regular season) were able to even things up when the series headed back to Denver and earned their second consecutive overtime victory on the road in Game 5 to pull off the stunning upset.

They almost pulled off an equally unlikely comeback after falling in a 3-0 hole to the Jazz in the next round, but Utah was able to clinch things in Game 7.

1999: The Knicks Beat The Heat

This series is a bit of an anomaly when you consider the season was shortened to 50 games due to the lockout, but the Heat still had a very formidable roster defined by Alonzo Mourning and Tim Hardaway.

With that said, the Knicks also boasted plenty of talent thanks to notable names including Patrick Ewing, Larry Johnson, and Marcus Camby, and New York had already pulled off another upset against Miami the previous season that I’ll address in more detail in a bit.

The series between the Knicks and the Heat was a back-and-forth affair that saw the teams trade wins until things ended up back in Miami for Game 5.

The Heat had a 77-76 lead with 4.5 seconds remaining, but Allan Houston emerged as a hero by hitting a floater that dropped through the basket with .8 seconds left to give the Knicks the win.

New York ended up making it all the way to the NBA Finals that year (the first eight-seed to do so), but the Spurs earned the title in five games.

 

2007: The Warriors Beat The Mavericks

There are a few reasons the NBA eventually decided to expand the first round to seven games. Money is the most obvious motivating factor, but it’s safe to assume it was also intended to reduce the possibility of an upset that could be dismissed as a fluke.

I know I said I wasn’t listing these in any particular order, but if I were, the first-round series between the Mavericks and the Warriors would firmly be at the top.

Dallas posted a 67-15 record with a stacked roster that revolved around Dirk Nowitzki, while Golden State was a fairly ragtag group of players belonging to a franchise that hadn’t won a playoff series in more than 15 years.

However, the world was quickly introduced to the “We Believe” Warriors that pulled out to a 3-1 lead and rebounded from their loss in Game 5 with the decisive 111-86 victory that sent Dallas home for the season.

Golden State lost to the Jazz in the next round, but it was hard to be too disappointed based on what they achieved to get there in the first place.

2011: The Grizzlies Beat The Spurs

The Grizzlies deserve plenty of credit for pulling off an upset against an undoubtedly talented Spurs team.

However, it’s worth noting San Antonio benefitted from some lucky breaks while putting together their 61-21 record and fell victim to an unlucky one after Manu Ginobili fractured his right arm in the final game of the season (although he played through it after missing Game 1).

Ginobili was still the leading scorer in three games while playing alongside Tony Parker and Tim Duncan, but the Grizzlies got some great performances out of Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol, and Mike Conley Jr. while taking care of business in six games (they fell to the Thunder in the next round).

2012: The 76ers Beat The Bulls

This is the second straight year where an eight-seed beat the one-seed and the second straight year where a star guard fell victim to an injury: Derrick Rose infamously tore his ACL at the end of Chicago’s win in Game 1, which dramatically altered the landscape of the series.

The Bulls struggled to recover after losing the focal point of their offense after going 50-16 during the lockout-shortened season, and as if that wasn’t bad enough, Joakim Noah missed Game 4 and Game 5 with an ankle injury.

While I don’t want to discount Philadelphia’s play, they undoubtedly reaped the benefits of those setbacks en route to winning the series in six games.

However, it’s worth noting they were able to hang with the Celtics in the next round, as the series went seven games before Boston punched its ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals.

2023: The Heat Beat The Bucks

This is one of the more surprising upsets on this list due to the manner in which the Heat managed to dismantle the Bucks when the two teams met in the first round in 2023.

Both teams had to grapple with injuries; Giannis Antetokounmpo exited Game 1 early with a back injury before missing the next two contests, while the Heat lost Tyler Herro to a broken hand in the same contest before Victor Oladipo tore a tendon in his knee in Game 3.

However, Jimmy Butler put the team on his back while leading the Heat in scoring in all five games as Miami earned a 4-1 win in the series to kick off a run that would end with a loss to the Nuggets in the finals.

1987: The SuperSonics Beat The Mavericks

There are also six instances of a seven-seed beating a two-seed in the first round, and I’m once again going to follow the same chronological format.

The SuperSonics were one of three teams that made the playoffs with a losing record in 1987 (they finished at 39-43), so it was a bit hard to be too optimistic about their chances against a Mavericks squad that went 55-27.

However, Seattle got a boost from an all-around team effort that saw four different players lead the team in scoring in the four games they needed to send Dallas home packing.

They kept the good times rolling with a win over the Rockets (who had also pulled off an upset of their own against the Jazz as a six-seed) before the Lakers beat them in the Western Conference Finals.

1989: The Warriors Beat The Jazz

It was hard to bet against a Jazz team that boasted the dynamic duo of John Stockton and Karl Malone, but anyone who did was probably pretty pleased with themself for going that route.

Chris Mullin was the undisputed star of the Golden State squad that made quick work of Utah with a three-game sweep, although they were only able to get a lone win against the Suns before Phoenix eliminated them in the second round.

1991: The Warriors Beat The Spurs

Mullin once again played an instrumental role in helping the seventh-seeded Warriors pull off an upset in the first round, but Tim Hardaway had also started to come into his own by the time Golden State met San Antonio in 1991.

The Spurs got off on the right foot with a win in Game 1, but that ended up being the only victory they got against the Warriors, who won the next three to wrap things up.

The celebration was once again short-lived, as Golden State only won a single game against the Lakers in the next round before being eliminated.

1998: The Knicks Beat The Heat

As I mentioned above, the Heat team that faced off against the Knicks in 1998 was hoping to get some revenge after New York had pulled off a slightly less unlikely upset the previous year.

The Knicks had to crawl out of a 2-1 hole in the series that was played in the first round in 1998, and they tied things up in a Game 4 showdown best remembered for a fight between Alonzo Mourning and Larry Johnson.

Allan Houston was once again the hero for the New York in Game 5; he didn’t need to sink a last-second shot, but he propelled them to the 98-81 win in the deciding contest with 30 points.

2010: The Spurs Beat The Mavericks

The Mavericks followed up their aforementioned loss to the Warriors with another first-round elimination as the four-seed in 2008, and while they were able to make it to the second round in 2009, things took yet another turn for the worse when they met the Spurs in 2010.

Dallas won the first game at home but ended up dropping three in a row before earning a 22-point win in Game 5.

Any Mavs fan who was hoping that would mark a shift in momentum was left disappointed after San Antonio clinched the series with a 97-87 win on home turf, although the Spurs were swept by the Suns in the next round.

2023: The Lakers Beat The Grizzlies

2023 was a big year for notable upsets in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, as the Lakers also got in on the action in the Western Conference.

Ja Morant was the biggest reason the Grizzlies earned the two-seed, and it was fair to be worried after he exited Game 1 with a hand injury as Los Angeles took a 1-0 lead.

However, Memphis was able to even things up despite his absence in Game 2, and while Morant was healthy enough to suit up for the rest of the series, the Grizzlies were unable to weather the storm as the Lakers advanced en route to losing to the Nuggets in the conference final.