The NBA is the toughest of the "big four" leagues for an undeserving squad to hoist a championship trophy. In the NHL a goalie can get hot and carry his team. In the MLB a team can slump in the playoffs, or a pitching staff can ignite and shutdown an offense. In the NFL the postseason is one-and-done. One bad game from the favorite (say, Denver), can allow a lesser wild card (say, Baltimore), to an unforeseen upset on the path to the Lombardi trophy.
That's good and bad for the NBA. On the positive side, the team that wins the championship is most likely to be the best team in the league. That's what a champion should be. On the negative side, it can seem kind of boring with the season being one long string for, roughly, two dozen teams to play out. Who honestly sees seeds 7 and 8 shocking the world as the last team standing? The '95 Rockets stand as the lone team giving 6-seeds a small, and very rare, glimmer of hope.
Annually, there's really only a handful of legitimate title contenders. For a lot of squads in the NBA it would be a "moral victory" to simply make the playoffs. The playoffs are such a behemoth that they allow mediocre squads entry, which makes you wonder what the point of the regular season is exactly? So we thought we'd do our best to save fans a season of forehead vein-inducing frustration, in a season of developing (and then trading) young talent. Miami and Oklahoma City fans can feel free to gloat. For many of the other cities it's not so cut and dry.
When over half the league gets a postseason invite you know you have to reek to miss them. Here's 10 Reasons Why Your Team Won't Make The Playoffs,