The Biggest NBA Playoff Upsets of the Last 10 Years

These have been a wild 2014 NBA playoffs thus far. The Thunder and Pacers, both legitimate title-contenders, are on a bit of an upset alert right now. They'll have have to proceed with caution in the face of history, because there have been some shocking playoff upsets recently. Like when the Warriors took down the Mavericks behind Baron Davis's inspired play in 2007, or when a baby-faced LeBron single-handedly beat a championship-tested Pistons squad. Remember though: Fortune favors the bold, so stay woke, Thunder and Pacers fans. For the rest of you, check out The Biggest NBA Playoff Upsets of the Last 10 Years.

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Date: 6/2/2007
Round: Eastern Conference finals
Series record: Cavaliers 4-Pistons 2

Looking down from 30,000 feet, the 2-seeded Cavs taking out the top-seeded Pistons doesn't seem like a big deal. But remember what the Pistons were in 2007: They had made the Finals in 2004 and 2005, won one of them, and were in the Conference Finals the year before (and they'd make the Conference Finals again in 2008.) These were the Eastern Conference's Spurs. The core was a tinge older, but whatever physical conditions had been depleted were made up in experience and craft. For a 22-year-old LeBron, only supported by 20-year-old Daniel Gibson and an injury-prone Zydrunas Ilgauskas, beating the Pistons so emphatically was massive.

With the series tied at 2-2 after back-to-back Cavalier wins in Cleveland, LeBron's virtuous 48-point, 50-minute Game 6 performance was the birth of his NBA legend. After that game, all assumptions about LeBron became incomplete, and he'd be forever tortured by his obviously unlimited ceiling. We thought we had Jordan on our hands. Since then, he's morphed into something much different, but in that game, LeBron was as unstoppable of a scorer as the playoffs has ever seen.

The Cavs won Games 3 through 6 to win the series, only to get swept by the Spurs in the Finals.

Date: 5/13/2010
Round: Eastern Conference semifinals
Series record: Celtics 4-Cavaliers 2

The Celtics had vanquished LeBron back in 2008 on their way to a championship, and by 2010, the Cavs were hitting their stride. They had finished with the Eastern Conference's best record in back-to-back years, and Mike Brown looked like a competent coach. (2010 was a LONG time ago.) This was the playoff series that would shut the Celtics' championship window, see LeBron dispel all demons, bring a sunny day to Cleveland for the first time ever, end the recession, and more importantly: help insure that LeBron would remain a Cavalier beyond the playoffs. And look! LeBron had help too! An old Shaq, Mo Williams, and Antawn Jamison! Now that's a title-worthy supporting cast.

In retrospect, it's actually funny how much was expected out of these Cavalier teams, and how under appreciated LeBron's play was for them. In 2010, Shaq was closer to a TNT job than a legitimate second-option role. Jamison—who was traded for mid-season instead of Amar'e Stoudemire because Danny Ferry didn't want to give up J.J. Hickson—contributed a useless 11.8 PPG, and Williams shot 40 percent from the floor. And yet it was still title-or-bust. Bravo, Cleveland.

Each game in the series was decided by eight points or more, making it far from riveting, and ultimately disastrous for the Cavs.

Date: 5/30/2009
Round: Eastern Conference finals
Series record: Magic 4-Cavaliers 2

Dropping home games in any playoff series will kill a team, and for the Cavs, this couldn't have been more true. Despite a league best 39-2 home record during the regular season, they lost Game 1 at home 107-106. The Magic took care of their home games, and that, in black-and-white terms, was the series. This Cavs team, like all LeBron-era Cavs teams, was overly dependent on him to create 4th quarter offense. Case in point: Mo Williams and Delonte West were each asked to play over 40 MPG to help out LeBron, who averaged a superlative inducing 38.5 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 8.0 APG, 1.2 SPG, 1.2 BPG. WHAT MORE COULD HE HAVE DONE?

The 2008-09 Magic were one of the more intelligently designed teams out there, surrounding Dwight Howard at his peak with straight-up shooters. The Magic shot 40 percent from three that series on the backs of Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu, who combined with Dwight to form one of the most versatile front courts in the NBA. Dwight dominated the paint, and Lewis and Turkoglu spread the floor with their size and outside shooting ability.

A complete team beat a one-man team, the reason why LeBron left.

Date: 5/10/2012
Round: Eastern Conference first round
Series record: Sixers 4-Bulls 2

This series deserves an asterisk, because Derrick Rose played a total of 37 minutes. He tore his ACL at the end of a Game 1 win, making that game the greatest Pyrrhic victory like ever. Since then, nothing's been the same in my life, your life, and in the lives of millions of Bulls fans. *pours one out for D. Rose* C.J. Watson took over point guard duties, and despite losing the following three games, the Bulls, actually didn't bend much.

In typical Tom Thibodeau style, these Bulls turned the series into an ugly defensive affair. Just check out the scores for Games 3 through 6: 79-74, 89-82, 77-69, 79-78. Andre Iguodala sealed the series in Game 6 on a shooting foul with 2.2 seconds left to put the Sixers up 79-78, and the upset was complete.

Date: 6/15/2004
Round: Finals
Series record: Pistons 4-Lakers 1

The Eastern Conference was pretty buttcheeks at the time—the conference hadn't won an NBA title since Jordan's Bulls in 1998, and the Nets had just been spanked in back-to-back Finals. Yet from it all, the Pistons rose up from the 3-seed to knock off the Pacers and Nets en route to meeting the star-studded Lakers—Karl Malone and Gary Payton had joined Shaq and Kobe to ring chase.

There, a more balanced Pistons squad grew into their own before our eyes. Chauncey Billups, Rasheed Wallace, Ben Wallace, Richard Hamilton, and Tayshaun Prince (before they were old dudes) all averaged over double figures, while Shaq and Kobe were the only Lakers to average above 5.8 PPG. Cohesiveness, balance, and outstanding defense stifled the dueling star dynamic of the Lakers, and the Pistons won their first post-Bad Boys title.

Date: 5/8/2011
Round: Western Conference Semifinals
Series record: Mavericks 4-Lakers 0

As a fan of late 2000s basketball, this was an infuriating series. For the better half of the decade, NBA fans yearned for that Kobe-LeBron Final, and never got it. 2011 was supposed to be it. The Lakers were seeking a three-peat, and LeBron was finally on a worthy team. A Finals clash was inevitable, right? Kobe in his second (or was it his third, maybe fourth?) prime versus LeBron James, the consensus best-player-alive for the first time in his career. Instead, the Mavs spoiled the would-be party and swept the hapless, out-of-gas Lakers.

Pau Gasol never put on his big boy pants in the face of Dirk Nowitzki's shooting and Tyson Chandler's ever-present rim protection, and the Mavericks got another ultimate irrational confidence series out of one of their perimeter players. Peja Stojakovic shot a series-high 52 percent from downtown, while the Lakers shot 19 percent from three as a team. If you re-watch the entire series closely through the lens of hindsight, you can see Kobe's hopes of a sixth ring being mercilessly stabbed with every Stojakovic shot.

Date: 4/29/2011
Round: Western Conference First Round
Series record: Grizzlies 4-Spurs 2

The second No. 8 over No. 1 series in NBA history might've been the most surprising. Prior to this series, the decade-old Grizzlies owned a franchise playoff record of 0-12. Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol proved to be a match-up nightmare for Tim Duncan and a rotation of Matt Bonner, Antonio McDyess, and Tiago Splitter. Z-Bo's post-game bodied the opposition, averaging 21.5 PPG and 9.2 RPG for the series. Gasol also had a coming-out party of sorts, playing a team high 40.4 MPG and averaging team highs in rebounds and blocks.

The crucial loss for the Spurs came in Game 1 at home—they had the best home record in the Western Conference that season, while the Grizzlies were 16-25 on the road. If Memphis doesn't pull out that 101-98 victory, the series could've gone much differently. Randolph and Gasol combined for 49 points that night, and Shane Battier of all people hit a go-ahead three-pointer with 23.9 seconds left to steal Game 1.

An odd series, but that's how these things happen—unexpected role players hit unexpected crucial shots to snatch unexpected victories.

Date: 6/12/2011
Round: Finals
Series record: Mavericks 4-Heat 2

For LeBron haters, this was the zenith of your existence. 11 months after The Decision, the most hyped Big Three in basketball history went down in flames to a Mavericks team whose championship window had seemingly been shut. To anyone who doubts if this was a major upset or not, look to Vegas: the Heat were a consensus -180, or a 3.5 point favorite per game for the series. They weren't overwhelming favorites, but Vegas had them winning by a decent margin. LeBron, Wade, and Bosh were supposed to take care of business.

Instead, they ran into a Mavericks team built on three things: Dirk Nowitzki's jump shot theatrics, efficient three-point shooting, and Tyson Chandler's defense. Dirk averaged 26.0 PPG for the series as the guards around him got white hot from three. Jason Terry averaged 18.0 PPG, including 27 in the decisive Game 6. Jason Kidd shot 43 percent from three-point range, and DeShaw Stevenson made 56 percent of his three-pointers. The Mavs shot 41 percent from three for the series, while the Heat shot a pedestrian 34 percent on six more three-point attempts.

The series was won in six games, keeping the Larry O'Brien trophy out of LeBron's hands for one more year.

Date: 5/3/2007
Round: Western Conference first round
Series record: Warriors 4-Mavericks 2

This was the first time in NBA history that an No. 8 seed upset a No. 1 seed in a seven-game playoff format. A No. 1 seed that had been in the NBA Finals the previous year, had the presumptive NBA MVP, and had won 25-more regular season games than that No. 8 seed, no less. This shouldn't have been a contest. Dirk and the gang won a franchise record 67 games that year, while the Warriors needed to win nine of their final 10 games just to make the playoffs. But therein lies the trap—arguably the NBA's hottest team was rolling into the playoffs as an No. 8 seed with nothing to lose against the defending Western Conference champs.

Baron Davis led the charge against the Mavs, averaging an Oscar-esque 25.0 PPG, 6.2 RPG, and 5.7 APG, including an absurd 33-point, 14 rebound, eight assist Game 1. In the close-out Game 6 at Oracle Arena, the Warriors put on a show for a recharged fan base. Stephen Jackson hit seven three-pointers, and Matt Barnes threw up a 16, 11, and 7 line while Baron Davis (at that point carrying a hamstring injury) put up another double-double.

What's quickly forgotten though, is how cold Dirk Nowitzki was during that series. He's righted every wrong by winning one title, but he laid an epic egg that series, shooting 38 percent from the field, making the same amount of three-pointers (4) as MICKAEL PIETRUS.

The Warriors outright won this series because their best player got hot and the rest of the team bought in, but the Mav's MVP having one of his worst six game stretches never helped the cause. The Jazz would go on to beat the Warriors in the following round.