The Most Unexpected Conference Finals of the Past 20 Years

With the Oklahoma City Thunder beating the LA Lakers yesterday (as much as I hated to see the Oklahoma fans celebrate, the team played fantastic), the Western Conference Finals are set. On the other side of the bracket, though, there's still much left to be decided. I bet 95% of sports fan predicted Miami and Chicago to battle it out for a trip to the Finals, but that's not going to be the case. In fact, with the injury of Bosh, there's a very good possibility of seeing either an Indiana/Boston match-up, or an Indiana/Philadelphia one. Either way, there's a very strong possibility that the Eastern Conference Finals will pit two teams that we didn't expect to see at this stage in the postseason when the playoffs began. With that being said, I want to present what I think are the 5 most unexpected conference finals of the past 20 years.

5. 1994 Eastern Conference Finals
Match-up: (2) New York Knicks (57-25) vs. (5) Indiana Pacers (47-35)


To be honest, finding a fifth match-up was kind of difficult. While the New York Knicks, being a number two seed, were probably not a surprise to make it to the conference finals, the Indiana Pacers probably weren't that much of a long shot either. They ended the season on an eight game winning streak, including winning their last two games by margins of 45 and 33.

Still, Indiana had started the season 3-8, and having to go against the No. 1 seed Atlanta Hawks in the first round probably made it a surprise that they had gotten to the final four. As well, New York in the Eastern Conference Finals was no guarantee, as they had a second round date against the defending champion, thought Michael Jordan-less, Chicago Bulls.

4. 2010 Eastern Conference Finals
Match-up: (2) Orlando Magic (59-23) vs. (4) Boston Celtics (50-32)


Despite Boston having been two years removed from winning the NBA championship, people left them for dead. We thought they were old and dead, but somehow (kind of like this year), they managed to keep advancing. Though they started off great, Boston ended the season 5-8, ending up with a solid, but not great, 50-32 record and a number four seed.

Their first round opponent were the Miami Heat, who unlike Boston, were scorching and had ended the season only losing once in their last 13 games. Most people expected a close series, and the consensus was generally split over who would win. Imagine people's surprise when it only took Boston 5 games to vanquish their foe! Though they could beat the Heat, they probably would not have beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, they of who led the league with 61 wins, right? Wrong. Boston dispatched Cleveland on their way to a match-up against the expected Orlando Magic.

3. 2011 Western Conference Finals
Match-up: (3) Dallas Mavericks (57-25) vs. (4) Oklahoma City Thunder


On paper, this match-up doesn't look to unexpected, but if we remember from last year, it kind of was. First off, Oklahoma City wasn't a complete shock to make the Western Conference Finals. In fact, they were expected to beat the San Antonio Spurs, if only San Antonio had made it to the second round. Still, the prospect of having to go against the team with the best record out West did not make for easy nights.

The real surprise in the Western Conference Finals were the Dallas Mavericks. Despite having a splendid 57-25 record, which was the same as the no. 2 seed and title favorite LA Lakers, Dallas was given no shot of making it to the finals. In fact, people deemed that their match-up with Portland in the first round did not suit them well, and a good portion of ESPN experts actually thought they would lose then. When they made it to the second round, there was not a analyst, expert, or site on the web that I could find that had Dallas beating the LA Lakers. The fact that the sweeped LA made it even more shocking.

2. 2007 Western Conference Finals
Match-up: (3) San Antonio Spurs (58-24) vs. (4) Utah Jazz (51-31)


With a 58-24 record, there's no reason to think that the Spurs wouldn't have made the conference finals. However, there were two things that could've made people a little hesitant to pick the San Antonio. For one,  they had lost the very first game of the playoffs to the Denver Nuggets. Though San Antonio did bounce back to win four in a row, that did give people a little scare. Second, they were going against a 61-win Phoenix Suns team, who they had never beat in Phoenix that season (though to be fair, they only played once in Phoenix).


Where this finals was unexpected was almost all because of Utah. To start off with, Utah hadn't even made the playoffs in the last three years, so they were a relatively inexperienced postseason team. Then, in the first round, they were matched-up with a Houston Rocket team that 1) Had a better record then them and thus home-court, 2) Had taken three of four games against them in the regular season, and 3) Had taken the first two games of the series. Somehow, Utah managed to regroup and win the series. However, there was absolutely no one they were going to beat a Dallas Mavericks team with one of the best records in NBA History, right? Right? Well, they didn't even have to go against Dallas! They were luck to go against the No. 8 seed Golden State Warriors, who honestly, only made it to the next round due to having a good match-up, rather than being a good team. If you had asked me before the 2007 playoffs started what the chances were that Utah would be in the conference finals, I would have said about 2%.

1. 1999 Eastern Conference Finals
Match-up: (2) Indiana Pacers (33-17) vs. (8) New York Knicks (27-23)


I guess it's only appropriate that the number one finals on this last came when the NBA last had a lockout. As has been the case for most of this last, what makes the match-up unexpected has usually been just the result of one team making it in that we didn't think would. This match-up is no different. Indiana, as a No. 2 seed, was a favorite to make it to the conference finals. The only thing stopping them were the No. 3 Orlando Magic, who had taken them two of three from them in the regular season. Lucky for them, Orlando bowed out in the first round, leaving Indiana to go against a Philadelphia team that they would sweep.

Whereas Indiana probably had a 95% chance of being in the conference finals, New York probably was at around 1%. For one, they were a No. 8 seed, and only one time in NBA history had a No. 8 beat a No. 1 (I hate thinking about that...). Second, their second round opponent were the Atlanta Hawks, who had taken two out of three from them in the regular season. Aside from that, there really isn't much to say except a No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference Finals was never to be expected.