The Top 10 Playoff Upsets in NBA History

Though the NCAA Tournament gets plenty of play because of its historic upsets—Princeton over UCLA, Santa Clara over Arizona, Richmond knocking off Syracuse—the NBA has seen plenty of upsets throughout its history.

The difference between these two tournaments is of course the number of games that each team need to win to advance. One-game upsets can happen at any time.

Does anybody truly believe that Cleveland State would have beaten Bobby Knight's Indiana team in 1986 if they were playing a seven game series? Of course not. That is what makes these NBA Playoff upsets even more amazing.

Through the course of an NBA season, the teams become "who we thought they were." Throw in home-court advantage and it becomes a steep hill for any team to climb.

From the amazing 1981 Western Conference Playoffs that saw every lower seeded team winning the series (imagine the Hawks and 76ers facing off for a spot in the finals a year ago) to the first ever eight/one upset with the Nuggets, it's time to take a look at my top 10.

1994-No. 8 Nuggets over No.1 Sonics

Seattle was the girl with the curl, the young exciting team that the NBA wanted to see succeed. Dikembe Mutumbo's defensive intensity changed the series and frustrated Shawn Kemp inside and Gary Payton driving to the hole.

1981-No.6 Rockets over No. 3 Lakers

The 1981 Western Conference Playoffs were one of the craziest in NBA history. Every match up went to the lower seed.

The '81 Rockets became the worst team in NBA history to make the finals and were 40-42 in the regular season. The Lakers were shocked two games to one in this three game series.

1987-No. 7 Sonics over No. 2 Mavs

Seattle came into the series with a 39-43 record.

Xavier McDaniel, Nate McMillan, and company pulled off this upset, then beat Houston to make the Western Conference Finals where they fell to the Lakers in a sweep.

1991-No. 7 Warriors over No. 2 Spurs

David Robinson quickly was turning into an NBA star. He forgot that he should do something in the playoffs.

Run TMC with Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond, and Chris Mullin pulled off another first round shocker.

1990-No. 5 Suns over No. 1 Lakers

Dan Majarle, Tom Chambers and the Suns knocked out the MVP Magic Johnson and his Lakers in the Western Conference Semifinals.

2004- Pistons over Lakers

The end of the Kobe/Shaq era ended much differently than anybody could have expected.

1999-No. 8 Knicks over No. 1 Heat

With a 50 game regular season, the teams were not as spread out in the final standings and the Knicks showed that with their win over the Heat.

New York beat Miami the year prior in the playoffs and beat them again in the 2000 NBA Playoffs. An upset because of the seedings, but that is about the only reason.

2007-No. 8 Warriors over No. 1 Mavs

Though this is one of the three 8/1 upsets, the Warriors were poised to take this series. They beat up on the Mavericks in the regular season and should have won this one in five games.

1989-No. 7 Warriors over No. 2 Jazz

The Warriors find their way onto this list three different times.

Maybe they should just get better in the regular season?

1989-No. 6 Bulls over No. 3 Cavs

Everybody remembers Michael Jordan's shot over Craig Ehlo to win Game 5. But there is more to this series victory.

The Cavs had won 10 more games than the '88-'89 Bulls and had home court advantage before Jordan introduced himself to the rest of the world.