10 best teams that fell short of winning NBA title

Since 1950-51, there have been 52 NBA teams that won at least 60 games (or the equivalent) without winning the title. Here are the best 10 of those teams.

With the NBA suspended indefinitely, it remains within the realm of possibility the 2019-20 season will be the first in the history of the league to not crown a champion, although commissioner Adam Silver is certainly not ready to throw in the towel on the season that today enters its second week on hiatus.

More from Hoops Habit

• 7 Players the Miami Heat might replace Herro with by the trade deadline
• Meet Cooper Flagg: The best American prospect since LeBron James
• Are the Miami Heat laying the groundwork for their next super team?
• Sophomore Jump: 5 second-year NBA players bound to breakout
• NBA Trades: The Lakers bolster their frontcourt in this deal with the Pacers

Before the Milwaukee Bucks lost their final three games before the shutdown (and four of their last five overall), they were on pace to become just the third team in NBA history to win at least 70 games in a season. The 1995-96 Chicago Bulls were the first, going 72-10 en route to the team’s fourth title in six seasons.

Twenty years later, Chicago’s mark fell when the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors blitzed the NBA to the tune of a record 24 straight wins to open the season, started 39-4 under acting head coach Luke Walton and finished the season by winning their 73rd game. But there wasn’t a happy ending in Oaktown, as the Warriors became the first team to blow a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals.

When play was suspended, the Bucks were 53-12, an .815 winning percentage that would equal 67 wins over the course of 82 games. Besides the Warriors, only two other teams have won at least 67 games and not won the crown — the 68-win Boston Celtics in 1972-73 and the 67-win San Antonio Spurs, who picked a heck of a year to win a franchise-record 67 games (2015-16).

Since the 1950-51 season, the second season after the NBA was formed by the merger of the Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League — and the first season with a common draft — there have been 83 teams win at least 60 games or the percentage-equivalent.

Of those 83, 31 of them were crowned NBA champions while the other 52 fell short. Amazingly, only nine of those teams reached the NBA Finals and lost.

More than half, 28, were eliminated from the postseason in the division or conference finals, most recently the 2018-19 Bucks. Ten of those teams went down in the division/conference semifinals and five exited in the first round– four of those as No. 1 seeds (the lone exception was the Utah Jazz in 1994-95, who were a No. 3 seed).

In chronological order, here are the teams not ranked in this top 10, with their record and playoff exit listed:

• 1966-67 Boston Celtics (60-21, lost to Philadelphia 76ers in Eastern Division Finals)
• 1967-68 Philadelphia 76ers (62-20, lost to Boston Celtics in Eastern Division Finals)
• 1972-73 Boston Celtics (68-14, lost to New York Knicks in Eastern Conference Finals)
• 1972-73 Milwaukee Bucks (60-22, lost to Golden State Warriors in Western Conference Semifinals)
• 1974-75 Washington Bullets (60-22, lost to Golden State Warriors in NBA Finals)
• 1974-75 Boston Celtics (60-22, lost to Washington Bullets in Eastern Conference Finals)
• 1979-80 Boston Celtics (61-21, lost to Philadelphia 76ers in Eastern Conference Finals)
• 1980-81 Philadelphia 76ers (62-20, lost to Boston Celtics in Eastern Conference Finals)
• 1980-81 Milwaukee Bucks (60-22, lost to Philadelphia 76ers in Eastern Conference Semifinals)
• 1981-82 Boston Celtics (63-19, lost to Philadelphia 76ers in Eastern Conference Finals)
• 1984-85 Boston Celtics (63-19, lost to Los Angeles Lakers in NBA Finals)
• 1985-86 Los Angeles Lakers (62-20, lost to Houston Rockets in Western Conference Finals)
• 1989-90 Los Angeles Lakers (63-19, lost to Phoenix Suns in Western Conference Semifinals)
• 1990-91 Portland Trail Blazers (63-19, lost to Los Angeles Lakers in Western Conference Finals)
• 1992-93 Phoenix Suns (62-20, lost to Chicago Bulls in NBA Finals)
• 1992-93 New York Knicks (60-22, lost to Chicago Bulls in Eastern Conference Finals)
• 1993-94 Seattle SuperSonics (63-19, lost to Denver Nuggets in Western Conference First Round)
• 1994-95 San Antonio Spurs (62-20, lost to Houston Rockets in Western Conference Finals)
• 1994-95 Utah Jazz (60-22, lost to Houston Rockets in Western Conference First Round)
• 1995-96 Seattle SuperSonics (64-18, lost to Chicago Bulls in NBA Finals)
• 1995-96 Orlando Magic (60-22, lost to Chicago Bulls in Eastern Conference Finals)
• 1996-97 Miami Heat (61-21, lost to Chicago Bulls in Eastern Conference Finals)
• 1997-98 Seattle SuperSonics (61-21, lost to Los Angeles Lakers in Western Conference Semifinals)
• 1998-99 Utah Jazz (37-13, lost to Portland Trail Blazers in Western Conference Semifinals)
• 2001-02 Sacramento Kings (61-21, lost to Los Angeles Lakers in Western Conference Finals)
• 2002-03 Dallas Mavericks (60-22, lost to San Antonio Spurs in Western Conference Finals)
• 2003-04 Indiana Pacers (61-21, lost to Detroit Pistons in Eastern Conference Finals)
• 2005-06 Detroit Pistons (64-18, lost to Miami Heat in Eastern Conference Finals)
• 2005-06 San Antonio Spurs (63-19, lost to Dallas Mavericks in Western Conference Semifinals)
• 2005-06 Dallas Mavericks (60-22, lost to Miami Heat in NBA Finals)
• 2006-07 Dallas Mavericks (67-15, lost to Golden State Warriors in Western Conference First Round)
• 2006-07 Phoenix Suns (61-21, lost to San Antonio Spurs in Western Conference Semifinals)
• 2008-09 Cleveland Cavaliers (66-16, lost to Orlando Magic in Eastern Conference Finals)
• 2008-09 Boston Celtics (62-20, lost to Orlando Magic in Eastern Conference Semifinals)
• 2009-10 Cleveland Cavaliers (61-21, lost to Boston Celtics in Eastern Conference Semifinals)
• 2010-11 Chicago Bulls (62-20, lost to Miami Heat in Eastern Conference Finals)
• 2010-11 San Antonio Spurs (61-21, lost to Memphis Grizzlies in Western Conference First Round)
• 2011-12 San Antonio Spurs (50-16, lost to Oklahoma City Thunder in Western Conference Finals)
• 2011-12 Chicago Bulls (50-16, lost to Philadelphia 76ers in Eastern Conference First Round)
• 2014-15 Atlanta Hawks (60-22, lost to Cleveland Cavaliers in Eastern Conference Finals)
• 2016-17 San Antonio Spurs (61-21, lost to Golden State Warriors in Western Conference Finals)
• 2018-19 Milwaukee Bucks (60-22, lost to Toronto Raptors in Eastern Conference Finals)

There were some very close calls in putting this list together, as one might imagine, and there may be some consternation over the omission of LeBron James‘ 66-win Cavaliers team from 2008-09 in favor of the team that will appear in the No. 10 spot (and in a very similar form higher on the list).