10 best teams that fell short of winning NBA title

8. 1997-98 Los Angeles Lakers

So how is it that a team that got swept by the team in the No. 10 position on this list ends up ahead of them? There are reasons for this.

For starters, the Los Angeles Lakers in 1997-98 finished with the best net rating in the NBA at plus-8.2 points per 100 possession, while also leading the league in pace while placing second in the league in offensive rating and 11th in defensive rating.

This team was in its formative stages of the dynasty that would win three straight titles to close out the 20th century and open the 21st. The Lakers had a 25-year-old Shaquille O’Neal, a 19-year-old Kobe Bryant coming off the bench and two other All-Stars in Eddie Jones and Nick Van Exel.

The Lakers won 61 games, losing the tiebreaker in the Pacific Division to the Seattle SuperSonics, despite O’Neal missing 22 games due to an abdominal strain and Van Exel sidelined for 18 games with a knee injury.

O’Neal led the NBA in field goal shooting at 58.4 percent and was second in the league at 283 points per game. The Lakers were also solid in the regular season against the teams they should beat, going 30-4 against teams that finished below .500, while winning 27 of 42 against the teams above that mark.

The Lakers opened the playoffs with a four-game win over the Portland Trail Blazers, winning Game 4 on the road by 11 points. Against Seattle in the conference semifinals, Los Angeles dropped the opener 106-92 before storming back to win four straight games and close out the Pacific champions.

But against the defending Western Conference champions, the Lakers came up short, losing Game 1 to the Utah Jazz 112-77 and going down in a four-game sweep. But two years and a coaching change later (Del Harris would be fired during the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season with Phil Jackson coming on board for 1999-2000), Los Angeles climbed back to the top of the mountain.