Greatest non-Finals teams to never win the NBA title this century

14. *2008-09 Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics didn’t miss a beat as the defending champions, laying further smackdown to the rest of the NBA. They were 44-11 through 55 games — half a game off the league-leader — including a 19-game winning streak. They were fifth in offensive rating and first at the defensive end.

Then came Feb. 19, the infamous day where Kevin Garnett injured his right knee against the Utah Jazz. KG missed the next 13 games before attempting a comeback that saw him play less than 67 minutes across four games.

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He was never officially ruled out for the 2009 postseason, but that’s how Doc Rivers viewed it after the reigning Defensive Player of the Year had to miss the last nine games of the season. The sentiment hardened with each passing playoff game.

Championship swagger is a legitimate boost to both production and confidence. The Celtics had lots of it coming off their 2008 title.

Gone were the questions directed towards those who don’t fully know what it takes to breakthrough for a championship. Boston answered them all and exuded a level of cohesion and results that bred legitimate talks of a repeat.

The Celtics fought as best they could, getting to Game 7 of the conference semis. Without their fire and defensive anchor, there wasn’t any shot.