5 Teams That Had the ‘Easiest’ Path to the NBA Finals

The journey to the NBA Finals is no easy task. Each season, thirty teams embark on that journey by playing through the regular season in the hopes of reaching the Finals. That is when the harsh reality sets in for the vast majority of the league, as twenty-eight teams will fail at reaching their goal.

With that being said, there have been some teams throughout the history of the NBA playoffs that have certainly made the aforementioned task look easy. Reasons for a team having an “easy” playoff run could be the sheer amount of good luck they face, such as getting good breaks akin to facing lesser or compromised teams.

Teams can also appear to have an “easy” run to the NBA Finals simply due to how skilled and talented they are, especially in comparison to their opponents. All teams must possess some form of skill and talent to even reach the playoffs, but reaching the Finals is a whole other basket. Here are five teams that have had the “easiest” path to the NBA Finals.

1 1987 Los Angeles Lakers

Three of the four teams the Lakers faced in the playoffs had bad records

It is important to note that a team may have an “easy” run to the Finals, only to hit a brick wall in the Finals themselves. In the 1980s, the Los Angeles Lakers were in the midst of their ‘Showtime’ era dynasty that saw the team notch five championships in that decade, but perhaps none of those teams had an easier path to the Finals than the 1987 squad.

The Lakers finished with a record of 65-17 that year, good enough for first place in the Western Conference, and carried plenty of championship experience, so there was no question about their level of talent. They would go 15-3 in the playoffs in total, but went an astonishing 11-1 in the first three rounds.

That was thanks to the teams they were facing in the 1987 playoffs. They opened the postseason by facing the 37-45 Denver Nuggets, sweeping them in three games. Next, they took out the 42-40 Golden State Warriors in five games, and subsequently swept a 39-43 Seattle SuperSonics team in four games.

All three of the Lakers’ opponents in the first three rounds were near or under .500, and that combined with their star-studded roster and sheer talent and skill made their path to the Finals easy on paper.

They faced their first real challenge in the NBA Finals, taking on a 59-23 Boston Celtics squad in the midst of a dynasty themselves, but would defeat them in six games to clinch the title.

2 2024 Boston Celtics

The current Boston Celtics faced three teams decimated by injuries

There is no doubt that the 2024 Boston Celtics are legitimately talented. They finished miles above the rest of the league with a record of 64-18, and possess the stars and talent necessary to win a title. But any logical basketball savant would be lying if they said the Celtics’ path to the Finals wasn’t light in challenge.

The Celtics pounded the Miami Heat in five games in the first round, a team who came straight out of the Play-In Tournament and one that lacked Jimmy Butler due to a sprained MCL injury.

In the Conference Semifinals, the Celtics took on a Cleveland Cavaliers team who were also not blessed by luck in the series, as they lacked their best defender, Jarrett Allen, for the entire series due to an injury. To add insult to injury (pun may or may not be intended), their lead scorer and superstar Donovan Mitchell missed the final two games with a calf injury.

Boston took advantage of Cleveland’s woes as they did with the Heat, and defeated them in five to punch their ticket to the Conference Finals. They then did the exact same for the Indiana Pacers, whom they faced in the Conference Finals, as they lacked Tyrese Haliburton for the final two games of the series.

Despite each game being somewhat close, the Celtics swept the Pacers to advance to the NBA Finals. Perhaps the Celtics are such a good team that they made their games look easy simply because of how talented they are, and not because their opponents were riddled with injuries.

The reality is that the Celtics could only face the teams in front of them, and it is not their fault that their opponents were riddled with injuries. But that certainly plays into the favor that their run was somewhat light in challenge.

3 1999 San Antonio Spurs

The Spurs were already talented and faced a mixture of good luck

The San Antonio Spurs won their first championship in franchise history in 1999 when they defeated the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals in five games. But it can be argued that they were blessed with less of a challenge during their path to said Finals.

The 1999 season was shortened due to a lockout, reducing the number of regular season games to just 50. That allowed the Spurs to face a 25-25 Minnesota Timberwolves team in the opening round, and they made quick work of them by taking them out in four games (back then, the first round was a best of five).

In the Conference Semifinals, the Spurs were to take on an inexperienced Lakers team that was not yet coached by Phil Jackson. San Antonio cashed in, sweeping them in a four-game sweep. Finally, they faced a Utah Jazz team that appeared to be championship caliber, but still swept them in four games.

Finally, in the NBA Finals, the Spurs faced a Knicks team that was severely banged up after their previous series with the Indiana Pacers. Patrick Ewing was absent and the Spurs made quick work of New York, defeating them in five games to secure their first of five titles.

4 2013 Miami Heat

The ‘Big Three’ faced a few injury-ridden teams en route to the Finals

2013 was a pretty decent year for the Miami Heat. The team was fresh off their 2012 title featuring the ‘Big Three’ of LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh, and were seeking to repeat. That they ultimately did, securing the 2013 title over the Spurs, and they did not have the hardest path to get there.

Thanks to their stacked nature, the Heat made quick work of the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round, who themselves finished the season with a losing record of 38-44. In the second round, they faced a Chicago Bulls team without Derrick Rose, as he tore his right knee meniscus in November and was forced to miss the entire season.

The Heat also made quick work of the Rose-less Bulls, finishing them off in five games. Finally, in the Conference Finals, they had the pleasure of facing an Indiana Pacers team that lacked prime weapon Danny Granger, after he underwent knee surgery on April 4 of that year.

That series would actually go seven games, despite the Heat being the favorites and the Pacers being severely undermanned, but LeBron would go ballistic in Game 7 with 32 points to secure the 99-76 blowout win and trip to the NBA Finals. There, Miami would defeat the Pacers in seven to officially repeat as champions.

5 2017 Golden State Warriors

The Warriors’ path was easy simply due to how stacked they were

There is no doubt that the Golden State Warriors were consistently the most talented and dangerous team in the mid-to-late 2010s. Consisting of the “Splash Brothers” of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, and aided by Draymond Green and Kevin Durant, there was little that any opposing team could do to stop their wrath.

That is precisely why their 2017 run to the Finals appeared “easy.” The Warriors did not catch any bad breaks, other teams caught bad breaks simply because they had to face them. They did have it easy in the first round by facing a 41-41 Portland Trail Blazers team, which they swept in four games.

After that, their path to the Finals increased in difficulty as they were set to face teams that were actually decent. The second round saw them take on the 51-31 Utah Jazz, which the Warriors made quick work of by sweeping them as well.

Then in the Conference Finals, they faced 61-21 Spurs team that had legitimate championship aspirations — the Warriors swept them in four games as well.

Finally, in the NBA Finals, the Warriors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers for the second time, getting revenge on them for the previous year which saw Golden State finish with a historic 73-9 record but still lose to the Cavaliers in seven.

The Warriors defeated the Cavaliers in five games in 2017 to cap off a 16-1 playoff run and their second of four titles in the dynasty era.

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