As the heavily favored Oklahoma City Thunder and underdog Indiana Pacers continue battling in the NBA Finals, there’s no better time than now to take a look back at some of the most dominant teams in the league that couldn’t quite finish the job.
Top 10 Most Dominant Teams in NBA History To Lose in the Finals
10) 2000 Indiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers won 56 games with a very well-built roster and came into the 2000 playoffs extremely feared as the Eastern Conference’s top seed.
The wing duo of Jalen Rose, who was awarded the Most Improved Player award after leading the team with 18.2 points per game, and All-Star Reggie Miller, who averaged 18.1, was a problem for opposing defenses. The conductor of the show was point guard Mark Jackson, who finished his career sixth all-time in career assists.
Down low, 7’4″ center Rik Smits held it down while power forward Dale Davis, the team’s other All-Star selection, rounded out Indiana’s lineup.
The Pacers eked out a 3-2 first-round series victory over the Milwaukee Bucks before taking care of the Allen Iverson-led Philadelphia 76ers and talented New York Knicks in the second and conference final rounds, respectively.
In the NBA Finals, they were met by the Los Angeles Lakers, headlined by the superstar duo of Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. Though they took down the Lakers in Games 3 and 5, the Pacers proved to be just another slight bump in the road for the dynasty that went on to win three consecutive championships.
9) 2011 Miami Heat
The “Heatles,” as they were known — the big three of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh — struggled to fit together during their 9-8 start to the season. But they rebounded and finished the season on a 49-16 run, finishing with 58 wins and sky-high expectations of delivering the first of many championships to the Miami Heat.
Miami breezed through the playoffs, winning each of its first three series over the 76ers, Boston Celtics, and Chicago Bulls in five games. That set up a meeting with the Dallas Mavericks, who had put together a surprising run through the Western Conference but entered as underdogs in the series.
While Game 1 went to the Heat in Miami rather handily, the next three games were all decided by one possession. Thanks to Dirk Nowitzki’s heroics, the Mavericks came out on top in two of those and pulled out a pivotal Game 5 at home.
Dallas finished the series in Game 6 in front of the Heat crowd, stunning Miami and the entire league alike. It wasn’t meant to be in 2011 for this dominant Heat squad, though they did win it all the next two seasons, further proving how great they were.
8) 2015 Cleveland Cavaliers
Another James-led team lands here in a very similar situation. The 2014-15 season was his first back with the Cleveland Cavaliers after a four-year absence. Alongside him were All-Stars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love.
Cleveland got off to a very slow start, winning just 19 of its first 39 games before ripping off a 34-9 finish to the season and heading into the 2015 playoffs as the championship favorites, thanks to their big three and a solid supporting cast of J.R. Smith, Tristan Thompson, and Timofey Mozgov.
The Cavaliers faced no trouble in the first three rounds of the postseason, going 12-2 against the likes of the Celtics, Bulls, and 60-win Atlanta Hawks (who they swept in the Eastern Conference Finals).
Waiting for the Cavaliers in the finals were the young Golden State Warriors, who had won 67 regular-season games, yet weren’t viewed as the overwhelming favorite. Early in the series, that looked to be the right sentiment, as Cleveland took a 2-1 series lead ahead of Game 4 at home.
Then, the tables turned. The Warriors won the next four games by a combined 42 points and the first of their four titles this century. The Cavaliers would get their revenge, though.
7) 1985 Boston Celtics
Rolling out a team that featured four future Hall of Famers in Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, and Dennis Johnson, the defending champion ’85 Celtics rolled through the regular season with a 63-19 record.
Just how talented they were can be shown by a two-week span in early March when McHale broke Bird’s single-game scoring record with a 56-point effort against the Detroit Pistons. Nine days later, Bird reclaimed that record by putting up a career-high 60 points on the road against the Hawks, amazing members of Atlanta’s bench in what became one of the more memorable moments of Bird’s career.
The positive moments continued into the playoffs, as the Celtics went 11-4 in advancing to the NBA Finals and matching up with the Lakers — a rematch from the season prior in which Boston won in a hard-fought seven-game series.
Unfortunately for the Celtics, the result was different this time. After a 34-point Game 1 victory, Boston proceeded to lose the next two games before taking Game 4 on the road. That was all they could muster, as Magic Johnson, James Worthy, and Finals MVP Kareem Abdul-Jabbar proved too much the second time around.
6) 1996 Seattle Supersonics
With the All-Star duo of point guard Gary Payton, who also won Defensive Player of the Year, and power forward Shawn Kemp, the Seattle Supersonics took the Western Conference by storm in leaping out to a 64-18 regular-season record and the No. 1 seed. They were especially impressive post-All-Star break, winning 30 of their final 36 games.
Seattle had no problem defeating the Sacramento Kings and defending champion Houston Rockets in the first and second rounds, respectively, before matching up against the vaunted Utah Jazz featuring their own duo of John Stockton and Karl Malone.
Seattle won the first two games at home before taking Game 4 as well, putting them up 3-1 in the best-of-seven series. To their credit, the Jazz fought back but couldn’t finish off the comeback on the road in Game 7, falling by four.
That vaulted the Supersonics to their first NBA Finals appearance since 1979, set to take on Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and the Bulls. Seattle looked completely outmatched in the first three games, falling behind 0-3 and a potential sweep in front of them.
Then, Payton switched onto Jordan and held him to a combined 17 of 41 (41.4%) shooting from the field, spearheading two Seattle victories and placing fear into the Bulls. In the end, though, Chicago closed it out on their home floor in Chicago, making the Supersonics another all-time great team that couldn’t get past Jordan and the Bulls.
5) 1998 Utah Jazz
It didn’t look great for the ’98 Jazz early on, as they began the season 11-7 — though each of those were in future Hall of Famer Stockton’s absence. Fully healthy and with the team gelling around him, Utah finished the season by winning 31 of the final 36 games and knotting 62 wins, tied with the Bulls for the most in the NBA.
Though they stumbled in the first round against the Hakeem Olajuwon-led Rockets, escaping with a decisive Game 5 victory, Utah breezed past the San Antonio Spurs and Lakers.
Michael Jordan closed out the NBA Finals with 45 points against the Jazz! (1998)
45 PTS
1 REB
1 ST
4 STL
43% FG (15/35)
80% FT (12/15) pic.twitter.com/SnLlZINDP0— ThrowbackHoops (@ThrowbackHoops) May 28, 2025
For the second consecutive season, the Jazz and Bulls were to meet in the NBA Finals. After taking the first game of the series, Chicago won three straight and took a commanding 3-1 lead. A two-point Utah victory in Game 5 set up arguably the most memorable moment in NBA history — a Jordan crossover and midrange jumper that put the Bulls up for good in Game 6, sinking Utah once again.
4) 2019 Golden State Warriors
To say that the Warriors were a super team may have been an understatement. Vying for a third consecutive championship, they featured a lineup of 2015 and 2016 MVP Stephen Curry, 2014 MVP Kevin Durant, All-Star Klay Thompson, former Defensive Player of the Year Draymond Green, and four-time All-Star DeMarcus Cousins.
Dealing with injuries and infighting, they pieced their way to a 57-win season and the West’s No. 1 seed. Golden State had some trouble in the first two rounds against the Los Angeles Clippers and Rockets before sweeping the Portland Trail Blazers in the WCF.
They entered the 2019 NBA Finals as heavy favorites over the Toronto Raptors, who had rebounded from a 0-2 deficit in the Eastern Conference Finals against Milwaukee to make a surprise appearance. However, Kawhi Leonard, Toronto’s new addition in the offseason prior, made his presence felt as one of the best players in the world.
Finding themselves down 3-1, Golden State needed all hands on deck — before it all fell apart. Durant, previously battling a calf injury, tore his Achilles in Game 5. Then, Thompson tore his ACL in Game 6, ending all hope of a comeback as the Raptors finished it off in six games.
The ensuing offseason saw Durant ask out and be traded to the Brooklyn Nets, putting an end to his Warriors tenure that featured the only two championships of his career.
3) 1997 Utah Jazz
The season before their ’98 campaign ended with a Game 6 loss to Jordan and the Bulls, the ’97 Jazz had arguably their best team and chance at taking down that vaunted opponent of the 1990s.
Utah posted a 15-game winning streak in the early months of the season, walking into the All-Star break at 33-14. They didn’t look back from there, going 31-4 the rest of the way in finishing with a 64-18 record. Malone, who averaged 27.4 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game, won the league’s MVP award.
In addition, Stockton was named to the All-NBA Third Team after scoring 14.4 points and dishing out 10.5 assists per game. They had set themselves up well for a playoff run, which remained scare-free until the NBA Finals.
As it turned out, Malone’s MVP honor might’ve been the worst thing that happened to the Jazz. Using the extra motivation, Jordan went on to win the series’ MVP award after the Bulls pulled out two straight, closely contested victories in Games 5 and 6 to come away with the title.
If not for Jordan and the Bulls, we may be talking about how Utah began their mini-dynasty — but it wasn’t to be.
2) 2013 San Antonio Spurs
Though the 58-win Spurs finished second in the Western Conference standings behind the young Thunder bunch, they were a highly experienced team that was ahead of the game analytically. They enjoyed a rather brisk jaunt through the West, going 12-2 against the Lakers, Warriors, and Memphis Grizzlies.
The Heat, meanwhile, were coming off a 66-16 regular season and were looking to defend their 2012 title. After a Tony Parker circus bank shot gave the Spurs a Game 1 victory on the road, it was clear that San Antonio had what it took to compete.
After splitting in Miami, they went 2-1 during their three-game homestand from Games 3-5, and looked to be in prime position to win the 2013 title with a five-point lead with just under 30 seconds remaining. Then, the unthinkable happened.
James and Ray Allen hit 3-pointers sandwiched around a Leonard missed free throw, sending the game to overtime in miraculous fashion. The Heat pulled out a three-point win and took that momentum to Game 7 to pull out the title win.
It was a heartbreaking finish for a Spurs squad that was so close to finishing the job. They did so in 2014, taking down nearly the same Miami squad in five games, showing their true greatness.
1) 2016 Golden State Warriors
It should come as no surprise to see the 2016 Warriors in this spot. After all, they finished the regular season with a 73-9 record, the most wins in a single season in NBA history.
Golden State got off to a steaming-hot start to the season, winning the first 24 games and setting the tone for its winning ways the rest of the campaign. Curry went absolutely bananas, nailing an NBA record 402 3-pointers and claiming the MVP.
The first two rounds of the playoffs were no problem despite Curry missing time with injury, as they took care of the Rockets and Trail Blazers in five games each. Trouble occurred in the Western Conference Finals against the Thunder, featuring Durant and All-Star Russell Westbrook. Oklahoma City jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the series, putting the Warriors’ storybook season in jeopardy.
Golden State managed to rally and win in seven games and took that momentum into their Finals series against the Cavaliers, jumping out to a 3-1 lead of their own. But after Green threw an errant elbow at James in Game 4, he was suspended for Game 5 — opening the door for Cleveland. The Warriors went on to lose Games 5 and 6, setting the stage for one of the most anticipated Game 7s in league history.
It didn’t disappoint, going down as an all-time classic. Unfortunately for Golden State, they were on the wrong end of it. They blew a 3-1 series lead and couldn’t quite claim the title after a record-breaking regular season that left them looking tired in the postseason.
Despite that, there were talks all throughout the season about whether or not the Warriors team could beat the ’96 Bulls, widely regarded as the greatest team in sports history. Though that went by the wayside, they’re still hands-down the greatest team in NBA history to fall short in the Finals.
