The NBA championship has mostly ended up in the trophy case of top-seeded teams. In history, 91 teams have reached the NBA Finals as the No. 1 seed, and 52 of them have gone on to win the title. The Oklahoma City Thunder could make it 53 if they win the championship this year.
But lower-seeded teams have stepped up on a few occasions. Let’s take a look at the franchise that won the title against all odds. They came through in the clutch, made history, and became the lowest-seeded team to ever win the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
Lowest-Seeded Team to Ever Win the NBA Finals
In 78 NBA seasons, No. 2 seeds have won far fewer titles than top seeds. Only 16 teams have won the NBA championship after earning the No. 2 seed. That number drops to eight for teams that were seeded third.
Only two teams have managed to win the title after finishing outside the top three seeds. The Indiana Pacers have a chance to become only the second team to win the championship as a No. 4 seed, after the Boston Celtics did it in 1969.
No team has ever won the title as a No. 5, No. 7 or No. 8 seed. Only the Miami Heat (2023) and New York Knicks (1999) have made the NBA Finals as No. 8 seeds.
The Houston Rockets are the only team to win the NBA championship as the No. 6 seed. They finished behind the Spurs, Suns, Jazz, SuperSonics and Lakers in the Western Conference in the 1995–96 season.
The Rockets went 47-35 in the regular season, winning 25 games at home and 22 on the road. They faced the Utah Jazz in the first round of the playoffs. After falling behind 2-1 in the series, Houston rallied to win the next two games and advance with a 3-2 series victory.
June 14, 1995:
The #6 seed Rockets win the 🏆
This Finals… the #4 Pacers can become the lowest-seeded NBA champion in the 30 years! pic.twitter.com/UoI65QB0uu— NBA (@NBA) June 4, 2025
They had an even worse start in the Western Conference semifinals. After dropping three of the first four games against the Phoenix Suns, the Rockets pulled off a comeback, winning the next three to take the series.
In the Western Conference finals, the Rockets won the first two games against the San Antonio Spurs. But the Spurs answered with two wins to even the series. Hakeem Olajuwon, the No. 1 overall pick in the 1984 draft, wasn’t ready to go home. He dropped 42 and 39 points in the next two games to carry Houston to the 1995 NBA Finals.
The No. 1 seed from the East, the Orlando Magic, proved no match for the Rockets. Olajuwon and company swept them 4-0 to defend their title and keep the Larry O’Brien Trophy in Houston.
The Rockets also reached the 1981 NBA Finals as a No. 6 seed but fell short. Fourteen years later, they were back in the same spot — and this time they finished the job.