Unbelievable NBA Finals Runs: Meet the Worst Regular-Season Teams That Shocked the World
4. 1970-71 Baltimore Bullets (42-40; .512)
The story of these Bullets is all about what happened when they faced their nemesis in the Eastern Conference finals. Sure, the Bullets had upended the 47-win Philadelphia 76ers 128-120 in Game 7 of their first-round series, but it was the East finals matchup with the hated Knicks that was the stuff of legends as some publications call it one of the greatest upsets in NBA playoff history. The Knicks had swept the Bullets in the 1969 division semifinals and outlasted them again in the 1970 division semifinals in seven games before going on to win the NBA championship. Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, Bill Bradley and Dave DeBusschere made New York one of the most imposing teams of its time. The Knicks looked to cruise after taking the first two games at home before Baltimore won three of the next four to set up Game 7 at Madison Square Garden. Earl âthe Pearlâ Monroe, who would be traded to the Knicks just months later, had 26 points and the Bullets stunned the hosts 93-91. Not that it mattered, but Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the Milwaukee Bucks took four straight from Baltimore in the Finals.
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