Revisiting the GOAT NBA playoffs of the last decade

I’ll start by saying I’m biased. I am a lifelong Mavericks fan. However, anytime I look back on the 2011 playoffs the teams are so much more balanced and a number of teams had a legit chance to win it all.

Below is the bracket and how it played out for those that don’t remember.



Notable 2011 Championship odds to win the Finals

Memphis - 200/1
OKC - 15/1
Magic - 12/1
Mavericks - 12/1
Bulls - 5/1
Spurs - 7/2
Boston - 5/2
Miami - 5/2
Lakers - 9/5

First round notes:

- An 8 seed in Memphis takes down San Antonio. The series marked not only the franchise’s first ever playoff win in a single game, but also a series.

- The other ‘upset’, in terms of seeding, was #5 Atlanta over #4 Orlando, a team that made the Finals two seasons earlier.

- The Memphis series marked the first time that no first round series went to a Game 7 since the current format was introduced. Also, the 2011 Playoffs was the first time since 2007 that only one series went to a Game 7.

Round two notes

- Dallas sweeps title favorites LA, ultimately ending Phil Jackson’s coaching career.

- Memphis shows it wasn’t a fluke by pushing a young OKC team, featuring KD, Harden, Ibaka, Perkins and Russ to seven games.

- The new big three in Miami cruises by the OG non-draft built superteam in 5 games

Conference finals

- The East concludes as most people thought it would, but everyone wanted to believe in D-Rose and Chicago.

- the coming out party for a young OKC team ends short due to the Tall Baller from G dropping 48 points in game 1, including making 24 straight FT’s, and another 40 in an OT win in game 4 where Dallas trailed by 15 points with five minutes remaining.

The Finals

- It was the first time since 2006 that neither the Los Angeles Lakers nor the San Antonio Spurs represented the Western Conference in the Finals and only the second time since 1998, and also the thirteenth consecutive NBA Finals to feature a Western Conference Champion from either the states of California or Texas.

- The Mavs' 15-point comeback in game two was the biggest in an NBA Finals game since the 24-point comeback the Celtics made against the Lakers in Game 4 of the 2008 NBA Finals.

- leading the series 2-1, Lebron and D-Wade decide to make fun of Dirk, who was sick throughout the series with flu symptoms.


Personal note

For the posters who bitch about the wall of text and won’t see this, you’re gay and this is not debatable.

Unlike my above statement, my take on this being one of best NBA playoffs in the modern NBA is debatable. I’m sure T-Bird has blocked this shite out of his memory.
It had it all though, star power everywhere, a major upset, a villain a lot of fans hated in Miami, the emergence of OKC’s stars on the big stage and the last time a team won a title without the big 3 formula.