Year	Team	Opponent	Series	rORTG (RS)	rDRTG (RS)	rNet RTG	ORTG Difference	DRTG Difference	NET Difference
1994	Seattle Supersonics (63-19)	Denver Nuggets (42-40)	2-3	4.8	-4.8	9.6	-8.1	0.7	-8.8
1999	Miami Heat (33-17)	New York Knicks (27-23)	2-3	2.5	-3.3	5.8	-6.9	3.8	-10.7
2007	Dallas Mavericks (67-15)	Golden State Warriors (42-40)	2-4	4.8	-3.3	8.1	-5.6	9.6	-15.2
2011	San Antonio Spurs (61-21)	Memphis Grizzlies (46-36)	2-4	4.5	-1.7	6.2	-9.6	0	-9.6
2012	Chicago Bulls (50-16)	Philadelphia 76ers (35-31)	2-4	2.8	-6.3	9.1	-11.6	-0.6	-11
2023	Milwaukee Bucks (58-24)	Miami Heat (44-38)	1-4	0.6	-2.9	3.5	-1.4	7.1	-8.5
2026 (?)	Detroit Pistons (60-22)	Orlando Magic (45-37)	1-3	2.1	-6.1	8.2	-18.4	-7.7	-10.7

triosway | Heat

407 | 7 hours ago

I don’t know how anything could be worse than the ‘07 Mavericks. 67 wins with the MVP, immediately went down 3-1 against the 8 seed and got blown off the court in Game 6. Imagine if the Thunder had gotten knocked out by the Suns like that

Beetle919 | Hornets

190 | 7 hours ago

28-year-old Dirk in his prime, right after the humiliating finals loss the year prior, the Pistons truly don’t compare.

Big-Banana-3758

83 | 5 hours ago

It’s what makes the Mavs 2011 championship run even more amazing..not many franchises would ever recover from that debacle.

Diamond4Hands4Ever | Warriors

41 | 5 hours ago

All the players on the 2011 team were different except Dirk and Jason Terry. It kind of shows you how fast rosters change but they added a bunch of veterans in the next 4 years that changed their team.

Dude_McGuy0

60 | 6 hours ago

And it happened against a Warriors team with no All Stars on their roster that year. Baron Davis leading scorer during the season with 20.1 ppg but just 44% FGM and 30% 3PM.

Biggest 1st round upset ever imo.

KnotCityDrifter

23 | 5 hours ago

Mavs Warriors was just one of those really bad matchups for the Mavs. They lost all the regular season games that year to the a warrior. Clearly their bogey team. If the Mavs could have avoided them they probably would have made the finals and possibly won.

supalaser | Lakers

19 | 4 hours ago

I mean Don Nelson was coaching the warriors and basically built the team. It’s not as surprising given that context.

I live in Dallas, everyone was nervous before the series even began. It was weird

luchajefe | Mavericks

5 | 3 hours ago

Dr. Frankenelson deconstructing his monster.

tsaidollasign | Warriors

14 | 6 hours ago

IIRC Dallas could have avoided the Warriors too but they sat their players at the end of the season.

we_hella_believe

10 | 4 hours ago

As a Warriors fan (pre Curry), that was our championship.

George_Hill_ | Hornets

4 | 5 hours ago

I still wonder what even happened?

Did Dirk really just have the worst choke job ever, did the Mavericks teammates sell. Or did the Warriors just play the best basketball of their season?

Winter_Win_5531 | Mavericks

43 | 5 hours ago

Don Nelson masterclass. He had the playbook on stopping Dirk bc he wrote the playbook on Dirk

Terrible_Shelter_345

20 | 5 hours ago

I’m a Mavs fan and it absolutely just was a choke job. I’m okay admitting it because Dirk and Jason Terry made up for it in a legendary way 4 years later. It wasn’t just him choking though, the whole team lost the plot and it was a signal Avery Johnson wasn’t up to the task.

The Warriors though were better than the 8th seed probably. The late 2000s like now, the west was a strong conference.

The Warriors were hot going into the playoffs, 16-5 in their last 21 regular season games. They made a good trade for Al Harrington and Stephen Jackson and had they been integrated all year it would’ve been better. A young Monta Ellis was rapidly improving. Jason Richardson missed like 30 games of injury.

MrBlowinLoadz | Rockets

12 | 4 hours ago

The Warriors were coached by Don Nelson who left the Mavericks during the season two years before that playoff matchup. He was also the Mavs GM so he basically knew everything about that organization. Avery Johnson was his choice as his successor as well.

He coached circles around Johnson who panicked at some point and tried out a small ball lineup that still couldn’t get anything done.

bdictjames

12 | 5 hours ago

The Warriors had a great gameplan, with athletic wings. SJax, Monta Ellis, and Baron Davis could shoot from the outside. Monta and Baron could attack the paint.

They also had tall, athletic forwards who were extremely mobile and could guard Dirk Nowitzki, as well as Josh Howard, an All-Star at that time. Al Harrington and Mickael Pietrus were key for that series.

The Mavs didn’t have a “dominant big man” per se, who could post up and take advantage of the lack of frontcourt with the Warriors. MVP Dirk Nowitzki unfortunately met his worst matchup with the Warriors’ players. It was a crazy series to watch, but the Warriors definitely were a difficult matchup for the Mavs.

CurrentRoster

2 | 4 hours ago

dirk and the mavs legitimately played poor but they also just couldn’t beat that damn team

Big-Raspberry-6151 | Mavericks

3 | 5 hours ago

I called that my chemical romance summer. First time feeling genuinely distraught. Idk why but a much worse feeling than the finals lost.

TapersBeTaping

2 | 4 hours ago

I will never forget watching that game live and the camera panning through the arena, the Warriors fans going nuts, and there was ONE. SOLITARY. GUY. in a mavs jersey, unmoving.

PhillyLee3434 | 76ers

1 | 5 hours ago

This will forever be the right answer

southpaw_balboa

1 | 5 hours ago

happy to say i fully jumped on the bandwagon with this series.

pagny77 | Timberwolves

1 | 4 hours ago

Definitely this one cause of how easily beat the warriors were in the next round. Bucks get a pass cause of Heat going all the way to the finals. Then spurs had injuries in 11, same with Bulls. Pistons would be the second most embarrassing but doesnt compare to Dirk

CountFew6186 | Knicks

92 | 7 hours ago

That image of Dikembe Mutombo holding the ball and crying on the ground after beating the Sonics is an all time NBA moment. No other upset compares.

Ajmwuajmwu

28 | 7 hours ago

This was huge for young Rockets fans like me. Houston could not beat the Sonics - they had our number. I remember telling my brother after the nuggets won, that the Rockets were gonna win it all. And they did.

Diamond4Hands4Ever | Warriors

9 | 5 hours ago

You guys had to sweat out a 0-2 with the first two losses at home and a game 7 versus the Suns in the second round. Barkley could never get past the Rockets just like the Rockets always had issues with the Sonics.

xxStayFly81xx | Nets

3 | 5 hours ago

I always found the West in the 80s/90s really interesting. The Jazz couldn’t beat the Blazers. The Blazers couldn’t beat the Rockets. The Rockets couldn’t beat the Sonics.

The Jazz/Sonics were splitting records.
The Jazz/Rockets were splitting records.

It was like a conference wide game of rock, paper scissors.

Eastern_Antelope_832

94 | 7 hours ago

As a Bulls fan, I’m kind of being cheesy by saying they’re off the hook for this loss, but both Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah went down with injuries. I also was shocked to see the Sixers had the 5th best net rating that year. So combine that with the injuries and it’s not all that shocking the Bulls lost.

JayJax_23 | Washington Bullets

30 | 6 hours ago

Yeah I don’t even consider that one as a one seed failure

hehehehahahaha | 76ers

10 | 5 hours ago

Yeah, we took the Celtics next round to 7 too

CurrentRoster

2 | 4 hours ago

they always went to 7

Wolfpac187 | OKC

8 | 5 hours ago

Yeah that’s completely excusable

Tundraaa | CHI

1 | 2 hours ago

Damn, the Sixers really had the 5th best net rating in the NBA that year as an 8th seed.

NIA122553 | Mavericks

65 | 7 hours ago

I really think its gotta be us against Golden State.
Coming off an NBA Finals appearance, had the MVP and the best record in the league, and got demolished. A not-so-fun fact I think about regularly; counting the playoffs the mavericks lost 19 games that year. They were 0-3 against GSW in the regular season and lost the playoff series 2-4, meaning ⁷⁄₁₉ (~37%) of our losses that year to one team.

Fonzie5 | Mavericks

27 | 6 hours ago

It can’t be anything other than us against golden state. Every other one, except maybe the 11 Spurs, either had an injury, a lockout, or just weren’t as good.

Independence527

10 | 5 hours ago

Manu broke his elbow on the last game of the season.

EquivalentUnfair8341

4 | 6 hours ago

I remember the 11 Spurs had the exact same record as the Grizzlies for the past 3 months or so of the regular season. So it wasn’t that big of an upset.

mostredditisawful

7 | 5 hours ago

Yeah, the Spurs stumbled to the playoffs that year. It was weird. They lost 8 of their last 12 games, including a six game losing streak. Very strange for a 61-win, experienced team like the Spurs to do. I remember heading into those playoffs thinking that people were ignoring the end of season collapse that the Spurs clearly had. I didn’t expect the Grizzlies to win, but the Spurs losing wasn’t anything like the Mavs in ‘07.

MTUKNMMT | Spurs

3 | 4 hours ago

Manu broke his arm right before the playoffs too. He played in a gigantic brace

Southern_sky | Spurs

35 | 7 hours ago

That 2011 Spurs series against Memphis went so poorly that it actually got us a temporary reputation as a regular season only team.

Those Grizzlies were a nightmare matchup for us. The front court matchup was ZBo and Marc Gasol against TD on one 1 leg (and not yet leaned out), no ACL having and undersized Dejuan Blair, a ³⁶⁄₃₇ year old Antonio Mcdyess, and a raw Tiago Splitter that couldn’t play more than 3 minutes without pissing off Pop.

Thunderhorse74 | SAS

15 | 6 hours ago

…and Manu’s broken arm. Still, it was a bad loss and a bad season’s end. All relative, sure, but that series felt like the beginning of the end. Except of course, it really was the motivation to get their shit together and get back to the top. Pop had seen enough and really overhauled his system then and the Spurs reinvented themselves. It sort of goes with the territory - they hit a wall and instead of falling off, they break it down eventually.

Uncle_Freddy | SAS

2 | 5 hours ago

Was the org’s wake up call that we needed to build our identity around defense still, was the first time in Duncan’s career that the Spurs didn’t have a top-10 defense IIRC

TimothyN | Pelicans

10 | 6 hours ago

If I recall, the Grizzlies were hunting for that match up against you too yeah?

Independence527

2 | 5 hours ago

They definitely were. I think they had the spurs number during the regular season too.

bdictjames

2 | 5 hours ago

Spurs also didn’t have Manu Ginobili. If Manu was healthy, it would have been a different series.

Malemansam | Spurs

3 | 4 hours ago

We did have him. He played with a broken arm in a compression or ratchet sling against the the young grindhouse team. He even still kicked ass 20ppg with their physicality with one arm useless all things considered.

He was the head of the offence that year and it obviously affected us greatly because he couldn’t play make and get to his spots to do that.

bdictjames

2 | 4 hours ago

Sorry, from what I remember, he missed a few games of that series, correct? And he was nowhere near 100%.

Yeah, tough to watch Z-Bo bully our bigs that year - Tim, McDyess (I think), Blair, whoever lol.

Malemansam | Spurs

1 | 4 hours ago

Yeah game 1 he missed. I still don’t know how he was allowed to play with that on, they must’ve been pumping him with painkillers* even with a small fracture that woulda hurt like hell with every hit.

edit*: i cant remember the name of the painkillers athletes used to use. lol

Global-Respect7310

18 | 7 hours ago

Damn I forgot how good those Grizzlies - Spurs matchups were in the early 2010s. Grizzlies would just grind down their opponents with great physical defense led by Tony Allen

holyrolodex | Lakers

3 | 4 hours ago

Grit and Grind. Fun teams

MTUKNMMT | Spurs

1 | 4 hours ago

I think we only met twice. It was good once and then we swept them in the WCF in 13.

CorrectNetwork3096 | Slovenia

3 | 3 hours ago

https://imgur.com/a/xew6SyP

My favorite pic I got from that time - This is from Jan 2013!

siurian477 | Spurs

1 | 3 hours ago

Couple of first round matchups in 2016 and 2017 iirc both won by the Spurs

MTUKNMMT | Spurs

1 | 3 hours ago

I have zero memory of this. Zero. Which is crazy. Our 3rd to most recent playoff series win is Memphis.

the_methven_sound | Bucks

16 | 7 hours ago

Another point for Miami’s win over the Bucks - the Heat went to the finals. Yes, it was disappointing that the Bucks lost, but the Heat were no joke.

AimToJump | Bucks

6 | 5 hours ago

Celtics losing to the Heat in ECF is worse than the bucks in my biased opinion

trsansone | Heat

0 | 4 hours ago

You woulda been right if they just rolled over and died after going down 3-0, but those fuckers fought like hell. Milwaukee going out in 5, regardless of Jimmy Butler leaving his body in game 4 & 5, is a worse look imo.

AimToJump | Bucks

2 | 4 hours ago

Giannis didn’t play 2nd half G1, bucks won G2 w/o Giannis, bucks lost G3 w/o Giannis, bucks lose G4 with injured Giannis, bucks lose G5 on some crazy butler shit (with injured Giannis). Celtics were full strength and were incredibly lucky to win G6.

The Heat punched the bucks in the mouth and Giannis was hurt. Celtics should’ve been prepared for the zombie heat and were healthy.

Obi_Wan_KeBogi | Kings

18 | 7 hours ago

Idk if disappointing is the right word but this will be the most forgettable “upset” assuming Magic win because it really doesn’t feel like an upset.

This series feels like a 4 v 5 series because thats honestly what it should have been.

Like I remember how much fun the We Believe Warriors vs Mavs games were or the Grit n Grind Grizzlies beating on the Spurs because it was crazy seeing a clearly weaker team beating on a contender. I don’t feel that with this series at all.

youAtExample

5 | 7 hours ago

I don’t follow the pistons but how did they get the #1 seed if they should have been 4?

Burgerburgerfred | Nets

10 | 7 hours ago

I think they’re saying they aren’t talented like your standard #1’s would be.

In a year without as much tanking they might still be the 1 seed but it would be the type of year where the 1 seed in the conference wins like 53-55 games not 60+.

I could see the seeding argument from the perspective of looking at rosters teams like the Celtics, Knicks and Cavs have better rosters, but at the end of the day you earn seeds you don’t just “deserve” them so idk if I would agree with the idea that someone says they “should have” been a middle seed.

Obi_Wan_KeBogi | Kings

7 | 7 hours ago

They played super hard and clearly cared about being the #1 seed. Not trying to take anything away from them all I mean is if we’re judging rosters on paper they probably would slot somewhere around ⁴⁄₅ similar to the Magic so its not all that surprising the results we’re seeing.

drygnfyre | Lakers

2 | 5 hours ago

Because they literally won more regular season games than anyone else. But in the regular season, you don’t play a series. So you can get by with an off night. In a series, you can’t. The longer a series goes, the more the flaws come out.

Last year’s MLB playoffs were a good example of this. The Brewers won more games than anyone else in baseball, 97 games. They beat the Dodgers 6-0 in the regular season. But when they meant in the NLCS, the Brewers got swept. Scored four runs total in all four games. Because a lot of their wins came at the expense of bad teams. Once they had to play a really strong team in a long series, they got exposed.

Pistons are in a similar case.

s0da_pressed | 76ers

14 | 7 hours ago

D-Rose 🫠🫠🫠

Diorkingreturnss

13 | 7 hours ago

Bucks and bulls had injuries tbf

Run_SMM

3 | 6 hours ago

Spurs too. Ginobili broke his hand in the last pra so game of regular season

CupCharming4931

4 | 6 hours ago

I agree Detroit is a paper tiger and will likely get eliminated, but remember 03 magic pistons and what good ol t Mac said…

Agitated_Doctor1137 | Heat

5 | 6 hours ago

I watched each of these and while the Sonics-Nuggets series was so memorable, nothing comes close to topping the Warriors upsetting the Mavs. And as a Heat fan, I was of course very happy to see it happen

jared-944 | Supersonics

4 | 6 hours ago

There is the meme with the little domino being used to knock down bigger and bigger dominoes. My galaxy brain take is that there is probably still a team in Seattle if that Nuggets loss doesn’t happen. In addition to being the first it is far and away the one that has resulted in the most disappointment.

nugentismycenter | Pistons

3 | 6 hours ago

Not saying the Pistons will come back and win the series far from it although I believe they will win tonight. You have to atleast wait until they are eliminated before you make this post.

Easy_Money_40 | Cavaliers

2 | 6 hours ago

I still remember Dikembe clinching that basketball on the ground.

crs7117 | SAS

2 | 5 hours ago

Manu broke his arm before the Memphis series

SwizzGod | Lakers

2 | 5 hours ago

While this would be an upset. I’m not too shocked tbh

Moviereference210 | Spurs

2 | 5 hours ago

Manu was playing against the grind house grizz with a literal broken arm. Had a cast on and everything. Context matters

ExpiredDeodorant

2 | 5 hours ago

That Spurs Grizzlies series was unreal

Zach Randolph turned into the Power Forward avatar

JayJax_23 | Washington Bullets

1 | 6 hours ago

07 Mavs were disappointing to me as someone who was a fan of dirk

[deleted]

1 | 6 hours ago

[deleted]

Bomb_Wambsgans | Grizzlies

1 | 6 hours ago

I was there that was the greatest game I’ve ever been been to (close to game 6 or the second rd 3 OT loss to OKC which was a flat out great game). Duncan missed his first two free throws the Forum was going wild I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about it

IcarianWings | Trail Blazers

1 | 6 hours ago

Regular season records don’t matter any more until the end of the season when people are jockeying for specific opponents or scrambling to make the play-in.

We had the Jazz have a really good regular season record for years straight only to exit in the first 2 rounds every time.

Irvsauce | Jazz

2 | 5 hours ago

“Why he say fuck me for?”

IcarianWings | Trail Blazers

2 | 5 hours ago

Lmao I’m sorry. It was just a good example to explain how the importance of regular season success has diminished in recent years. I rooted for y’all in almost every one of those series, I swear!

froggycbl4 | Nets Bandwagon

1 | 5 hours ago

only 7 number one seeds since 1984 seems wrong. I thought there were 2 every year

ShakeZulaOblongata

1 | 5 hours ago

I remember the 2014 Pacers being disappointing. Getting taken to 7 by the 8 seed Hawks.

wcm3631

1 | 5 hours ago

The 7th 1 seed to do what…..?

FormerCollegeDJ | 76ers

1 | 5 hours ago

The most disappointing #1 seed losses were probably 2007 Dallas (coming off an NBA Finals appearance and a strong team for over a half-decade at that point) and 1994 Seattle in that order.

The Bulls’ loss in 2012 can be easily explained by the loss of their top two (or at least two of their top three) players to injuries during the series.

0Taken0

1 | 4 hours ago

I’m not sure anybody is shocked about the pistons. They never came off as a legit team😂. Feels a lot like the kings being the 3rd seed a few years back. They very obviously were not going to be a competitive playoff team

Nuclearsunburn | Heat

1 | 4 hours ago

I would say the Pistons this year are at the very bottom in terms of surprising / disappointing. They felt like the most beatable 1 seed ever going into the playoffs. If anything they’ve overachieved this year.

The 99 Heat were also only 6 games better than those 8 seed Knicks, in a lockout shortened year. Very weird series that goes down in the lore of the Heat-Knicks rivalry.

sliceoflife09 | Rockets

1 | 4 hours ago

Dallas was the worst. In the regular season only one team beat them 2+ times (The GS Warriors). They were that dominant and Baron Davis had everyone lifting up their shirt to celebrate and - 1’s

CurrentRoster

1 | 4 hours ago

a lot of people are pointing out injuries but i feel like a 1 seed should still be able to pull it off against an 8 seed team tho right? or at least pointing to injuries kinda diminished that the lower seeded team pulled off tough wins on the road

Deep_Explanation9962 | Nuggets

1 | 4 hours ago

Interesting that none of these went to 7 games. I guess the way to pull an upset is to hit hard and fast, so the higher seed doesnt have as much time to adapt

Nightstick11 | Spurs

1 | 4 hours ago

2007 Mavericks and it’s not even close.

pintvricchio | SAS

1 | 3 hours ago

Damn 2011 was so bad to watch. We had Matt Bonner taking game winners out there.

dizzymidget44 | Pistons

1 | 3 hours ago

Spurs. Mavs and sonics won more games. Mavs had the MVP.

theb3arjevv | PHI

1 | 3 hours ago

The only shocking thing about this Detroit team losing in round one is that they’re losing to the Magic.

A huge number of people saw this coming. If you’re gonna have only one scoring threat on a contender, it had better be a true all timer. Cade is good, maybe great, but he is nowhere near being an all timer.

And no, this doesn’t mean that it was dumb to stand pat at the deadline. It’s better to risk it with what you have than it is to risk it with a choice of unsatisfactory options. They didn’t have the right move available to them. It was correct to roll the dice and show patience.

Nby333

1 | 2 hours ago

Net difference of 11 points is only like 1 standard deviation.

eyeronik1 | San Francisco Warriors

1 | 33 minutes ago

They were trying to get the Warriors due to their record. Huge blunder.

d12fsu | Magic

0 | 6 hours ago

This shit ain’t over. Franz is out. Detroit is still a good team and the Magic have had ice cold stretches in each of the last 3 games

kwunyinli

0 | 3 hours ago

Isn’t this just a sign of parity in the league?

Most Disappointing #1 Seed Upsets