NBA’s most disappointing teams (Part 2)
The 1973 Boston Celtics performance was not only disappointing, but shocking for many as they had been able to come up with splendid statistics during the regular season, of 68-14. After looking at the record of 68-14, anyone of you would say that these stats are surely of a team that won the title but that wasn’t to be the case.
In the preceding season, the Celtics suffered defeat at the hands of New York Knicks and came into the 1973 season on a mission. They went out in the Conference Finals and after maintaining a brilliant record of 68-14, the team again failed to pass the Conference Finals that turned out to be very disappointing for many in the franchise. This also made new records as the Celtics became the only team to win 68+ games and still couldn’t manage a title win, this record still remains.
The second record that the Celtics established was that they lost both of the Conference Finals to the Knicks despite the fact that they had home court advantage. Though the team failed after putting up great performances, they were able to win the title the very next season and this is the reason that they are still one of the best in the business.
There is much hype about the Heat and the three players Bosh, Wade and LeBron now days. These players that the Heat has been able to add to their squad are among the top 20 players in the NBA. But experts believe that it cannot be compared to the Lakers trio of Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor and Jerry West. The Lakers looked in the best of shape as they faced the Boston Celtics during the 1969-70 Season. Celtics were seen as more of an old team as the players were ageing and coupled with this was the injury prone squad that Boston had. With the motivation and talent of Bill Russell, the Celtics were able to beat the Lakers and won the title. The Lakers were very disappointed as they failed yet again.
But the Lakers learned from their mistakes and eventually won the title in 1972 after they put up a series of extravagant and dominating performances, which saw them finish with statistics of 69-13. This also effectively hindered Baylor’s chances of winning another championship ring.
The 1999 Indiana Pacers team is compared to the current Oklahoma Thunders team. The Bulls won the 1998 Championship, but were knocked out by an ageing Indiana Pacers. The Pacers then lost the Conference Finals three out of the five times. After realizing this, the Indiana Pacers coach decided that it was time that he took matters into his own hands. Experts say that they are one of the most hurt teams as they have been able to make their way into the Conference Finals and the Finals but haven’t been able to win silverware to support the fact.
Anyhow after they reached the Finals during the 1999 season, the media followed the Pacers here and there as they had been training really very hard and reports started to fly that this time the Pacers would win the title. The playoffs were somewhat dominated by them but all the training and the hard work according to the experts didn’t help them during the Finals and they suffered a heart breaking defeat at the hands of New York Knicks. The Pacers were left stunned and shocked as they didn’t know what happened to them as they got themselves knocked out.
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