Latrinsorm
04-12-2014, 02:14 PM
I noticed the other day that Kobe's Lakers got swept by the Mavericks in the 2011 playoffs even though they had home court advantage, and I wondered how common that was. In the past 30 years, there have been 48 total sweeps of best-of-7 series, and 6 have been by the road team.
2011 Mavs over Lakers (http://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/NBA_2011_WCS.html#DAL-LAL)
Circumstances: Lakers missed 30 Bynum games in the regular season, Dallas lost Caron Butler for the year in January. Possibly subtraction by addition and addition by subtraction.
Lowlights: Kobe has 10 assists and 11 turnovers for the series. Yikes. Also Bynum destroys JJ Barea with an elbow, and Phil Jackson goes out on the only playoff sweep of his career.
2003 Nets over Pistons (http://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/NBA_2003_ECF.html#NJN-DET)
Circumstances: Nets missed 20 Kerry Kittles games in the regular season. Detroit's Michael Curry (no relation) was a regular starter and did not play significant playoff minutes, but because he sucked.
Lowlights: Chauncey shoots 27.5% from the field and is still the team's third leading scorer. YIKES. Rick Carlisle gets fired after taking the Pistons to the first Conference Finals since 1991.
2001 Lakers over Spurs (http://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/NBA_2001_WCF.html#LAL-SAS)
Circumstances: This wasn't the postseason Tim Duncan missed, that was 2000. This was the year the Great Derek Fisher was finally promoted to full time starter for the playoffs, and went 15 from 20 from 3 for the series. Kobe was also amazing: 33 points on 51.4% shooting, 7 rebounds, 7 assists per game. It's amazing to wonder how great Kobe could have been if he didn't wilt under the bright lights of the NBA Finals.
Lowlights: Tim Duncan led the Spurs in points, rebounds, assists, blocks, and steals, and threw in an incredible game 2 line of 40 points, 15 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 48 minutes played... but he collapsed in the fourth quarter of that game, with 4 points and 4 turnovers before a petulant 3 point attempt went in as time expired. This choke job performance made it obvious that Robinson carried him in 1999 and he'd never be the main guy on a championship team.
1999 Knicks over Hawks (http://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/NBA_1999_ECS.html#NYK-ATL)
Circumstances: Lockout I - the Phantom Balance Sheet. Closest thing to a major injury was Patrick missing 10 games, which out of a 50 game season could be significant? Mostly they're the Hawks.
Lowlights: Shooting 31.6% from the floor as a team. More turnovers than assists as a team. No Hawk averaged more than 20 points or 3 assists(!!!) per game.
1995 Rockets over Magic (http://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/NBA_1995_finals.html#HOU-ORL)
Circumstances: Underestimating the heart of a champion. The only Finals in this sample. Picking up Clyde Drexler in midseason.
Lowlights: None really stand out. The series was the closest of the sample at 7 points per game, Shaq played well (6.3 assists per game!!), the Rockets were just too good at 40% from 3, Hakeem at 32/11/5/2/2. Nick Anderson missed 4 free throws in the 4th quarter of game 1, but the game went to overtime, there were three more games after that, and Shaq's 7 turnovers in game 1 didn't do them any favors either.
1985 76ers over Bucks (http://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/NBA_1985_ECS.html#PHI-MIL)
Circumstances: No clue. History gets foggy back then.
Lowlights: Letting the Chuckster shoot 66% from the field isn't great, but like above it was more about Philly excellence than Milwaukee collapse. Those scrappy Midwestern teams do alright in the regular season, but come playoff time the aging champions shake off the cobwebs and take them behind the woodshed.
2011 Mavs over Lakers (http://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/NBA_2011_WCS.html#DAL-LAL)
Circumstances: Lakers missed 30 Bynum games in the regular season, Dallas lost Caron Butler for the year in January. Possibly subtraction by addition and addition by subtraction.
Lowlights: Kobe has 10 assists and 11 turnovers for the series. Yikes. Also Bynum destroys JJ Barea with an elbow, and Phil Jackson goes out on the only playoff sweep of his career.
2003 Nets over Pistons (http://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/NBA_2003_ECF.html#NJN-DET)
Circumstances: Nets missed 20 Kerry Kittles games in the regular season. Detroit's Michael Curry (no relation) was a regular starter and did not play significant playoff minutes, but because he sucked.
Lowlights: Chauncey shoots 27.5% from the field and is still the team's third leading scorer. YIKES. Rick Carlisle gets fired after taking the Pistons to the first Conference Finals since 1991.
2001 Lakers over Spurs (http://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/NBA_2001_WCF.html#LAL-SAS)
Circumstances: This wasn't the postseason Tim Duncan missed, that was 2000. This was the year the Great Derek Fisher was finally promoted to full time starter for the playoffs, and went 15 from 20 from 3 for the series. Kobe was also amazing: 33 points on 51.4% shooting, 7 rebounds, 7 assists per game. It's amazing to wonder how great Kobe could have been if he didn't wilt under the bright lights of the NBA Finals.
Lowlights: Tim Duncan led the Spurs in points, rebounds, assists, blocks, and steals, and threw in an incredible game 2 line of 40 points, 15 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 48 minutes played... but he collapsed in the fourth quarter of that game, with 4 points and 4 turnovers before a petulant 3 point attempt went in as time expired. This choke job performance made it obvious that Robinson carried him in 1999 and he'd never be the main guy on a championship team.
1999 Knicks over Hawks (http://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/NBA_1999_ECS.html#NYK-ATL)
Circumstances: Lockout I - the Phantom Balance Sheet. Closest thing to a major injury was Patrick missing 10 games, which out of a 50 game season could be significant? Mostly they're the Hawks.
Lowlights: Shooting 31.6% from the floor as a team. More turnovers than assists as a team. No Hawk averaged more than 20 points or 3 assists(!!!) per game.
1995 Rockets over Magic (http://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/NBA_1995_finals.html#HOU-ORL)
Circumstances: Underestimating the heart of a champion. The only Finals in this sample. Picking up Clyde Drexler in midseason.
Lowlights: None really stand out. The series was the closest of the sample at 7 points per game, Shaq played well (6.3 assists per game!!), the Rockets were just too good at 40% from 3, Hakeem at 32/11/5/2/2. Nick Anderson missed 4 free throws in the 4th quarter of game 1, but the game went to overtime, there were three more games after that, and Shaq's 7 turnovers in game 1 didn't do them any favors either.
1985 76ers over Bucks (http://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/NBA_1985_ECS.html#PHI-MIL)
Circumstances: No clue. History gets foggy back then.
Lowlights: Letting the Chuckster shoot 66% from the field isn't great, but like above it was more about Philly excellence than Milwaukee collapse. Those scrappy Midwestern teams do alright in the regular season, but come playoff time the aging champions shake off the cobwebs and take them behind the woodshed.