5 Most unlikely matchups in NBA Finals history

#3 1981 NBA Finals

Photo Credit: AP.

Neither the reigning NBA champions, Magic Johnson's LA Lakers, nor the East champions from 1980, Julius Erving's Philadelphia 76ers, managed to make it to the 1981 NBA Finals.

The Lakers were the third seed of the West, but they fell in the first round of the NBA Playoffs against Moses Malone and the 40-42 Houston Rockets. On the other end, Philly was also the third-seeded team in their conference, with Larry Bird's Boston Celtics leading the conference with a 62-20 record (tied with Philly, but the record against division rivals favored the C's).

Boston and Philadelphia had an all-time great battle in the 1981 Eastern Conference Finals. The Celtics stormed back from a 3-1 deficit to win the series and reach the NBA Finals.

In the West, the Houston Rockets got hot in the NBA Playoffs and Moses Malone guided the team to the NBA Finals, with Calvin Murphy also performing well. The Rockets were the third team in league history to reach the NBA Finals with a losing record and the most recent to do so.

In the championship series, the Boston Celtics won their first title of the 1980s in six games, with Cedric Maxwell winning the Finals MVP award.

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#2 1999 NBA Finals

The Twin Towers were dominant

The lockout-shortened 1998-99 NBA season had several unknowns. Not only was it a 50-game regular season, it was also the first season since Michael Jordan's second retirement from the NBA.

The San Antonio Spurs, in Tim Duncan's sophomore year, led the NBA with a 37-13 record. Duncan and David Robinson guided the team to a great regular season. Even though they had the third-best pre-season odds to win the title, the Spurs' roll through the Western Conference Playoffs was impressive.

They played against Kevin Garnett's Minnesota Timberwolves and then took on an LA Lakers side boasting Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant in its ranks. Finally, they also had to play the deep Portland Trail Blazers. But the Spurs were unfazed and went 11-1 on their way to the NBA Finals across all three ties.

Shocking results occurred in the Eastern Conference as the eighth-seeded New York Knicks put up a historic run to the NBA Finals. The Knicks, led by Patrick Ewing (initially), Latrell Sprewell and Allan Houston, initiated their run with a thrilling 3-2 win over the top-seeded Miami Heat. Houston scored the game-winning shot in the final second.

The Knicks then got hot and swept the Atlanta Hawks in the second round before taking down arch-rival Reggie Miller and his Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Without Ewing, the Knicks fell to the dominant San Antonio Spurs in a five-game NBA Finals series. The Spurs started their long-term dynasty with the 1999 NBA championship, with a dominant 15-2 record in the NBA Playoffs (fifth-highest winning percentage in postseason history).

Tim Duncan won the first of his three Finals MVP trophies in 1999, and the San Antonio Spurs won the first of their five NBA championships.

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#1 2021 NBA Finals

Giannis Antetokounmpo #34 of the Milwaukee Bucks lays up a shot over Deandre Ayton #22 of the Phoenix Suns.

In most of the NBA Finals we've already mentioned in this piece, only one of the teams made an unexpected run to the NBA's biggest stage. However, in the 2021 NBA Finals, neither team was expected to do so when the campaign began.

Still, both the Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks have earned their right to play for the Larry O'Brien trophy. They have displayed consistency throughout the campaign, and both were among the best teams in their respective conferences for the entire season.

Moreover, both sides took down oppositions that were expected to play in the NBA Finals. While the Suns defeated the LA Lakers and LA Clippers, the Bucks eliminated the Brooklyn Nets in the second round.

The 2021 NBA Finals will also have plenty of talent on the court, with arguably two first-ballot Hall-of-Famers in Chris Paul and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Devin Booker could also enter that bracket if he continues to play to his capacity in the regular season and in the postseason, where he is playing for the first time in his career.

It is also a highly interesting and refreshing matchup, as stars on both sides are looking at their greatest chance to win an NBA championship. For the Suns' Chris Paul, this is definitely the biggest series of his 16-year NBA career. On the other hand, the likes of Antetokounmpo and Booker are young stars who should not take their and the Bucks' current position for granted.

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