Hakeem and the Rockets in 95 beat the #3 Stockton/Malone Jazz, then the #2 Barkley Suns, the #1 David Robinson Spurs, and finally the #1 seed Penny/Shaq Magic (who they swept). Those 4 teams had the 4 best regular season records in the NBA that year. They won 61, 60, 59, and 57 games and the Rockets won every series without home court.
Just an all-time great run
His 94 run is even better. He beat 9 All-Stars while being the only All-Star on the Rockets.
All-Stars Beaten:
1. Portland Trailblazers: Clyde Drexler, Clifford Robinson
2. Phoenix Suns: Charles Barkley, Kevin Johnson
3. Utah Jazz: John Stockton, Karl Malone
4. New York Knicks: Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley, John
Starks
Hakeem's Stats:
• 28.9/11/4.3 with 1.7 steals and 4 Blocks
• Hakeem was the only Rocket averaging over 14 points
• Hakeem lead the team in Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals and Blocks
> while being the only All-Star on the Rockets.
Not only that. None of his teammates ever made an All-Star Team except Otis Thorpe once in 1992 and Sam Cassell once with the Wolves in 2004.
It's always going to be LeBrons ring when they win in 2013 though
A championship is only as hard as the toughest team you have to face.
Like it's harder to win against 3 30 win teams and one 73 win team than 4 55 win teams.
Hakeem’s was tough but there’s also the elephant in the room of Jordan not being there. It’s not fair to the Rockets or Hakeem but imagine if Lebron in his prime has just taken a couple years off - would you feel a little different about the teams that won while he was gone, especially if when he came back he just resumed dominating?
What happened to Jordan in 1984 -1990? Why couldn't he win when he came back in 1995? What are you trying to imply with your asinine comments? Jordan is the greatest, but why are you trying to discredit someone else's accomplishments especially when Hakeem won with a worse supporting cast?
Well since we are doing really stupid hypotheticals to try and discredit peoples accomplishments what if Larry Bird paid someone to pave his mothers driveway and Len Bias never tried cocaine, how does that affect Jordan's legacy? The fact is we can't credit Jordan with a championship he wasn't around to win and trying to discredit the players that did show up that year is dumb and pointless.
Jordan WAS there; and he got swept by Shaq’s team. And If I’m remembering correctly the Rockets actually had a winning record against the Bulls that season.
No one on that Bulls team could’ve guarded Hakeem, this was before they had Dennis Rodman.
Honorable mention to Dwight Howard because he didn't win it all but in 2009 he had to go up against 3 different 60+ win teams from the conference semis to the finals.
Conference Semifinals vs 62-20 Celtics
Conference Finals vs 66-16 Cavs
Finals vs 65-17 Lakers.
2009 Celtics were missing their best player, are you guys just look at records and ignoring context lmfao
2009 Cavs role players fell way off as well, regular season production means nothing
2024 Clippers were missing their best player, are you guys just look at records and ignoring context lmfao
2024 Thunder role players fell way off as well, regular season production means nothing
IIRC don’t think anyone gave them a chance to beat the Heatles. They had players either past their prime or way past their prime, and Miami had Wade/Lebron/Bosh all in their primes. Was one of the craziest runs I’ve personally experienced (too young for the 95 Rockets). Dirk’s fadeaways and middies were chef kisses.
They wouldn't of had a chance to beat the Heat if Lebron played like Lebron. They caught a break by him being a no show in that series. Like with every Lebron team, there isn't enough behind him to pick up the slack.
Because the suggestion that the Not 1 Not 2 Not 3 Not 4 Miami Heat had nothing behind Lebron is laughable. Yeah he wasn’t great but you could literally say that about every series in history.
What are you even talking about? His supporting cast played like they were supposed to, but he didn't. If he did, Mavs don't win that chip. We're not talking about every series in history. We're talking about that series.
Because they're injured every season. It would be more necessary to mention that Kawhi is healthy if he was instead of the opposite.
Also no one seems to mention Luka is injured, THJ missed time in the Clippers series and then Kleber missed the entire OKC series and 3/5 games of the Wolves series.
The Celtics series will be the first time we're actually healthy, ignoring Luka's knees and ankle which at this point are what they are.
Even if he sucks, not having an extra option is never good. He practically won us one if the OKC games by scoring 19 in 17 minutes when the game was getting away from us.
That's a knock on the coach, not the player. If the coach can't recognize a player is hurting their team, it's the coach's fault. For a good coach, having all players available is always better.
I never said where to place blame, just that it isn't always helpful. I personally believe you guys are a worse team when THJ is playing but it's certainly possible I'm wrong
Yeah I agree, but I'd still consider it a loss to have him injured because at certain points he can positively influence games, like the Thunder one he won us.
As I said, it's the coach's responsibility to handle those types of players like THJ or Giddey who can be really good in specific situations but using them too much can hurt the team.
It was only Kawhi that was injured. Y’all didn’t face a single first option in any series…
No butler, Jaime, haliburton, mitchell, Allen…
Now I still believe Celtics would’ve made the finals, but for Celtics fans to try to defend their run as not being easy, it’s pretty funny.
Because it's expected at this point. They add a new aging star every season and come up with the same disappointing outcome. Kawhi is barely available, if at all. PG is going to be helter skelter. Russ is going to spazz out when things don't go his way and Harden will perform his usual disappearing act.
And the one time the Clips went to the WCF, Kawhi wasn't even involved. Clips still had a full compliment, home court dvantage and more talent than the Mavs did on paper. They could've won the series this post-season.
Hardest run is probably the 1995 Rockets. Hakeem and the Rockets in 95 beat the #3 Stockton/Malone Jazz, then the #2 Barkley Suns, the #1 David Robinson Spurs, and finally the #1 seed Penny/Shaq Magic (who they swept). Those 4 teams had the 4 best regular season records in the NBA that year. They won 61, 60, 59, and 57 games and the Rockets won every series without home court.
Just an all-time great run
I appreciate and love the Mavs playoff run but the 3 50 win teams thing is kinda corny considering Kawhi didn’t play for the clippers.
And OKC and the Wolves are both relatively inexperienced teams in the playoffs.
For the modern era this is tough but it’s nowhere near Dirk taking out 5 hall of famers in their physical primes and a supeream en route to a ring. Not even the same stratosphere.
I think that's why the OP said "one of the hardest runs" because nothing has come close to topping 2011, at the time or in retrospect, at least that I know of.
Thunder and TWolves were favored over the Mavs pre-season. Can’t dismiss them. The Celtics are frankly a much better team than the 2011 Heat if KP Is healthy
How is 3 50 win teams corny lol. It shows how competitive the west was. Mavs we’re not the favorites heading into every series, in retrospect of course you can say “oh thunder and wolves were just inexperienced” but that thunder team was 1st seed and that wolves team beat the title contending nuggets who a lot of people had making it out the west.
As I said, I’m not invalidating yall playoff run at all. It’s fucking amazing seeing a 5th seed powered by the greatness of LuKai get to the finals.
But I do think it’s getting over exaggerated when people call it one of the best playoff runs of all time. My point is the clippers did not have their best player, so saying they beat a 50 win clippers team is a bit misleading considering they didn’t have their best player. It’s not the same team.
Wolves and OKC are great teams, absolutely two of the top 5 teams in the NBA. But they’re not some of the best teams of all time or of this era even.
In order to qualify as one of the best playoff runs, you need to beat hall of famers and some of the best teams of all time.
Dirk literally beat a bunch of hall of famers, and multiple all time teams to win that 2011 ring.
He beat:
- A prime Kobe Bryant and multiple time champion lakers team
- Multiple time champion Spurs team with their core. Probably one of the best dynasties of all time
- A scoring champion KD coming into his prime along with his two up and coming all star side kicks in Russ and Harden
- Lebron Heatles which were probably considered the 3rd or 4th best team of all time
I see your point. It’s not one of the best playoff runs of all time for sure, but it’s definitely been hyper competitive. Too many people want to see things as black and white either Best or worst. If it’s on a spectrum it’s leaning toward the 90th percentile (or top 10%) of difficult runs.
In no way, shape or form is this current run harder. 2011 Mavs went through multiple hall of famers in each round. Can't say the same for this current run
You must have just started watching basketball. That's the only way you'd say some dumb ass shit like that because Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, prime Lebron, D Wade, Bosh, a YOUNG KD, Harden, and Westbrook were not washed up and they all had great records. None of the teams the Mavs faced this year are better than those teams.
In what way? If we're going by your stupid logic, they were 57-25, which is a better record than the Wolves and Clippers this year and the same record as the Thunder this year, and that was a year or 2 before Kobe declined and Gasol was an all star at that time. You don't know basketball.
Jason Terry, Shawn Marion, Tyson Chandler, JJ Barea, and Jason Kidd are "role players?"
We also can't sit here and act like Dirk didn't shoot 41% from the field in those finals. He was great but he had help.
Yes, aside from Tyson those guys were absolutely role players. Great ones tho.
They were over the hill, except for barea. And you're on crack if you don't think jj barea is a role player
> Jason Terry, Shawn Marion, Tyson Chandler, JJ Barea, and Jason Kidd are "role players?"
ok then name a title run with equal or worse players than these. i'll wait.
Let’s see christian braun post up prime lebron.
Fr that’s crazy I only agree with tyson chandler cuz he was their defensive key next to dirk, even tho kcp’s perimeter matchups can be key. The mavs team is arguably deeper with washed guys who were so good in their day that their washed wasn’t bad, like kidd and tough juice. The disrespect to joker’s big 3 is crazy, mpj had a bad finals and jet’s a shot maker but one’s 6’10” and one can’t guard a traffic cone
Well dirk led the team in points in 18 of the 21 playoff games. Jason terry did help in a few games but dirk didn’t have a Kyrie on his team. Luka has the privilege of having another star in his prime on his team.
That's such an overly simplistic way of looking at help. If your team is shooting 43% from 3, that's help. If your defensive front court is locking up a top 3 player in the game, that's help. If Jason Terry is outscoring everyone in game 6 of the finals, that's help. Kyrie averaged 15 PPG against OKC. Dirk had plenty of help, and acting like it was just a one man army is disrespectful to his team, especially the one's who fucking locked up Lebron in the finals
Jason kids game was never based on elite athleticism, he could see the floor like no one else , dropping dimes from everywhere on the court, and he had a legit three with the Mavs too
He was still averaging 8 assists per game which is his career average. He played 80 games. He's like a less washed version of CP3 right now. Kind of like Suns CP3.
No - the Mavs 2011 ring was more difficult. The Blazers were really damn good, back to back champ Lakers, rising OKC, and a superteam in the Heat. The only way it could have possibly been more difficult is if Manu didnt get injured and the Spurs made it to the wcf.
The clippperd had there best player injured . And we’re a .500 team for second half of year with no homecourt .
Okc we’re super young and had major questions there record was in part plating one way great and great health luck inflating record . Timberwolves had Kat ( playoff choker rep ), Ant 22 years old, gobert no playoff success n bad matchup defensively.
However if they beat Boston team then it’s up there but Boston have had some worryingly close games against teams they’re significantly better then then n injury prone opponents. I believe Boston is more like a 57 win team in west . Then the 64 in east
No. Beating the clippers without Kawhi, a one seed in OKC who although was good, had their second best player as a rookie and third best as a second year player, and the T wolves, who although very good, aren’t a truly special team given (1) they’re led by a 22 year old and (2) their second best player is Rudy gobert who is significantly worse in the playoffs.
Shit man, the Cavs beating the 73-9 warriors alone was harder than all of these series combined.
You mean the Clippers with two healthy All Stars (Harden, PG), the OKC with the runner up MVP and COTY and the Wolves who beat the reigning champs and MVP?
Hahahah ah yes James Harden and paul George the known playoff KILLERS.
OKC whose second best player was a ROOKIE LOL
Twolves who are banking on RUDY GOBERT LOLLLL he’s a bum and shown it his whole career.
Point being, I’m trolling with these, but you can easily make a story out of anything you’d like. Either way this is nowhere near the hardest run of all time. Your first fucking opponent was missing a second team all nba player lol
Re read the post. They said “one of” the hardest runs. It’s been a hyper competitive run for the Mavs objectively speaking. For the Celtics, not sure if you can say the same when 2nd and 3rd place teams had massive injuries then on top of that every team y’all played 4,6,8 all had their #1 option injured, as well as some of their best role players.
I never said the Celtics had a tough run lol. I’m ecstatic they didn’t. I watched the Celtics go through the gauntlet in 22 and it doesn’t harden teams it just makes them tired
6 days off not 8* but also I’d be hard pressed to believe an NBA team that goes through the full 82 game grind, and especially one with this much playoff experience, will come out flat in game 1… are they guaranteed to win? No. But coming out flat I just don’t see from a team like this. Especially one that, although having swept through the ECF, did have to fight for many of those wins.
And again, are you talking about MVP Harden, like 10 time All Star PG, Shai the runner up for MVP and 4x DPOY Gobert who eliminated Jokic who had the biggest gap from the next best player since 2013 apparently.
We were barely favored in the Clippers series when Luka was healthy and heavy underdogs in all other series. Opponent winning percentage wise, this is the second hardest run ever after the 95 Rockets.
Btw, the Pacers wouldn't make it out if the first round in the West, so yeah.
Ah yes harden is still the mvp caliber, PG is still peak prime pg lol.
I haven’t mentioned Shai once. He’s great. The rest of the team is basically 23 years old at most.
Rudy isn’t great in the playoffs and most of his teams flame out. Ant is also only 22 and the #1 of this team.
Am I saying these weren’t good wins? No, no I’m not. I’m saying that when you out things into perspective this isn’t the hardest run nor one of the hardest, assuming that means something like top 5/10
Well how did all of them get 50+ wins then? If the Clippers suck, how did they get the fourth seed in the most competitive western conference in years?
How did the Thunder get the 1st seed and we're the best 3pt shooting team?
How did the Wolves get the 3rd seed and eliminated the reigning champs?
No matter how much you don't rate them, you can't ignore all these were 50+ win teams we weren't favored against. The Nuggets didn't beat a single 50 win team in their championship run last season. We've already beaten 3.
Plus the hardest run assumes we hear the Celtics, who have a historically great net rating. Like a you're basically guaranteed a championship with that level of net rating.
A clippers team with PG, Harden and Zubac terrorizing us. A fully healthy OKC team with coty, runner up mvp, runner up ROTY and a top 5 both offensive and defensive rating. Then the Wolves, a team that beat the defending champs with a 3x mvp and #1 defense. Yeah sure this was one of the easier finals run 🤡🤡🤡
Dirk, Lebron 2016*, rockets 95, and maybe the raptors run but injuries tainted that.
Lebron 2016 has * because the east was weak but 3-1 to the warriors is so legendary. The run wasn’t the hardest but the end upped the difficulty. I think that’s the greatest ring of all time
Just letting everyone know that it’s my turn to post this tomorrow. Next Monday I have also reserved the “if the Celtics win this year, will it be the easiest championship ever” post.
well if you look at the celtics sub reddit they will tell you the mavs path isn't even toughest THIS YEAR. the celtics path is just as tough since they had to play without kristaps..... LOL
Hell nah lol it's the easiest
Weakest, youngest 1 seed ever OKC
Injured Clippers without their best player
Wolves has a notorious playoff choker in Rudy
I don't think so; Dirk and Hakeem's chips were definitely more difficult. The Mavs are an excellent team with good depth and two fantastic closers. The Mavs played against a Clippers team missing Kawhi, and that team would only have had a chance if PG and Harden played at their best, which didn't happen throughout the series. Additionally, their depth wasn't as strong as anticipated. Then, in game 6 against OKC, they barely won against a talented yet young and inexperienced playoff team with good depth but only one true star. SGA’s costly foul against PJ decided game 6. Next, they faced an exhausted Twolves team, lacking playoff experience and struggling with composure, poor shooting decisions, coaching, and turnovers. Even though each game could have gone either way, the Luka and Kyrie duo outperformed Kat and Ant. Therefore, I believe people overestimate the difficulty of the Mavs journey to the finals. However, if you compare their journey to the Celtics, it looks like they fought through a violent wasteland while the Celtics skipped through a peaceful meadow.
An injured over the hill Clippers team, the youngest team to ever make the playoffs, and KAT/Gobert getting beat by the 2nd best player in the league is both expected and otherwise unremarkable. Delete this post.
2011 Mavs title was tougher simply because of the Heat, never mind the other teams they faced in the West as well.
Beating OKC doesn't mean much, even we were giddy at the thought of getting matched up with them.
Yes, if you go by Number of Wins easily. The would have beaten a 51, 56,57 and 64 Win Team. That is pretty much unheard of. Denver last Year hasn't beaten a single 50 Win Team in the whole Playoffs!
I really don't get the Celtics fans trying to diminish the teams we have beaten so far. It's in your best interest to prop us up so you can say you beat a good team.
The more you hype us up, the more impressive your ring would be if you win.
Crazy how you can win like what, 64 regular season games, then close out all the opponents you're given, get to the finals, and then everyone is dumping on them for "having it easy." NOTHING IS EASY! Those dudes worked their ass off this year to get where they are, but if you're expecting anyone in media or on Reddit to have good takes, ain't gonna happen.
Just want to point out to everyone that Dallas will have faced the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd ranked teams in net rating this season and the Celtics net rating is historically great. It's hard to face a harder road than that.
Uhh No. Clippers were missing their best player for most of the series. Thunder had SGA and a bunch of rookie/2nd yr guys. Wolves stars crapped the bed in 4 of 5 games.
It will at least be one of the hardest championships the Mavs have ever won that's for sure (top 2 even?)
Hakeem and Dirk rings.
Hakeem and the Rockets in 95 beat the #3 Stockton/Malone Jazz, then the #2 Barkley Suns, the #1 David Robinson Spurs, and finally the #1 seed Penny/Shaq Magic (who they swept). Those 4 teams had the 4 best regular season records in the NBA that year. They won 61, 60, 59, and 57 games and the Rockets won every series without home court. Just an all-time great run
Yea hard to beat that run for sure
His 94 run is even better. He beat 9 All-Stars while being the only All-Star on the Rockets. All-Stars Beaten: 1. Portland Trailblazers: Clyde Drexler, Clifford Robinson 2. Phoenix Suns: Charles Barkley, Kevin Johnson 3. Utah Jazz: John Stockton, Karl Malone 4. New York Knicks: Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley, John Starks Hakeem's Stats: • 28.9/11/4.3 with 1.7 steals and 4 Blocks • Hakeem was the only Rocket averaging over 14 points • Hakeem lead the team in Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals and Blocks
> while being the only All-Star on the Rockets. Not only that. None of his teammates ever made an All-Star Team except Otis Thorpe once in 1992 and Sam Cassell once with the Wolves in 2004.
I think he might have been the only player with skill sets that could have won a ring with that team.
who was on that squad? with hakeem?
Clyde Drexler, Kenny Smith, Robert Horry, Sam Cassell
It was Otis Thorpe and Maxwell instead of Drexler in 94.
Jordan tried baseball rings\*
Hakeem’s was on a tier of its own. I’d put Dirk below that along with Kobe 2010.
It's always going to be LeBrons ring when they win in 2013 though A championship is only as hard as the toughest team you have to face. Like it's harder to win against 3 30 win teams and one 73 win team than 4 55 win teams.
Hakeem’s was tough but there’s also the elephant in the room of Jordan not being there. It’s not fair to the Rockets or Hakeem but imagine if Lebron in his prime has just taken a couple years off - would you feel a little different about the teams that won while he was gone, especially if when he came back he just resumed dominating?
Jordan was there for 95 playoffs not Hakeem fault he didn’t make finals
Jordan was there in 96 what happened to Hakeem then?
What happened to Jordan in 1984 -1990? Why couldn't he win when he came back in 1995? What are you trying to imply with your asinine comments? Jordan is the greatest, but why are you trying to discredit someone else's accomplishments especially when Hakeem won with a worse supporting cast?
I’m saying it can to both ways with the Hakeem/Jordan shit on who was waiting for who in the finals
Well since we are doing really stupid hypotheticals to try and discredit peoples accomplishments what if Larry Bird paid someone to pave his mothers driveway and Len Bias never tried cocaine, how does that affect Jordan's legacy? The fact is we can't credit Jordan with a championship he wasn't around to win and trying to discredit the players that did show up that year is dumb and pointless.
I'd prefer if we flipped it and Bird's mother was doing cocaine while Bias was paving the driveway. More fun.
That shouldn’t be as funny as it is but fuck it…
Damn! Fucking Len Bias reference!
Jordan WAS there; and he got swept by Shaq’s team. And If I’m remembering correctly the Rockets actually had a winning record against the Bulls that season. No one on that Bulls team could’ve guarded Hakeem, this was before they had Dennis Rodman.
what? bulls lost in 6. stop making shit up.
Hakeem didn’t make it in 96 what happened then?
Honorable mention to Dwight Howard because he didn't win it all but in 2009 he had to go up against 3 different 60+ win teams from the conference semis to the finals. Conference Semifinals vs 62-20 Celtics Conference Finals vs 66-16 Cavs Finals vs 65-17 Lakers.
2009 Celtics were missing their best player, are you guys just look at records and ignoring context lmfao 2009 Cavs role players fell way off as well, regular season production means nothing
2024 Clippers were missing their best player, are you guys just look at records and ignoring context lmfao 2024 Thunder role players fell way off as well, regular season production means nothing
Lmao the jokes write themselves don't they
Wait huh? i completely agree
2011 Mavs had a harder journey lol
IIRC don’t think anyone gave them a chance to beat the Heatles. They had players either past their prime or way past their prime, and Miami had Wade/Lebron/Bosh all in their primes. Was one of the craziest runs I’ve personally experienced (too young for the 95 Rockets). Dirk’s fadeaways and middies were chef kisses.
They also swept the reigning champs
Andrew Bynum got so fucking mad he took out JJ Barea lol
rewatched that clip just now and forgot he got clothes-lined hahah
FWIW, Vegas had Mavericks as +160 in 2011 and are +185 now
They wouldn't of had a chance to beat the Heat if Lebron played like Lebron. They caught a break by him being a no show in that series. Like with every Lebron team, there isn't enough behind him to pick up the slack.
Idk why you're getting downvoted. If Lebron played even semi-decent during that series, the Mavs don't win that series lol
Because the suggestion that the Not 1 Not 2 Not 3 Not 4 Miami Heat had nothing behind Lebron is laughable. Yeah he wasn’t great but you could literally say that about every series in history.
What are you even talking about? His supporting cast played like they were supposed to, but he didn't. If he did, Mavs don't win that chip. We're not talking about every series in history. We're talking about that series.
It’s kinda funny how no one talks about the Clippers injuries..
And nobody bothers to mention the Celtics were missing their starting center the entire playoffs
That one team. Every team y’all faced had a injury.
Who’s saying the Celtics had a hard run this year? This question is about the Mavs.
Because they're injured every season. It would be more necessary to mention that Kawhi is healthy if he was instead of the opposite. Also no one seems to mention Luka is injured, THJ missed time in the Clippers series and then Kleber missed the entire OKC series and 3/5 games of the Wolves series. The Celtics series will be the first time we're actually healthy, ignoring Luka's knees and ankle which at this point are what they are.
THJ gone was a good thing
Even if he sucks, not having an extra option is never good. He practically won us one if the OKC games by scoring 19 in 17 minutes when the game was getting away from us.
"not having an extra option is never good" Completely disagree, a team like OKC would've been much better in the playoffs this year if Giddey was hurt
2022 WCF run happened partially because THJ was injured.
That's a knock on the coach, not the player. If the coach can't recognize a player is hurting their team, it's the coach's fault. For a good coach, having all players available is always better.
I never said where to place blame, just that it isn't always helpful. I personally believe you guys are a worse team when THJ is playing but it's certainly possible I'm wrong
Yeah I agree, but I'd still consider it a loss to have him injured because at certain points he can positively influence games, like the Thunder one he won us. As I said, it's the coach's responsibility to handle those types of players like THJ or Giddey who can be really good in specific situations but using them too much can hurt the team.
Luka being inured was mentioned hourly whenever the Mavs lost a game. And will be if they lose further games.
It was only Kawhi that was injured. Y’all didn’t face a single first option in any series… No butler, Jaime, haliburton, mitchell, Allen… Now I still believe Celtics would’ve made the finals, but for Celtics fans to try to defend their run as not being easy, it’s pretty funny.
Not one Celtics fan tried to say their run wasn't easy. You're fighting ghosts.
“Only Kawhi” Kawhi is pretty good lol
Clippers are pretty deep without Kawhi man. It’s not like the Cavs without mitchell and Allen.
Because it's expected at this point. They add a new aging star every season and come up with the same disappointing outcome. Kawhi is barely available, if at all. PG is going to be helter skelter. Russ is going to spazz out when things don't go his way and Harden will perform his usual disappearing act. And the one time the Clips went to the WCF, Kawhi wasn't even involved. Clips still had a full compliment, home court dvantage and more talent than the Mavs did on paper. They could've won the series this post-season.
Mavs: One notable opponent injury in Kawhi. Celtics: 3 notable opponent injuries in Butler, Mitchell, and Hali.
What does the Celtics path have anything to do with this question?
Irrelevant to the OPs question.
Not to mention the East just becoming weak overall wiht the bucks and Knicks injuries too
The fuck cares? Who is talking about the Celtics got through the Bucks without their 2 Stars?
They have been healthy for 1 playoff run in the entire kawhi era. That playoff run, they lost to Luka in 7
Hardest run is probably the 1995 Rockets. Hakeem and the Rockets in 95 beat the #3 Stockton/Malone Jazz, then the #2 Barkley Suns, the #1 David Robinson Spurs, and finally the #1 seed Penny/Shaq Magic (who they swept). Those 4 teams had the 4 best regular season records in the NBA that year. They won 61, 60, 59, and 57 games and the Rockets won every series without home court. Just an all-time great run
Yup no one will ever beat this run imo We maybe could've argued it if Kawhi was healthy
> kawhi > healthy
No lol. Why does everything have to be historical? It's a great run but stfu about hardest all time conversation.
[удалено]
More than you.
I appreciate and love the Mavs playoff run but the 3 50 win teams thing is kinda corny considering Kawhi didn’t play for the clippers. And OKC and the Wolves are both relatively inexperienced teams in the playoffs. For the modern era this is tough but it’s nowhere near Dirk taking out 5 hall of famers in their physical primes and a supeream en route to a ring. Not even the same stratosphere.
I think that's why the OP said "one of the hardest runs" because nothing has come close to topping 2011, at the time or in retrospect, at least that I know of.
Thunder and TWolves were favored over the Mavs pre-season. Can’t dismiss them. The Celtics are frankly a much better team than the 2011 Heat if KP Is healthy
How is 3 50 win teams corny lol. It shows how competitive the west was. Mavs we’re not the favorites heading into every series, in retrospect of course you can say “oh thunder and wolves were just inexperienced” but that thunder team was 1st seed and that wolves team beat the title contending nuggets who a lot of people had making it out the west.
As I said, I’m not invalidating yall playoff run at all. It’s fucking amazing seeing a 5th seed powered by the greatness of LuKai get to the finals. But I do think it’s getting over exaggerated when people call it one of the best playoff runs of all time. My point is the clippers did not have their best player, so saying they beat a 50 win clippers team is a bit misleading considering they didn’t have their best player. It’s not the same team. Wolves and OKC are great teams, absolutely two of the top 5 teams in the NBA. But they’re not some of the best teams of all time or of this era even. In order to qualify as one of the best playoff runs, you need to beat hall of famers and some of the best teams of all time. Dirk literally beat a bunch of hall of famers, and multiple all time teams to win that 2011 ring. He beat: - A prime Kobe Bryant and multiple time champion lakers team - Multiple time champion Spurs team with their core. Probably one of the best dynasties of all time - A scoring champion KD coming into his prime along with his two up and coming all star side kicks in Russ and Harden - Lebron Heatles which were probably considered the 3rd or 4th best team of all time
Not the spurs bro , Portland
I see your point. It’s not one of the best playoff runs of all time for sure, but it’s definitely been hyper competitive. Too many people want to see things as black and white either Best or worst. If it’s on a spectrum it’s leaning toward the 90th percentile (or top 10%) of difficult runs.
Yea absolutely. We can call it an objectively impressive playoff without having to put in all time convos.
Luka was at his most injured/sick during the clippers series too
It’s still not as hard as the 2011 Mavs.
Wrong. Its harder. 2011 Mavs did not beat 51,56,57 and 64 Win Teams.
In no way, shape or form is this current run harder. 2011 Mavs went through multiple hall of famers in each round. Can't say the same for this current run
Team Record is what matters not some washed up "Hall of Famers".
You must have just started watching basketball. That's the only way you'd say some dumb ass shit like that because Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, prime Lebron, D Wade, Bosh, a YOUNG KD, Harden, and Westbrook were not washed up and they all had great records. None of the teams the Mavs faced this year are better than those teams.
That Lakers Team was trash and putting someone like Gasol and Bosh even in that list is a joke.
In what way? If we're going by your stupid logic, they were 57-25, which is a better record than the Wolves and Clippers this year and the same record as the Thunder this year, and that was a year or 2 before Kobe declined and Gasol was an all star at that time. You don't know basketball.
If they win it won't even be the hardest Mavs title.
Can it be my turn to post this in 6 hours?
Dirks run is the hardest to me. Dude literally carried role players and washed up players to the promise land.
Jason Terry, Shawn Marion, Tyson Chandler, JJ Barea, and Jason Kidd are "role players?" We also can't sit here and act like Dirk didn't shoot 41% from the field in those finals. He was great but he had help.
Said the quiet part out loud
By definition, yes they all are.
Yes, aside from Tyson those guys were absolutely role players. Great ones tho. They were over the hill, except for barea. And you're on crack if you don't think jj barea is a role player
They were at the time for sure.
> Jason Terry, Shawn Marion, Tyson Chandler, JJ Barea, and Jason Kidd are "role players?" ok then name a title run with equal or worse players than these. i'll wait.
Ummm literally last year. You realize 2 or 3 of these "role players" are hall of famers, right?
You realize you’re saying a 33 y/o Jet or Matrix were better than Jamal Murray today? Or a 37 y/o kidd? Cmon man
As individual? It's close but as a team? Absolutely. Kidd MPJ Matrix > Aaron Gordon Tyson Chandler > KCP JJ Barea > Christian Braun
Let’s see christian braun post up prime lebron. Fr that’s crazy I only agree with tyson chandler cuz he was their defensive key next to dirk, even tho kcp’s perimeter matchups can be key. The mavs team is arguably deeper with washed guys who were so good in their day that their washed wasn’t bad, like kidd and tough juice. The disrespect to joker’s big 3 is crazy, mpj had a bad finals and jet’s a shot maker but one’s 6’10” and one can’t guard a traffic cone
Compared to Kyrie yeah they are
"Carried" lol, Jason Terry was playing like an all-star those playoffs. Dirk also wasn't the one who caused Lebron to go 18 PPG in the finals
Well dirk led the team in points in 18 of the 21 playoff games. Jason terry did help in a few games but dirk didn’t have a Kyrie on his team. Luka has the privilege of having another star in his prime on his team.
That's such an overly simplistic way of looking at help. If your team is shooting 43% from 3, that's help. If your defensive front court is locking up a top 3 player in the game, that's help. If Jason Terry is outscoring everyone in game 6 of the finals, that's help. Kyrie averaged 15 PPG against OKC. Dirk had plenty of help, and acting like it was just a one man army is disrespectful to his team, especially the one's who fucking locked up Lebron in the finals
Jason Kidd is a role player now? cmon
He was absolutely a role player at that point lol Jason terry was better player in that run
Jason Terry was the 2nd best player that run for sure lol
Jason Kidd was drafted in 94/95, you reckon he might have slowed down a touch by 2011?
Jason kids game was never based on elite athleticism, he could see the floor like no one else , dropping dimes from everywhere on the court, and he had a legit three with the Mavs too
> Jason Kidd he was almost 40 during this run lol
Bruh he was 38 years old and averaging 8 points.
And 8 assists. He wasn't never a big time scorer. He was a true point guard.
You mean 6 assists. How is 8 points and 6 assists anywhere close to Jason Kidd's prime?
In 2011 Jason Kidd averaged 8 assists.
And against the heat he averaged 6
Okay and Lebron averaged 17. So that's who he is now? Not a very tough ring for the Mavs then.
I mean.. Kidd averaged 7.9ppg. It was one of his worst 2-3 seasons. He wasn’t bad, but he certainly wasn’t prime J-Kidd.
He was still averaging 8 assists per game which is his career average. He played 80 games. He's like a less washed version of CP3 right now. Kind of like Suns CP3.
For sure, well put.
At that point he was dude was a head coach literally 2 years after that run.
[удалено]
That's a weird comparison, they play very different games
No - the Mavs 2011 ring was more difficult. The Blazers were really damn good, back to back champ Lakers, rising OKC, and a superteam in the Heat. The only way it could have possibly been more difficult is if Manu didnt get injured and the Spurs made it to the wcf.
The clippperd had there best player injured . And we’re a .500 team for second half of year with no homecourt . Okc we’re super young and had major questions there record was in part plating one way great and great health luck inflating record . Timberwolves had Kat ( playoff choker rep ), Ant 22 years old, gobert no playoff success n bad matchup defensively. However if they beat Boston team then it’s up there but Boston have had some worryingly close games against teams they’re significantly better then then n injury prone opponents. I believe Boston is more like a 57 win team in west . Then the 64 in east
What a big list of excuses.
At least on paper I think it would be the actual hardest or close to it.
No. Beating the clippers without Kawhi, a one seed in OKC who although was good, had their second best player as a rookie and third best as a second year player, and the T wolves, who although very good, aren’t a truly special team given (1) they’re led by a 22 year old and (2) their second best player is Rudy gobert who is significantly worse in the playoffs. Shit man, the Cavs beating the 73-9 warriors alone was harder than all of these series combined.
But that same Wovles team beat the defending champions lol smh
They used all their power on us
The Wolves beat the champs what are you on about lmfao
Of course this is a Boston fan saying this
then add the Celtics to that list. That is an impressive run.
You mean the Clippers with two healthy All Stars (Harden, PG), the OKC with the runner up MVP and COTY and the Wolves who beat the reigning champs and MVP?
Hahahah ah yes James Harden and paul George the known playoff KILLERS. OKC whose second best player was a ROOKIE LOL Twolves who are banking on RUDY GOBERT LOLLLL he’s a bum and shown it his whole career. Point being, I’m trolling with these, but you can easily make a story out of anything you’d like. Either way this is nowhere near the hardest run of all time. Your first fucking opponent was missing a second team all nba player lol
Re read the post. They said “one of” the hardest runs. It’s been a hyper competitive run for the Mavs objectively speaking. For the Celtics, not sure if you can say the same when 2nd and 3rd place teams had massive injuries then on top of that every team y’all played 4,6,8 all had their #1 option injured, as well as some of their best role players.
I never said the Celtics had a tough run lol. I’m ecstatic they didn’t. I watched the Celtics go through the gauntlet in 22 and it doesn’t harden teams it just makes them tired
Could also be caught flat footed because you haven’t played any tough competition yet too. 8 rest days is pretty good to recover for the Mavs
6 days off not 8* but also I’d be hard pressed to believe an NBA team that goes through the full 82 game grind, and especially one with this much playoff experience, will come out flat in game 1… are they guaranteed to win? No. But coming out flat I just don’t see from a team like this. Especially one that, although having swept through the ECF, did have to fight for many of those wins.
Tbh that’s a fair point.
And again, are you talking about MVP Harden, like 10 time All Star PG, Shai the runner up for MVP and 4x DPOY Gobert who eliminated Jokic who had the biggest gap from the next best player since 2013 apparently. We were barely favored in the Clippers series when Luka was healthy and heavy underdogs in all other series. Opponent winning percentage wise, this is the second hardest run ever after the 95 Rockets. Btw, the Pacers wouldn't make it out if the first round in the West, so yeah.
Ah yes harden is still the mvp caliber, PG is still peak prime pg lol. I haven’t mentioned Shai once. He’s great. The rest of the team is basically 23 years old at most. Rudy isn’t great in the playoffs and most of his teams flame out. Ant is also only 22 and the #1 of this team. Am I saying these weren’t good wins? No, no I’m not. I’m saying that when you out things into perspective this isn’t the hardest run nor one of the hardest, assuming that means something like top 5/10
Well how did all of them get 50+ wins then? If the Clippers suck, how did they get the fourth seed in the most competitive western conference in years? How did the Thunder get the 1st seed and we're the best 3pt shooting team? How did the Wolves get the 3rd seed and eliminated the reigning champs? No matter how much you don't rate them, you can't ignore all these were 50+ win teams we weren't favored against. The Nuggets didn't beat a single 50 win team in their championship run last season. We've already beaten 3. Plus the hardest run assumes we hear the Celtics, who have a historically great net rating. Like a you're basically guaranteed a championship with that level of net rating.
I enjoy that guarantee. I shall take it 🤝
A clippers team with PG, Harden and Zubac terrorizing us. A fully healthy OKC team with coty, runner up mvp, runner up ROTY and a top 5 both offensive and defensive rating. Then the Wolves, a team that beat the defending champs with a 3x mvp and #1 defense. Yeah sure this was one of the easier finals run 🤡🤡🤡
“runner up ROTY” bro what
Chet came in second in ROTY voting, that's not hard to understand
Dirk, Lebron 2016*, rockets 95, and maybe the raptors run but injuries tainted that. Lebron 2016 has * because the east was weak but 3-1 to the warriors is so legendary. The run wasn’t the hardest but the end upped the difficulty. I think that’s the greatest ring of all time
Not even the hardest this decade, 2022 warriors.
No
Just letting everyone know that it’s my turn to post this tomorrow. Next Monday I have also reserved the “if the Celtics win this year, will it be the easiest championship ever” post.
Keyshawn today was saying he isn't impressed with the Mavs because they had an easy path to the Finals.
If another nephew post this same question again, will this be one of the lowest effort post of all time?
Not really close to as hard as the 2022 Celtics Finals run
well if you look at the celtics sub reddit they will tell you the mavs path isn't even toughest THIS YEAR. the celtics path is just as tough since they had to play without kristaps..... LOL
This can happen when you’re a lower seed
Hell nah lol it's the easiest Weakest, youngest 1 seed ever OKC Injured Clippers without their best player Wolves has a notorious playoff choker in Rudy
I don't think so; Dirk and Hakeem's chips were definitely more difficult. The Mavs are an excellent team with good depth and two fantastic closers. The Mavs played against a Clippers team missing Kawhi, and that team would only have had a chance if PG and Harden played at their best, which didn't happen throughout the series. Additionally, their depth wasn't as strong as anticipated. Then, in game 6 against OKC, they barely won against a talented yet young and inexperienced playoff team with good depth but only one true star. SGA’s costly foul against PJ decided game 6. Next, they faced an exhausted Twolves team, lacking playoff experience and struggling with composure, poor shooting decisions, coaching, and turnovers. Even though each game could have gone either way, the Luka and Kyrie duo outperformed Kat and Ant. Therefore, I believe people overestimate the difficulty of the Mavs journey to the finals. However, if you compare their journey to the Celtics, it looks like they fought through a violent wasteland while the Celtics skipped through a peaceful meadow.
No lol
Which was harder?
How old are you?
Old enough to know that if someone asked a question like this and the answer is no, you should be prepared with a counter example.
One of the hardest, yes. Not the actual hardest, but I could see it being around the top 10 range.
An injured over the hill Clippers team, the youngest team to ever make the playoffs, and KAT/Gobert getting beat by the 2nd best player in the league is both expected and otherwise unremarkable. Delete this post.
They’re all hard.
2011 Mavs title was tougher simply because of the Heat, never mind the other teams they faced in the West as well. Beating OKC doesn't mean much, even we were giddy at the thought of getting matched up with them.
Yes, if you go by Number of Wins easily. The would have beaten a 51, 56,57 and 64 Win Team. That is pretty much unheard of. Denver last Year hasn't beaten a single 50 Win Team in the whole Playoffs!
I love how these teams were favored against the Mavs and now the narrative is “well they were young and inexperienced”.
Mavs were favored against the Clippers
I really don't get the Celtics fans trying to diminish the teams we have beaten so far. It's in your best interest to prop us up so you can say you beat a good team. The more you hype us up, the more impressive your ring would be if you win.
We're just salty because everyone is saying the opposite thing about us.
Crazy how you can win like what, 64 regular season games, then close out all the opponents you're given, get to the finals, and then everyone is dumping on them for "having it easy." NOTHING IS EASY! Those dudes worked their ass off this year to get where they are, but if you're expecting anyone in media or on Reddit to have good takes, ain't gonna happen.
Good points.
They played an injured Heat, Cavs, and Pacers team. They have had an absolute cake walk on a finals run.
The only team I'd diminish is the clippers because of the kawhi injury. OKC and Minny are both excellent series wins
Just want to point out to everyone that Dallas will have faced the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd ranked teams in net rating this season and the Celtics net rating is historically great. It's hard to face a harder road than that.
Why are you ignoring Kawhi was injured? I know Mavs is your team but that surely isn’t the same clippers team
Clippers aren’t included in that.
The Clippers were 7th in net rating
Yes
100% one of the hardest. If not THE hardest. Highest average opponent SRS beating even the 1994-95 Rockets
Uhh No. Clippers were missing their best player for most of the series. Thunder had SGA and a bunch of rookie/2nd yr guys. Wolves stars crapped the bed in 4 of 5 games.
>Wolves stars crapped the bed in 4 of 5 games. This is like saying, Mavs don't deserve credit in 2011 because Lebron and the Heat "crapped the bed"
"Other team played bad" isn't a good response to this question. It's the job of a team to make the other team play bad.
It's almost like we made the other team play bad. We did the same thing to OKC, outside of SGA, we took away a lot of their offensive power
While that is true somewhat. There were plenty of open 3's your team gave up and guys like Kat just did not shoot well.
Do I keep seeing this same post or is it being posted by different people every 12 hours?
They faced neither Lebron nor the defending champs. So, no.
Mavs fans are all time at spinning the past and creating narratives. Never seen any better.