There are few greater pains for a fanbase when their team should win a championship, but ultimately end up losing. With 76 years of history, the NBA has served up plenty of incredible upsets across its many different finals series. Here are three of the greatest upsets in NBA Finals history since the turn of the century.

Cavaliers Ruin Warriors’ Record-Breaking Season 

Before the 2015-16, the best win/loss record in a NBA regular season was held by the 1996 Chicago Bulls, who went 72-10 that ultimately capped off Michael Jordan’s first three-peat.

That best win/loss record fell twenty seasons later in 2015-16 when the Golden State Warriors strung together an incredible 73-9 regular season. With Steph Curry at the forefront, the Warriors tore through every team in front of them, including a strong challenge by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals.

Having barely broken a sweat on their way to the NBA Finals, the Warriors looked as if they were going to breeze to the NBA title as they quickly went 3-1 up in the championship series. Heading home, it seemed highly likely that the Warriors would finish the Cavs off at Oracle Arena. And the Warriors were expected to romp. At least that’s what NBA experts, ESPN analysts, and NBA oddsmakers were saying at the time. 

As you know that’s not what happened. Far from it. The basketball world was shocked as the Cleveland Cavaliers turned a corner; winning three games in a row and the NBA championship.

The Cavaliers denied the Warriors a perfect end to their record-breaking season, instead LeBron James brought the city of Cleveland their first NBA championship. This may be the biggest upsets in NBA Finals due to the Warriors’ dominance in the regular season and the fact that the Warriors gave up a 3-1 series lead; losing two home games to forfeit the title.

Nowitzki Leads Dallas to 2011 Finals Upset Over Miami 

Rarely has there been a one-man show in the NBA as memorable as that of Dirk Nowitzki in 2011. The last time there was as dominant of a player was Hakeem Olajuwon’s performances during Houston’s repeat run during Michael Jordan’s first retirement.

The Dallas Mavericks’ legend wasn’t just integral in leading his side to the 2011 NBA Final, he was the best player in the entire series. Keep in mind that this is a series that also featured future Hall of Famers LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Jason Kidd and Chris Bosh as they navigated their way past the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder en route to the last hurdle.

No one expected the Mavericks’ winning streak to continue. As they came up against the Miami Heat in the final, Dallas was thoroughly outgunned on paper, with Miami’s Big Three of James, Wade and Bosh expected to lead them to another title. 

The Heat won game one in Dallas and would win game three in Miami. All the pundits and media had the LeBron-led squad winning the series in five or six games. Little did they know that Dallas would go on to win the next three games.

Fast forward six games and the Mavericks had not only pushed the Heat to the brink but out of the NBA Finals 4-2, claiming one of the big NBA Finals upsets in history.

This upset has been reflected upon by several of the Heat players since then. The media loves to place the narrative that the turning point of the series was Nowitzki was bothered by a clip of Wade and LeBron mocking Nowitzki’s illness before game 5. I’m not so sure about that, but whatever happened, Dallas pulled out one of the league’s biggest NBA Finals upsets.

Pistons Shock Dominant Lakers Team in 2004

Heading into the 2004 NBA Finals, the Los Angeles Lakers were the heavy favorites to win the NBA championship over the Detroit Pistons. 

Future Hall of Fame players Karl Malone and Gary Payton joined the Lakers in the offseason after the two perennial all-stars failed to win NBA Championships with the Utah Jazz and Seattle Sonics.

This personnel move saw the Lakers’ lineup swell to boast four superstars, with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal already winning three consecutive NBA championships together in 2000, 2001, and 2002. 

With the addition of Malone and Payton, the Lakers rolled through the Western Conference; losing only five games total leading up to the Finals. The Lakers weren’t seriously challenged; dispatching the Houston Rockets (4-1), San Antonio Spurs (4-2) and the Minnesota Timberwolves (4-2). 

Going into the Finals series, it was really looking like the Big Four of Shaq, Kobe, Malone and Payton would romp to another title trophy over Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton, Ben Wallace, and Rasheed Wallace. Except, they didn’t. Detroit out-classed Los Angeles with hard work and team play, playing a suffocating game that limited their key players. No doubt the Lakers came in overconfident.

The combination of the Pistons’ strong teamwork on both ends of the court and the Lakers’ lack of respect saw one of the first Superteams convincingly lose the championship to the Pistons.