Top 5 greatest playoff runs in NBA history...

What are the top 5 greatest playoff runs in NBA history? A question with truly no right or wrong answer. The NBA playoffs is a place that can boost or ruin how a player is viewed by fans. Throughout the entirety of the NBA postseason certain players have gave us legendary title runs that we will always remember and look back on. So i will share the personal list that i have constructed. Some of the main things i tend to look when making this list are shown in the following bullet points.

• Wether the player won a ring or not
• Individual play/stats
• Competition
• Help (if a certain player led a team to a ring without much talent around him i find that extremely impressive)

                  
                          

                                                          5.) 1993 Michael Jordan:

Michael Jordan's 1993 playoff run can only be described as one thing: pure dominance. And the numbers also suggest that. Every moment of every game would happen on Jordans terms. In the start of the 1993 NBA playoffs the Chicago Bulls had just won the 2 championships prior to that season so fans and analyst were expecting big things from Michael Jordan...and that's exactly what they would receive. Jordan in the 1993 playoffs would put the icing on the cake to cap off his first 3-peat, he would also led the NBA in playoff scoring for the 5th year in a row. Jordan had statistical averages of: 

35.1 PPG | 6.7 REB | 6.0 AST | 2.1 STLs | 0.9 BLKs| 47.5% FG

Jordan also led the NBA playoffs in: VORP, OBPM, BPM, WS/48, WS, OWS. When it comes to teammates MJ did have Scottie Pippen during this run who averaged 20.1 PPG on only 50.4% TS. But when we look at the overall talent that stood with Jordan it was equal to average. Jordan would have the 8th lowest scoring supporting cast for the overall playoffs on any winning finals team (in the shotclock era) Michael and the Bulls would conqueror some eye popping teams these playoff as well.

- In the first round Jordan beat the 43 win Atlanta Hawks. 

- 2nd round beat the 54 win Cleveland cavaliers.

- In the ECF beat a 60 win Knicks team.

- In the NBA finals he beat a 62 win Phoenix Suns team. (Also had Charles Barkley the MVP).

Meaning the average the team Jordan faced in the playoffs that year had a collective win percentage of 66.8%. Which is actually 5th of all time amongst NBA title teams. 

However fans tend to recognize this run for is the damage Jordan was able to do in the NBA Finals. Jordan in the 1993 NBA finals would go on to have the greatest finals performance in NBA history. Jordan would put up box score statistics of:

41.0 PPG (most ever in a finals series) | 8.5 REB | 6.3 AST | 50.8% FG | 1.7 STLs | 40.0% 3PT

                                                               4. 2003 Tim Duncan

Tim Duncan in 2003 was really just a man on a mission. This is the season Duncan just won his 2nd consecutive NBA MVP and had been sent home by the Shaq and Kobe Lakers in the previous playoffs. Coming into these playoffs expectations were high but nothing Duncan couldn't match. In this playoff run Duncan would launch averages of:

24.7 PPG | 15.4 REB | 5.4 AST | 52.9% FG

However, that wasn't enough for Duncan because he also would lead those playoffs in multiple impact metrics such as: OWS, DWS, WS, WS/48, DBPM, VORP. In addition to that Duncan was first in the playoffs in total points, offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds, rebounds, blocks, triple doubles. So just by looking at his individual play we can see Duncan had a performance that most players could never even dream of. 

Duncan in 2003 wasn't surrounded by any All star or All NBA teammates. This season the 2nd leading scorer for the San Antonio Spurs was Tony Parker who averaged 14.7 PPG on just 46.8% TS and had a -2.4 box plus minus. Manu Ginóbili was not yet the All star type player we would soon come to know him as. Despite Manu being an NBA Hall of Famer this was his first year in the NBA. Manu would average a little over 9 PPG on 52.2% TS while not starting in a single game this particular playoffs. The next guy in line David Robinson was in his last season in the NBA before hitting the hay for retirement and he was definitely not playing at the level he once was.

Duncan in the first round would face thePhoenix Suns a 44 win team with two 20 PPG scorers. The following round Duncan would get his revenge on the Shaq and Kobe lakers. Shaq and Kobe both made the All NBA 1st team and both finished top 5 in MVP voting. Kobe would also make All defensive 1st team and Shaq made All defensive 2nd team. Against the Spurs Kobe averaged 33-5-4 on 43% from the field and Shaq averaged 25-14-4 on 55.9% FG. But despite their efforts Duncan would walk out of the series with his head held high just after 6 games were Duncan put 28-12-5 on near 53% field goal shooting. 

Soon after dethroning the Lakers Duncan was faced off with the task of beating the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavericks were a 60-22 win team which was tied for the best record in the NBA and these were there best players:

Steve Nash: All star - All NBA 3rd team - 11th in MVP voting

Dirk Nowitzki: All Star - All NBA 2nd team - 7th in MVP voting

Michael Finley: 19 PPG scorer in regular season average 22 PPG vs Spurs

Tim Duncan would one up his play from the last series and average 28-17-6 along with 3 blocks on 56.9% FG shooting.

And to cap of his this playoff run Duncan would face a 49 win team in the finals led by Jason Kidd who made All NBA 2nd team and All defensive 2nd team. Duncan made sure his dominance wasbeing heard of by putting up 24-17-5 and 5 blocks. To conclude this run in the closeout game Duncan put up 21 points 20 rebounds 10 AST and 8 blocks. And that is still known as one of the greatest NBA finals games ever. 

                                                                                                                              

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                                                       3. 1994 Hakeem Olajuwon 

During the 1994 playoffs  Hakeem Olajuwon was the leader in playoff scoring with 28.9 PPG while also grabbing 11 rebounds, dishing out 4.3 AST, and blocking an average of 4 shots a night. Hakeem led the playoffs in a multitude of impact metrics like DBPM,OWS,WS and VORP.  No other player on the Houston Rockets averaged more than 14 PPG in the playoffs. Winning a championship with no 14 PPG scorer is something players like MJ, LeBron, Magic, Kareem, Kobe have all never accomplished. Houstons 2nd leading scorer Vernon Maxwell would only average 13.8 PPG but would also do so on 37.6% shooting. The 3rd leading scorer averaged 11.7 PPG but he would do that on just 43.4% shooting. Hakeem also had no All star or All NBA teammate by his side. Olajuwon's supporting cast as a whole would only average 59.3 PPG. Thats the 5th lowest scoring supporting cast on a winning finals team in NBA history. 

Despite this inconvenience Olajuwon would take down very noticeable players throughout these playoffs. For instance:

Cylde Drexler (All Star)

Clifford Robinson (All Star)

Kevin Johnson (All Star - All NBA 2nd)

Charles Barkley (All Star - All NBA 2nd - Top 10 in MVP voting)

Karl Malone ( All Star - All NBA 1st - Top 7 in MVP voting)

John Stockton ( All Star - All NBA 1st - AST leader)

Patrick Ewing (All Star - Top 5 in MVP voting)

John Starks (All Star)

Charles Oakley (All Star)

Hakeem would take down a 47 win team, 56 win team, 53 win team, and a 57 win team. So on average the teams Hakeem beat in the playoffs this year had an average win percentage of 64.8%. Ranking 13th all time among NBA title teams. 

When the 1994 NBA finals came crawling around it was in Olajuwon's best interest to completely embarrass Patrick Ewing...and he would succeed in doing just that. 

Ewing in the Regular season: 24.5 PPG 49.6% FG (19 FGA)

Ewing first 3 rounds: 23.1 PPG on 47.4% FG (17.8 FGA)

NBA finals vs Hakeem: 18.9 PPG on 36.3% FG (22.8 FGA)

In this whole playoff run Hakeem would lead the Houston Rockets in all 5 major statistical categories (PTS - AST - REB - STLS-  BLKS). 

                              

                                                        2.) 1997 Michael Jordan

Before the 1997 Playoffs began the Chicago Bulls with Michael Jordan had already won 4 of the last 5 possible championships and they were looking for 1 more. Chicago in the regular season were just 1 win  shy of another 70 win season. In these playoffs Jordan would lead the playoffs in scoring for the 9th time in his career. Overall Jordan would average 31.1 PPG, 7.9 REB, and 4.8 AST on about 46% shooting. 

Jordan would have Scottie Pippen during this title run and Pippen notched a respectable 19 PPG in the playoffs. But Pippen was the only other Bulls player besides Jordan to average more than 8 PPG. The 3rd leading scorer averaged 7.9 PPG on 36% shooting and the 4th leading scorer averaged 7.5 PPG on 40% shooting. This is the playoffs were Jordan would have the 2nd lowest scoring supporting cast for any winning finals team in NBA history since 1954 (for the OVERALL playoffs). But that's not all... til this very day Jordan in 1997 would become the only player in NBA history to lead a team to a championship with only 1 other teammate averaging 10+ PPG (for the playoffs). 

In the 1st round Jordan and the Bulls would sweep the 44 win Washington Bullets. In the Eastern Conference Semifinals the Bulls would face off against a 56 win Atlanta Hawks were they would take care of business in 5 games. Then in the ECF the had the task of beating a 61 win Miami Heat to if they wished to make it to the finals. And the to wrap it all off they would defeat a 64 win Utah Jazz led by legendary duo Karl Malone and John Stockton. So on average the teams Jordan and the Bulls beat during this run had a win percentage of 68.6%...The 2nd highest in NBA history for any winning finals team. 

                                                            1.) 1995 Hakeem Olujuwon

In 1994 Hakeem would win MVP, DPOY, and FMVP so fans were intrigued to see what he would bring next...and the very next season he would supply us with the greatest playoff run in NBA history. In 1995 Hakeem would bump up his playoff number to 33.0 PPG, 10.3 REB, 4.5 AST, 2.8 BLKs on  53.1% FG, and 50% 3PT. Hakeem would have a total of 16 30 point performances in this playoff run which is tied for the most in NBA history. 16 30 point games in a playoff run is something Kobe, LeBron, Shaq, Kareem, Bird, Wilt, etc have all never accomplished. Hakeem in 1995 would have to face all time level competition. In just the vey first round Hakeem faced a 60 win team, in the 2nd round he would defeat a 59 win team, in the WCF faced a 62 win team and defeated a 57 win team in the NBA finals. So the average team Hakeem faced in the playoffs had a win percentage of 72.6%...The highest in NBA history for any title team. Orlando Magic, Spurs, Utah Jazz, Phoenix Suns  had the 4 best records in the NBA..and Hakeem would conquer all of them. Hakeem would also defeat some of the greatest big man in NBA history like Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, David Robinson, and Shaq all in just 1 run.  

The Houston Rockets would overcome all type of odds. Houston was a 47-35 team that was only ranked 6th in their conference and was tied with the Chicago Bulls for the 11th seed in the NBA. In fact no team in the history of the NBA has ever won a ring as the 6th seed (beside the 95 rockets). The Rockets were not favoured in any of the series that they won...not even ONE of them. Every team they faced in the playoffs had at least 10 more regular season wins than they did. Hakeem had a little more help than he did in his last title run as this year he played along side of Cylde Drexler who made all NBA 3rd team and was 14th in MVP voting. 

During the Western Conference semifinals after the first 4 games Houston would find themselves down 3-1. Here were Hakeems numbers in the last 3 games

Game 5: 31 PTS - 16 REB - 3 AST 

Game  6: 30 PTS - 8 REB - 10 AST - 5 BLKs

Game 7: 29 PTS - 11 REB - 4 AST

This is what i think are the greatest run in NBA history....