As the Boston Celtics officially seal the 2023-24 NBA Championship for the franchise’s record 18th title, once again surpassing the Los Angeles Lakers for the most championships won by a single team, much has been made of the Boston’s path to the title.
The East, even by its own standards, has been weak this season, and that’s not counting all the injuries to Boston’s playoff counterparts in the East, including the former league MVP. Joel Embiid suffering from various physical problems in the playoffs, Jimmy Butler missing for the Miami Heat due to injury, AND Anunoby be hindered and Julius Randle being out for the Knicks, and so on.
Oh, and the team that made it out of the West, the Dallas Mavericks, was injury-free but wasn’t exactly a powerhouse, finishing the season 50-32 with a +2.1 net rating , the #15 brand in the NBA. This year.
Regardless, after doing some research, the 2023-24 Celtics only had the 20th easiest path to a championship in NBA history, based on opponent’s winning percentage in regular season (58.23%), so it wasn’t the hardest path, but it was. nor is it a complete cakewalk.
The 2022-23 Denver Nuggets, on the other hand, had the fifth-easiest path to a championship ever, with an opponent’s combined regular-season winning percentage of 53.05 percent.
(If you’re really looking for a way to downplay this Celtics title run aside from opponent playoff injuries, you can just say Boston had the fourth-easiest path to a championship in the 2000s.)
Below, see the complete list of the 25 easiest paths to a championship in NBA history, based on the opponent’s combined regular season winning percentage.
Opponents: Royals (42-38) and Lakers (53-27)
Combined regular season winning percentage: 59.38%
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Opponents: Timberwolves (25-25), Lakers (31-19), Blazers (35-15) and Knicks (27-23)
Combined regular season winning percentage: 59.00%
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Opponents: Royals (39-42), Celtics (60-21) and Warriors (44-37)
Combined regular season winning percentage: 58.85%
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Opponents: Suns (36-46), Blazers (42-40), Nuggets (52-30) and Celtics (63-19)
Combined regular season winning percentage: 58.84%
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Opponents: Heat (46-36), Cavaliers (48-34), Pacers (47-35) and Mavericks (50-32)
Combined regular season winning percentage: 58.23%
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Opponents: Knicks (39-43), Sixers (44-38), Pistons (50-32) and Lakers (58-24)
Combined regular season winning percentage: 58.23%
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Opponents: Bucks (38-44), Bulls (45-37), Pacers (49-32) and Spurs (58-24)
Combined regular season winning percentage: 58.10%
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Opponents: Blazers (35-39), Rockets (44-28), Nuggets (46-27) and Heat (44-29)
Combined regular season winning percentage: 57.88%
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Opponents: Bulls (30-52), Hawks (50-32), Bucks (57-25) and Rockets (51-31)
Combined regular season winning percentage: 57.32%
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Opponents: Pistons (33-39) and Celtics (49-23)
Combined regular season winning percentage: 56.94%
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Opponents: Bullets (35-47), Knicks (47-35), Bucks (50-32) and Lakers (54-28)
Combined regular season winning percentagee : 56.71%
Opponents: Olympians (34-32), Royals (41-25) and Knicks (37-29)
Combined regular season winning percentage: 56.57%
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Opponents: Spurs (31-51), Jazz (47-35), Mavericks (53-29) and Pistons (54-28)
Combined regular season winning percentage: 56.40%
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Opponents: Nationals (38-41) and Hawks (51-28)
Combined regular season winning percentage: 56.33%
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Opponents: Braves (46-36), Cavaliers (49-33) and Suns (42-40)
Combined regular season winning percentage: 55.69%
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Opponents: Sixers (40-40) and Lakers (49-31)
Combined regular season winning percentage: 55.63%
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Opponents: Pistons (32-36), Lakers (44-24) and Knicks (36-30)
Combined regular season winning percentage: 55.45%
Opponents: Celtics (36-36) and Pistons (43-29)
Combined regular season winning percentage: 54.86%
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Opponents: Nuggets (37-45), Warriors (42-40), SuperSonics (39-43) and Celtics (59-23)
Combined regular season winning percentage: 53.96%
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Opponents: Warriors (41-41), Lakers (48-34) and Bullets (42-40)
Combined regular season winning percentage: 53.25%
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Opponents: Timberwolves (42-40), Suns (45-37), Lakers (43-39) and Heat (44-38)
Combined regular season winning percentage: 53.05%
NBAE Photos/NBAE/Getty Images
Opponents: Olympians (28-43), Pistons (36-33) and Knicks (47-23)
Combined regular season winning percentage: 52.86%
Opponents: Nationals (38-44) and Pistons (34-38)
Combined regular season winning percentage: 50.00%
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Opponents: Nationals (35-37) and Pistons (37-35)
Combined regular season winning percentage: 50.00%
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Opponents: Nationals (35-37) and Lakers (33-39)
Combined regular season winning percentage: 47.22%