The Miami Heat are the 2013 NBA champions. The playoffs are simple. The first team to 16 wins takes the Larry O'Brien trophy home. In the Heat's case, they ensured the trophy remained in Miami as they defeated the San Antonio Spurs in a rollercoaster NBA Finals series that went seven games. All that matters is the championship; we know, but just for fun, let's look at all the final records in the 2013 season.
The most interesting records to study are those of the two finalists. The Heat finished with the best record in the regular season, going 66-16 after the conclusion of 82 games. The Spurs weren't too far back as they finished 58-24 in the regular season.
However, it's interesting to look at the Spurs' winning percentage in the postseason. They went 15-5 in the playoffs while the Heat were 16-7. The Spurs won at a higher frequency than the Heat in the playoffs. The Spurs winning percentage was .750, while the Heat's was .700.
Ultimately, this doesn't really mean much, since the Heat won the title, but this shows that the Spurs were truly worthy of a championship having cruised through most of the playoffs. Add the playoff records to their regular season numbers and the Heat finished the entire NBA campaign with the most wins. They went 82-23 in 2013 while the Spurs were 73-29.
Let's look at the other teams that were in the playoffs, but couldn't finish in the finals like the Heat and Spurs
Team |
Regular Season Record |
Playoff Record |
Total Record |
Miami Heat |
66-16 |
16-7 |
82-23 |
San Antonio Spurs |
58-24 |
15-5 |
73-29 |
Memphis Grizzlies |
56-26 |
8-5 |
64-33 |
Oklahoma City Thunder |
60-22 |
5-6 |
65-28 |
New York Knicks |
54-28 |
6-6 |
60-30 |
Indiana Pacers |
49-32 |
11-8 |
60-40 |
Denver Nuggets |
57-25 |
2-4 |
59-29 |
Los Angeles Clippers |
56-26 |
2-4 |
58-30 |
Golden State Warriors |
47-35 |
6-6 |
53-41 |
Brooklyn Nets |
49-33 |
3-4 |
52-37 |
Chicago Bulls |
45-37 |
4-5 |
49-42 |
Atlanta Hawks |
44-38 |
2-4 |
46-41 |
Los Angeles Lakers |
45-37 |
0-4 |
45-41 |
Boston Celtics |
41-40 |
2-4 |
43-44 |
Milwaukee Bucks |
38-44 |
0-4 |
38-48 |