Suns can become 1st team lower than 3rd seed to win NBA title since 1995 Houston Rockets

The Phoenix Suns are looking to become the first team since the 1994-95 Houston Rockets to capture an NBA title after winning less than 50 games in an 82-game regular season.

The Rockets finished the regular season 47-35 to earn a sixth seed in the Western Conference.

The 1977-78 Washington Bullets won the 1978 championship as a third seed after a 44-38 regular season while the 1978-77 Portland Trail Blazers captured the 1977 title with a 49-33 record.

A third seed, Portland defeated the No. 1 seed Philadelphia 76ers in the first season of the NBA-ABA merger.

The Suns ended this season with a 45-37 record and are a fourth seed. They will open the Western Conference playoffs Sunday against the fifth-seeded Clippers (44-38) at Footprint Center.

With Kevin Durant and Devin Booker leading the way, Phoenix has the third-best odds to win it all on FanDuel Sportsbook at +460.

The Milwaukee Bucks have the best odds at +250 followed by the Boston Celtics at +360.

The Suns, Golden State Warriors (+800), Philadelphia 76ers (+850), Denver Nuggets (+1100) and Los Angeles Lakers (+2000) round out the top seven.

FiveThirtyEight gives the Suns a 3% chance to win an NBA championship, but the 1994-95 Rockets went through four higher seeds to win it all that season.

No NBA champion has been lower than a third seed since. The 2002 Lakers, 2004 Detroit Pistons, 2011 Dallas Mavericks, 2021 Bucks and 2022 Warriors were third seeds. Milwaukee beat the Suns in six games.

The 94-95 Rockets beat the third-seeded Jazz, 3-2, in the best-of-5 first round, took down the second-seeded Suns in seven games and topped the No. 1 seed San Antonio Spurs in six.

The Spurs had the NBA’s best record in 62-20.

Houston then swept the Orlando Magic led by Shaquille O’Neal and Penny Hardaway. The Magic had the best record in the Eastern Conference.

Hakeem Olajuwon was named finals MVP for a second straight year as that was the second of back-to-back championships for the Rockets.

Durant won back-to-back finals (2017-18) in leading Golden State to consecutive championships with Stephen Curry.

Three teams have won it all with under 50 wins, but each came during shortened seasons.

The 2020-21 Bucks won the 2021 NBA championship following a 46-26 season, but that was in a 72-game regular season during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2011-12 Miami Heat took home the 2012 championship with a 46-20 record during a lockout season.

The 1998-99 Spurs won the 1999 title with a 37-13 record as that too was during a lockout season.

Several teams have reached the finals as a fourth seed or lower since the Rockets did it.

More: Suns to honor Al McCoy at halftime of game vs. Los Angeles Clippers Sunday

The Heat were a fifth seed when they lost to the No. 1 seed Lakers in the 2020 finals in the Orlando bubble.

The Cleveland Cavaliers were a fourth seed when they reached the 2018 finals and got swept by the second-seeded Warriors.

The Celtics were a fourth seed when they lost to the No. 1 seed Lakers in the 2010 finals, as were the Mavs in 2006 when they fell to the second-seeded Heat.

The Knicks were an eighth seed that reached the finals before losing to the No. 1 seed Spurs.

Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix Suns can join rare company with NBA championship this year