Based on TENDEX history, Boston poised to join exclusive club of NBA champions
Underdog Dallas Mavericks standing in the way of Celtics
Since 1980, only three teams have won NBA titles with a regular-season TENDEX rating comparable to the Dallas Mavericks, who visit the Boston Celtics in Game One of the finals Thursday night.
The average NBA team has a TENDEX rating of 100. Boston has a 109.8 rating and is nearly a 10-point favorite over Dallas (100.1) on a neutral floor.
Among NBA champions over the last four decades, the 2022-23 Denver Nuggets (102.3), 2020-21 Milwaukee Bucks (102.0) and 1993-94 Houston Rockets (102.8) posted the three lowest regular season TENDEX ratings.
If Dallas pulls off the upset and wins the series, the Mavericks will become the NBA champion with the lowest TENDEX regular season rating during that span.
NBA champions with the best regular-season TENDEX ratings since 1980:
Chicago Bulls (1996-97) 112.4
Chicago Bulls (1995-96) 112.2
Los Angeles Lakers (2009-10) 111.6
Golden State Warriors (2016-17) 111.2
Golden State Warriors (2014-15) 111.2
Chicago Bulls (1991-92) 111.0
Boston Celtics (1985-86) 110.8
Boston Celtics (2007-08) 110.0
To be considered one of the NBA’s greatest teams, according to TENDEX, Boston, which made the final cut by amassing the league’s best regular season record at 64-18 - seven wins better than Oklahoma City and Denver in the West - must defeat Dallas in the championship series.
But having the best regular season TENDEX rating doesn’t always result in a championship.
When these same Mavericks upset Miami in the 2010-11 NBA Finals, Dallas (104.7) was a slight underdog against the Heat (107.1).
Golden State was favored to win the 2018-19 title based on its NBA-best 112.2 TENDEX regular season rating equaling the 1996-97 Chicago Bulls for the second highest team rating during that span. However, Golden State, which sustained injuries to Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson during the championship series that year, was upset by a Toronto squad that posted a 105.5 TENDEX rating during the regular season and was led by Kawhi Leonard.
In an even bigger NBA Finals upset in 2015-16, 73-win Golden State (111.2), following the one game suspension of Draymond Green, blew a 3-1 series lead and lost to the underdog Cleveland Cavaliers (105.7) led by LeBron James and Kyrie Irving.
The NBA’s last dynasty, Golden State appeared in six championship series in seven years, winning four titles, with the last title occurring in 2021-22 against Boston. Golden State (107.2) entered the finals that year as a slight underdog to the Celtics (107.6).
Two years later, the Celtics, favored once again in the finals, are ready to kick the door in.