The Heat have taken the road less traveled by this postseason.
There aren't many teams that can say they reached the NBA Finals by knocking off the No. 1 and 2 seeds in their conference. Fewer still can say they did it playing from as low as Miami's No. 8 seeding.
Yet the Heat now find themselves four games away from the franchise's fourth — and most improbable — championship. The only thing standing between them and a title is a Denver team that finished the season as the top team in the Western Conference with a perennial MVP leading the charge.
Miami's run to the NBA Finals has been nothing short of historic. A win would be even more so.
MORE: Three reasons why the Heat will win the NBA Finals
Where does this Heat team rank in the history of the league? Here's what you need to know.
Lowest seed to win NBA Finals
Back in 1995, the sixth-seeded Houston Rockets took down the Eastern Conference's No. 1 team, the Orlando Magic. In that series, future "Inside the NBA" analyst teammates Kenny Smith (then of Houston) and Shaquille O'Neal (then of Orlando) matched up in what proved to be a swift four-game sweep by the Rockets. No other team below a No. 4 seed has won the NBA Finals.
The Rockets didn't face an easy road on the way to the Finals. Houston had to eliminate the No. 3 Jazz, No. 2 Suns and then the No. 1 Spurs to have the chance to win its second straight title.
The 1969 Celtics might be the closest comparison to Miami's run. In 1969, there were only 14 total teams, with eight total reaching the postseason. Boston reached as a No. 4 seed — the lowest seed in its conference. The Celtics proceeded to eliminate the No. 2 76ers followed by the No. 3 Knicks to reach the NBA Finals, where they beat the No. 1 Lakers.
Has an 8 seed ever made the NBA Finals?
Only one No. 8 seed has reached the NBA Finals. In 1999, the Knicks emerged from a lockout-shortened season with a 27-23 record and earned the eighth spot in the playoffs. From there, New York took down No. 1 Miami, No. 4 Atlanta and No. 2 Indiana to reach the NBA Finals.
The Cinderella story came to a close there, however. The Spurs, who had the best record in the league that year, flattened New York in five games to win the franchise's first title. Gregg Popovich, the coach of that team, would go on to win four more titles in San Antonio.
First 8 seed to make NBA Finals
Those 1999 Knicks were the first No. 8 seed ever to reach the NBA Finals. Prior to the Knicks, only two teams below a No. 5 seed had ever advanced that far: the 1981 Rockets and 1995 Rockets.
Both Rockets squads came in as No. 6 seeds. The 1981 team lost to Boston in six games, while the 1995 team swept the Magic.
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Miami Heat seed 2023
On paper, the 2023 Miami Heat team would appear to be the No. 7 seed in this year's playoffs. They came into the playoffs with the seventh-best record in the Eastern Conference at 44-38, a game behind the Nets and three games up on the Hawks for that eighth spot.
But the new play-in tournament has changed things, and the Heat had to defend their placement. In losing to Atlanta in the first game of the play-in tournament, the Heat watched the Hawks leap them and earn the first play-in wild card. That required Miami to win one more contest to officially reach the playoffs, which it did in defeating Chicago.
How Heat compare to 1995 Rockets, 1999 Knicks
All three teams have faced difficult roads to reach the NBA Finals. The average opponent seed for Miami this year is 2.7, while it was 2.3 for the Knicks and 2.0 for the Rockets.
The Rockets went to five games (in a five-game series) with the Jazz, seven with the Suns and six with the Spurs. The Knicks went five (in five) with the Heat, swept the Hawks in four and then knocked out the Pacers in six. The Heat knocked out the Bucks in five, the Knicks in six and the Celtics in seven. The Rockets were pushed to a full series twice, but both the Knicks and Heat only went to a winner-take-all-game once.
Unlike the other two, however, the Heat appeared by at least one notable metric to be in over their heads in the playoffs. Here's how each team ranked in their respective season according to Basketball Reference's Offensive Rating, Defensive Rating and Net Rating:
| Team | Offensive | Defensive | Net |
| 1995 Rockets | 109.7 (7/27) | 107.4 (12/27) | +2.2 (11/27) |
| 1999 Knicks | 98.6 (26/29) | 97.5 (4/29) | +1.2 (14/29) |
| 2023 Heat | 113.0 (25/30) | 113.3 (9/30) | -0.3 (21/30) |
Both the Rockets and Knicks were at least believed to be in the top half of the league in their respective seasons. The Heat's net rating places them 21st in the league.
The other two teams also had better preseason odds to win the title. The Rockets were tied for the second-best odds in their season at +450, the Knicks were tied for fifth at +500 and the Heat came in at eighth with +1600, according to Basketball Reference.
