Seeing a team qualified in seventh or eighth position in the playoffs eliminate the first or second in its conference remains a feat that does not happen every day. So having two occurrences in the same season is quite simply unprecedented.
The qualifications of the Heat and the Lakers mark indeed a first in the history of the playoffs because never teams ranked #7 and #8 had passed the first round at the same time.
By eliminating Milwaukee, Miami became the sixth team to drop the #1 seed in the first round after Denver in 1994, New York in 1999, Golden State in 2007, Memphis in 2011 and Philadelphia in 2012.
Same accomplishment for the Lakers, who exit the Grizzlies to become the sixth seventh-ranked team to exit second in the conference (second only to the best of seven games) after Seattle in 1987, Golden State in 1989 and 1991, New York in 1998 and San Antonio in 2010.
Emulate the Knicks in 1999
It is therefore noticeable that each time, these qualifications intersect and never occur in the same year. This time it’s done and as the format of the playoffs has changed, the two finalist teams in 2020 in the “bubble” are also the first two past the “play-in” to win the first round, reminds us ESPN.
As for doing better, it’s a mountain that stands before Los Angeles and Miami because no team qualified in seventh or eighth position for the playoffs has ever won the title and only one has managed to reach the Finals: the Knicks in 1999, beaten by the Spurs of David Robinson and Tim Duncan.
