INTRODUCTION Every year in the early rounds of the playoffs the best teams are matched against teams that barely make it These mismatches provide the opportunity for upsets Usually the better team wins the series but occasionally the underdog pulls off the upset Once the playoffs begin seeding isn't really that important What really matters is that a team plays its best basketball in the playoffs The underdogs may take the series seven games like the 1969 Boston Celtics or they could sweep their opponents as the 2001 Charlotte Hornets did Few experiences in sports are as rewarding as watching players work their hardest to shock the whole world with a huge upset
10 Charlotte's Jamal Mashburn is guarded by Miami's Dan Majerle 2001 CHARLOTTE HORNETS Jamal Mashburn and P J Brown did notjust want to cool off the Miami Heat They wanted to destroy them It was the first round of the 2001 playoffs The two Charlotte Hornets had been traded by Miami during the regular season They felt disrespected They wanted revenge The third-seeded Heat were heavy favorites to beat the sixth-seeded Hornets But Mashburn and Brown had other ideas They knew their team was stronger and more physical They figured they could outmuscle Miami They were right The Hornets dominated the Heat inside Charlotte averaged nine more rebounds per game than Miami and yanked down 36 offensive rebounds in the series The Hornets stung the Heat from the start They blew out Miami by 26 points on the road in each of the first two games of the series When the series moved to Charlotte the Hornets raced to a 26-point lead by halftime of Game 3 They held on to win 94-79 and celebrated one of the most lopsided series defeats in NBA history Three Hornets did most of the damage against Miami Mashburn paced both teams in scoring at nearly 24 points per game Brown led everyone with 27 total rebounds Teammate Baron Davis pitched in by averaging 20 points and 5 assists
COLD HEAT The Heat set a dubious record in losing to the Hornets by scoring just 235 points That was the lowest total in a three-game series in NBA history The previous mark was 239 Miami made just 41 percent of its shots in the series Mashburn made no secret of his joy when it was over I'm not going to lie and say I didn't want to do this the whole series he said I did want to sweep and prove a point The Hornets lost in the second round But Mashburn had mashed Miami
