Golden State Warriors

Ranking the Golden State Warriors among past NBA Finals runner-ups

Published Jun. 22, 2016 4:42 p.m. ET

foxsports

After a 73-win campaign and well-deserved consideration for the best team in NBA history, the Golden State Warriors stumbled in the NBA Finals, squandering away a 3-1 series lead to fall to the Cleveland Cavaliers. With the defeat, the Warriors will go down as one of the best teams to lose in the Finals. But where do they rank among past runner-ups? We used WhatIfSports.com's NBA simulation engine to find out, placing the Warriors in a round-robin tournament with the last 25 NBA Finals losers. Every team in the tournament played every other team 51 times. Check out how the Warriors fared:

2015-16 Golden State Warriors vs. Last 25 NBA Finals Runner-Ups
Rank	Team	Win%	PF	PA	Simulate vs. Warriors
1	1994-95 Orlando Magic	69.2%	106.0	99.0	SimMatchup >
2	2015-16 Golden State Warriors	66.5%	103.9	97.4	2016 Runner-Ups
3	2007-08 Los Angeles Lakers	65.8%	102.6	96.2	SimMatchup >
4	1996-97 Utah Jazz	65.5%	99.2	94.3	SimMatchup >
5	2013-14 Miami Heat	64.0%	102.7	97.1	SimMatchup >
6	2012-13 San Antonio Spurs	60.0%	100.9	96.9	SimMatchup >
7	1992-93 Phoenix Suns	59.3%	105.4	102.5	SimMatchup >
8	2010-11 Miami Heat	56.1%	98.5	96.1	SimMatchup >
9	2011-12 Oklahoma City Thunder	53.1%	96.9	96.1	SimMatchup >
10	1995-96 Seattle SuperSonics	52.3%	99.1	98.2	SimMatchup >
11	1997-98 Utah Jazz	52.0%	97.6	97.0	SimMatchup >
12	2009-10 Boston Celtics	51.6%	98.0	96.7	SimMatchup >
13	2008-09 Orlando Magic	50.6%	99.1	98.6	SimMatchup >
14	2005-06 Dallas Mavericks	49.5%	97.4	97.3	SimMatchup >
15	2014-15 Cleveland Cavaliers	48.5%	96.1	96.6	SimMatchup >
16	1991-92 Portland Trail Blazers	48.5%	99.8	100.5	SimMatchup >
17	2000-01 Philadelphia 76ers	47.2%	94.3	95.7	SimMatchup >
18	2003-04 Los Angeles Lakers	46.7%	96.5	97.8	SimMatchup >
19	2004-05 Detroit Pistons	44.2%	90.3	92.7	SimMatchup >
20	1990-91 Los Angeles Lakers	42.3%	99.3	102.3	SimMatchup >
21	2006-07 Cleveland Cavaliers	40.8%	93.7	96.1	SimMatchup >
22	1993-94 New York Knicks	40.5%	96.3	99.1	SimMatchup >
23	2001-02 New Jersey Nets	38.7%	92.2	96.8	SimMatchup >
24	2002-03 New Jersey Nets	37.8%	91.5	96.4	SimMatchup >
25	1999-00 Indiana Pacers	35.6%	96.4	100.9	SimMatchup >
26	1998-99 New York Knicks	13.5%	84.5	99.8	SimMatchup >

It's another runner-up finish for the Warriors, with the 1994-95 Orlando Magic claiming the top spot in the tournament. Shaq and Penny's squad, which was swept by the Houston Rockets in 1995, won 69.2 percent of their matchups and averaged a simulation-best 106.0 points per game. Golden State wasn't far behind, with a 66.5 winning percentage. The Warriors' 103.9 points per game ranked as the third-most, behind the Magic and the 1992-93 Phoenix Suns (105.4 PPG).

Bringing up the rear in the tournament was the 1998-99 New York Knicks. Following the lockout-shortened season, the Knicks became the only No. 8 seed to advance to an NBA Finals, losing to the San Antonio Spurs in five games. In the simulation, the Knicks won just 13.5 percent of the time and were outscored by more than 15 points per game.

For more power rankings, view WhatIfSports.com's simulation of the Cleveland Cavaliers vs. the last 25 NBA champions.