8 > 1

As I've mentioned previous, bigger playoff brackets just mean more upsets.  Playing 82 games in a season simply isn't considered as important as a best of seven series, and therefore we place the middle of the road teams on the same level as the top teams to begin the postseason.  It isn't something I agree with, but it is what it is.

In any event, tonight there was the rare upset where the #8 seed knocks off the #1 seed in the first round.  The Philadelphia 76ers took down the Chicago Bulls in six games.  People will point to the fact that Chicago was missing their best player who went down with an injury earlier in the series.  However, while the individual as gradually become as important as team play in the NBA, if a team can no longer play near the level were at without one player, then they probably deserve to lose a series.

This was only the second time the #8 has upset the #1 in the Eastern Conference, and the first time since the first round of the playoffs has gone to a best of seven.  Two other teams, both in the Western Conference, have performed these upsets in a best of seven first round.  Last year, the Memphis Grizzlies upset the San Antonio Spurs in the first round.  In 2007, the Golden State Warriors pulled off an upset of Dallas Mavericks in one of the biggest upsets in NBA history.

Prior to the best of seven first round, the New York Knicks accomplished the feat in 1999, and the first ever #8 upset over a #1 came in 1994 when the Denver Nuggets took out the heavily favored Seattle Supersonics.

Winning Percentage of Opposing #1 Seed:

1. Dallas Mavericks (.817) upset by the Golden State Warriors in 2007
2. Seattle Supersonics (.768) upset by the Denver Nuggets  in 1994
3. Chicago Bulls (.758) upset by the Philadelphia 76ers in 2012
4. San Antonio Spurs (.744) upset by the Memphis Grizzlies in 2011
5. Miami Heat (.660) upset by the New York Knicks in 1999

So how does this play out for the 76ers?  Well in three of the four previous occurrences, the underdog was knocked out in the next round.  However, the previous time it occurred in the Eastern Conference, the New York Knicks rode a wave in 1999 all the way to the NBA Finals before being eliminated in five games by the San Antonio Spurs.  The 76ers begin their second round against the Boston Celtics Saturday afternoon.