Houston was very famously a 6th seed in '95 and won it but there are a couple caveats. Jordan was on hiatus and the Rockets had the 2nd best player in the league in Hakeem.
That team also had won the title the year before so they had a clue about what it took to succeed. And as far as I remember, that team wasn't a soap opera either.
Maybe a little bit of a soap opera (Maxwell abruptly quit the team). The more I look back at that Houston run, the more impressive it its.
They had Hakeem, but apparently not a dominate Hakeem when compared to his peers (he was still great, but the league was top heavy with big man stars). Ya he was MVP and DPOY the year before, but in '95 he was healthy and only 3rd team All-NBA, 5th in MVP voting (behind 3 other Centers), didn't even make All-D.
Vernon Maxwell, their 3rd leading scorer, averaging the 4th most minutes per game, quit the team one game into the playoffs (arrival of Drexler cut his minutes/role, turned him from starter to 6th man).
1st Round, playing a 60 win Jazz team (with 2 1st Team All-NBA players, and Malone finishing 3rd in MVP), go down 1-2 (best of 5). Win the next 2 to advance.
2nd Round, playing a 59 win Suns team, go down 0-2 and 1-3. Win 3 in a row (with 2 on the road) to advance.
Conference Finals, playing a 62 win Spurs team (with MVP David Robinson). Steal the first 2 on the road, then go and lose the next 2 at home. Momentum is gone right? Win the next 2 to advance (including 21 point blow out in pivotal Game 5 on the road).
Finals, playing 57 win Magic, with MVP runner up Shaq and 1st Team All-NBA Hardaway. Sweep in 4.
They beat the 4 best teams in the NBA that year. Usually a team gets lucky, and somebody else upsets a tough opponent making your path a little easier, or an opponent goes down with an injury, not the case here.
They went up against 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 6th MVP finishers.
I didn't appreciate it at the team, but looking back that run was incredible.