We’re halfway into the first round of the playoffs, which means fans are tuned in and eager to see if the Goliaths will get taken down. Watching underdogs win is just fun and it makes the high-stakes playoffs more interesting.

The two conferences’ respective top seeds this season, the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers, both got a scare in their opener but have since fired back. The shocking Game 1 losses, however, have helped generate more talk, and have some believing that the eighth seeds have a puncher’s chance.

That’s what separates the NBA from other sports leagues too; first-round upsets are pretty rare so people get really hyped when it does happen. Since it’s not single-elimination like the NFL playoffs or NCAA March Madness, there’s a good sense that it wasn’t a fluke and the better team did win, which makes it even better.

I’ve used this classic quote once before, and I’ll use it again because it’s perfect for this piece (shoutout to Mike Tyson): Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.

Let’s get to the list:

New York Knicks over Miami Heat – 1999

This one has a ton of history. The New York Knicks-Miami Heat playoff battles in the late ‘90s were quite the watch – punches were thrown out of nowhere, players were getting thrown into the ground, coaches were hanging off of someone’s leg, and more.

It’s just the first set of storylines too. The 1999 series was New York and Miami’s third-straight playoff match-up, and they split the previous two years. If that wasn’t enough, the David vs. Goliath narrative was also in play as the Heat were the one-seed and the Knicks were the eighth.

The series proved that when it’s a heated rivalry, things get blurry as the lower seed play way, way, better than their record. The Knicks simply kept pushing and they were able to extend it to a fifth and deciding game in Miami.

The do-or-die game had the key ingredients of any mid and late-90s basketball – low scores and smashmouth defense. The classic back-and-forth was then closed out by Allan Houston sinking a go-ahead runner with just 0.8 seconds left.

Watch how much it silenced the crowd.

Denver Nuggets over Seattle SuperSonics – 1994

The 1993-94 season was a trying year for the NBA. Ratings went down as Michael Jordan prematurely retired in the off-season and the league had no other superstar player to take over his spot.

It was clear, however, that teams like the Seattle SuperSonics were ready to rise. They had just come off a gruelling Western Conference Finals series loss against the Phoenix Suns, and were poised to improve further.

The Sonics lived up to the hype by finishing the regular season with the best home, away, and overall record in the league (63-19), and arguably the top offense and defense as well. Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp lead the team through their electrifying tandem.

Unfortunately, they got clamped in the first round by the feisty, Dikembe Mutombo-led Denver Nuggets, who resiliently climbed from a 0-2 deficit in a best-of-five series. The Nuggets held the Sonics to only 90.7 PPG on 41.8% shooting in the final three games, 15.2 points and six percent less from their season averages.

Mutombo had an NBA record 31 blocks in the series (6.2 BPG) and the clip of him crying at the end of Game 5 while holding the ball will always be a classic.

Memphis Grizzlies over San Antonio Spurs – 2011

It’s yet another #1 vs. #8 affair, and it was an upset that few people saw coming. Time and again, the Spurs have shown how equipped they are to beat anyone at any style of play. They also showcased great focus in 2011 as they got swept in the previous playoffs, so there were many layers of vengeful energy.

What everyone didn’t know, however, was that the Spurs were actually facing a Memphis Grizzlies team that was coming into their own, one that would soon be a perennial contender in the mighty Western Conference.

Before the Spurs could realize what was happening, they’ve been bounced – a 60-win team who’s gone fishing in April. Their defense had no answer for the Grizzlies’ bully ball, as Zach Randolph (21.5 PPG, 9.5 RPG) and Marc Gasol (14.2 PPG, 12.3 RPG) just feasted their frontcourt all series long.

New Jersey Nets over Philadelphia 76ers – 1984

The 1983-84 season featured the Philadelphia 76ers as the defending NBA champions. They were quite stacked for most of the first half of the 1980s – Julius Erving, Moses Malone, Mo Cheeks, Bobby Jones, and Andrew Toney were all on deck. In fact, Toney is the only guy in the list to miss the HOF, and it was only due to his injury-shortened career.

Well, the championship and firepower must’ve gotten into their heads as they showed very little energy in the first round. The upstart New Jersey Nets rightfully made them pay.

Led by the fiery bunch of Darryl Dawkins, Michael Ray Richardson, Otis Birdsong, Albert King, and Buck Williams, the Nets blasted Philly and jumped into a 2-0 series lead, and closed them out in five.

That Nets core was an interesting collection too – Dawkins was best known for shattering two backboards in three weeks, and Richardson would go on to become the first player to receive a lifetime ban due to substance abuse.

Golden State Warriors over Dallas Mavericks – 2007

I can’t even call this an upset. It’s just a classic beating from the better team, who happened to have the worse record.

The ‘We Believe’ Golden State Warriors squad was a bad match-up for the league-leading, 67-15 Dallas Mavericks. See that 15 regular season losses? Three were from Golden State and two were blowouts.

The playoff series kicked off with the Dubs winning Games 1, 3, and 4, where they just overwhelmed the defense with a relenteless, fast-paced attack and aggressive defense. They held the Mavs to under 100 points every time.

The Mavs barely escaped Game 5 so when it was time to return to Oakland for Game 6, everyone knew that it was just a mere formality. Listen to the energy of that crowd: