Rare NBA history can be made with Nuggets Game 7 win over Thunder

NBA fans, get your popcorn out because Sunday afternoon will feature the best two words in all of sports: Game 7.

The Thunder are on the verge of being eliminated despite having the best record in the NBA during the regular season.

If this were to happen, we would be guaranteed a champion that would provide us with some extremely rare NBA history.

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What history can be made?

The legendary Phil Jackson once came up with the 40-20 rule, that states NBA teams only have a chance at winning the championship if they won their 40th game before their 20th loss in the regular season.

Since the three-point line was implemented into the NBA in the 1979-1980 season, only four out of the last 45 teams (8.89%) to win a championship violated the 40-20 rule. That's about once every 11 seasons.

It most recently happened when the Bucks won it all in 2021, with a 40-24 record when they won their 40th game.

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Here are the four teams since 1980 that have won despite breaking the rule:

Remaining 2025 Teams:

If the Thunder were to be eliminated, we would be guaranteed already to see one of the four remaining teams break this rule when they win it all.

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The Knicks had a record of 40-20 at their 40th win, but would still break the rule since they were 37-20 when they recorded their 20th loss of the regular season.

A Thunder loss would also mean the Conference Finals would feature a three seed, two four seeds, and one six seed.