The NBA postseason has been unlike any in league history.

An 8-seed — with the 25th-best offensive rating and a +0.3 average scoring margin in the regular season — is in the NBA Finals. A 7-seed reached the Western Conference Finals. The current title favorite had 18/1 championship odds when the season began.

Either the Nuggets or the Heat will become the fifth different NBA champion in the past five years. It will be the first time that has happened in the league since the 1970s.

Some have said the NBA is becoming like the NHL, that the regular season has become irrelevant, that parity has infiltrated the league defined by dynasties and juggernauts.