Leading the team to win 65+ but failing to win the championship? In the 21st century, James Curry and Harden s small cards are on the list

Last season, Alexander not only won the MVP, but also led the Thunder to achieve the best record in team history of 68 wins, and eventually successfully led the Thunder to win the first championship in team history. It is worth mentioning that the Thunder are also the 12th team that has won at least 65 wins in the regular season since the 21st century, and the 68 wins are second only to the Warriors' 73 wins in 2016.

Generally speaking, the teams that can win 65+ wins in the regular season are all super teams and have the strength to win the championship. Among them, the Lakers in 2000 (67 wins), the Celtics in 2008 (66 wins), the Lakers in 2009 (65 wins), the Heat in 2013 (66 wins), the Warriors in 2015 (67 wins), the Warriors in 2017 (67 wins) and the Thunder in 2025 (68 wins), all of them successfully won the championship.

However, there are also five teams with 65+ victories in the 21st century that failed to win the championship, namely the Mavericks in 2007 (67 wins), the Cavaliers in 2009 (66 wins), the Warriors in 2016 (73 wins), the Spurs in 2016 (67 wins), and the Rockets in 2018 (65 wins). These teams had the strength to win the championship. In addition to Leonard, the leading stars also won the MVP, but they all missed the championship in the end. Only the Warriors in 2016 made it to the finals.

Nowitzki led the Mavericks to the finals in 2006, but unfortunately he was turned around by the Heat while leading 2-0 and failed to win the championship. However, in the following season, Nowitzki became more and more courageous, leading the Mavericks to a record of 67 wins and also gained an MVP. However, the Mavericks were unexpectedly blacklisted by the Warriors in the first round, and were eliminated early and missed the championship.

The young James led the Cavaliers to the finals in 2007, but was swept by the Cavaliers. In 2009, James and O'Neal joined forces to lead the Cavaliers to a 66-win team record and also won their first MVP in their career. In the playoffs, James also led the team to the Eastern Conference Finals, but unfortunately he still lost to the Magic and failed to meet Kobe in the finals.

2015-16 season was a legendary season. This season, the Warriors and the Spurs won 73 and 67 respectively. The Warriors also broke the Bulls' record of the best record, and Curry also became the first unanimous MVP, and Leonard was also a candidate for MVP, but they failed to lead the team to win the championship in the end. The Spurs were eliminated by the Thunder in the semi-finals. Although the Warriors completed a 1-3 reversal against the Thunder in the Western Conference Finals, they were reversed by the Cavaliers 1-3 in the finals and lost the championship.

In 2018, Harden and Paul jointly led the Rockets to a team record of 65 wins, and Harden also successfully won the MVP. In the playoffs, the Rockets also played in the Western Conference Finals and fought with the Warriors until the tiebreak. Unfortunately, Paul was injured and missed the finals.