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Same City. Different Sport: These NBA, NHL Teams Made Finals in the Same Year

The Miami Heat and Florida Panthers made history in 2023

NBA, NHL teams from same city that made Finals in same year originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago

The Stanley Cup has never shared a city with the Larry O'Brien Trophy.

The NHL and NBA playoffs run simultaneously, with the Finals in each league often ending within days of one another in June. But never since the NBA began in 1947 has a city had its hockey team win the Stanley Cup Finals and basketball team win the NBA Finals in the same year.   

Some have come very close, with one team winning the title on the ice while the other lost in the Finals on hardwood, or vice versa. This could be the year that changes, and it would be a pair of No. 8 seeds from Florida that make it happen. 

The Florida Panthers and Miami Heat have a chance to become the latest teams from the same region to advance to their respective Finals in the same year. 

The Panthers stunned a Boston Bruins team that set the NHL record for most wins in a season, upset the Toronto Maple Leafs in five games and then swept the Carolina Hurricanes to reach their first Stanley Cup Final in 27 years.

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The Heat, after suffering a loss in their first play-in game, upset the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks, disposed of the No. 5 New York Knicks and eliminated the defending Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics. 

On the flip side, Boston became the first city to lose a home Game 7 to a No. 8 seed in both hockey and basketball in the same season.

So, that puts both the Heat and Panthers, whose arenas are a mere 35 miles from one another, a few victories away from raising banners for each sport.     

Here's a look back at other times when NHL and NBA teams from the same city had a chance to do the same after advancing to the Finals in the same year...

1957 - Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins

The Celtics were making the first of 10 straight Finals appearances, giving the Bruins ample time to do their part. The Celtics captured their first NBA title by defeating the St. Louis Hawks in seven games, but the Bruins fell in five games to a Montreal Canadiens team in the midst of a dynasty in which they won five straight Cups.    

1958 - Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins

The two had a chance to run it back the very next season, with each team facing the same opponent. But this time, both lost, with the Celtics and Bruins both falling in six games.

1972 - New York Knicks and New York Rangers

New York had its first chance at the double ring when the Knicks and Rangers both advanced to the Finals. The Knicks, two years after winning their first championship, fell to the Lakers in five games. The Rangers, making their first Finals appearance in 22 years, lost to the Bruins in six games.

1974 - Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins

Third time wasn't a charm for Boston. The Celtics, after winning all but one NBA championship in the 1960s, captured their first of the 1970s by beating the Milwaukee Bucks in seven games. The top-seeded Bruins, in the Finals for the third time in five years, were upset by a Philadelphia Flyers team that won its first Cup.   

1980 - Philadelphia 76ers and Philadelphia Flyers 

Two teams in the finals in the same year? How about four? This was the grand slam of Philly sports as all four of their major professional teams - the 76ers, Flyers, Eagles and Phillies - advanced to the finals of each sport. It began with the Sixers, who lost in six games to a Los Angeles Lakers team led by a rookie named Magic Johnson. The Flyers, who set a North American pro sports record with 35 straight games without a loss, were eliminated eight days later by a New York Islanders team that won the first of four straight Stanley Cups. In case you're wondering, the Eagles lost 27-10 to the Oakland Raiders in the Super Bowl, and the Phillies defeated the Kansas City Royals in Game 6 of the World Series to win their first championship in the team's near 100-year existence. 

1992 - Chicago Bulls and Chicago Blackhawks

Michael Jordan and the Bulls were in the midst of the first of two three-peats, defeating the Portland Trail Blazers in six games to win a second-straight championship. The Blackhawks were making their first Finals appearance since 1973, and seeking their first championship since 1961, but they were swept by a Pittsburgh Penguins team that won its second straight Cup.  

1994 - New York Knicks and New York Rangers

There were nearly two championship parades down New York's Canyon of Heroes in 1994. And it was the closest any city came to winning championships the same year in hockey and basketball. The Rangers won their first Stanley Cup in 54 years after beating the Vancouver Canucks in Game 7 at Madison Square Garden on June 14. The following day, in the same building, the Knicks evened the NBA Finals against the Houston Rockets at 2-2. The Knicks then won Game 5, putting the team one victory away from its first title since 1973. But they lost Game 6 by two points and then fell by six in Game 7. 

2003 - New Jersey Nets and New Jersey Devils

Since that 1994 loss, the closest the New York area has come to calling the Larry O'Brien Trophy home was in 2003...with the Nets. The Devils had already won the Stanley Cup after defeating the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in seven games. The Nets, making a second straight trip to the Finals, came up two games short of having two 2003 championship banners raised at Continental Airlines Arena after losing to the San Antonio Spurs in six games.   

2016 - Golden State Warriors and San Jose Sharks

Slight difference here is that - like the Heat and Panthers - the Warriors and Sharks don't play in the same arena, or even the same city. But - like the Heat and Panthers - the two teams play very nearby. The Warriors, who at the time played at Oracle Arena in Oakland, were denied a second straight title after surrendering a 3-1 series lead to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Sharks, who played at the SAP Center in San Jose, made the first Finals appearance in their 25-year history but fell to the Pittsburgh Penguins in five games.

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