The Boston Celtics are on the verge of doing the unthinkable.
The storied franchise, despite being the No. 2 seed out East, trailed the No. 8 Miami Heat 3-0 in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals. But they stormed back in extraordinary fashion, winning Game 4 on the road and Game 5 at home in a semi-blowout before a last-gasp buzzer-beater from Derrick White in Game 6 knotted it up at 3-3.
With the chance at a historic comeback on the line, let’s take a look at how many times a team has come back from a 3-0 deficit in the NBA playoffs.
How many times has an NBA team come back from a 3-0 deficit in the playoffs?
The unfortunate answer is zero times.
While no teams have come back to win after being down 3-0, there are three teams that have rallied to tie up a series 3-3 and went on to lose Game 7.
To date, there has never been a successful comeback from a 3–0 series deficit in the NBA. Of the 151 NBA teams that have fallen into a 3–0 deficit, only four of them (~3%) have forced a game seven, with all four losing in game seven.
The unfortunate answer is zero times. While no teams have come back to win after being down 3-0, there are three teams that have rallied to tie up a series 3-3 and went on to lose Game 7.
1951 NBA Finals: New York trailed Rochester Royals 3-0, lost in seven. 1962 Western Division finals: Detroit trailed L.A. Lakers 3-0, lost in six. 1994 Western Conference semifinals: Denver trailed Utah 3-0, lost in seven. 1996 NBA Finals: Seattle trailed Chicago 3-0, lost in six.
No team in NBA playoff history has ever come all the way back from a 3-0 deficit to win a series, but three teams have come close. The 1951 New York Knicks, the 1994 Denver Nuggets, and the 2003 Portland Trail Blazers are the only teams in league history to force a Game 7 after trailing 3-0 in a series.
NBA teams have overcome 3–1 deficits 13 times, only one of which occurred in the NBA Finals. The NBA is the only major North American sport with seven-game playoff series where no team has overcome a 3–0 deficit. The Celtics won two games on the road during the comeback, and also won the NBA Finals.
The unfortunate answer is zero times. While no teams have come back to win after being down 3-0, there are three teams that have rallied to tie up a series 3-3 and went on to lose Game 7.
The Cavaliers remain the only team to recover from a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals when they bested the Warriors in 2016. The Cavaliers took down a Warriors team that set an NBA record with 73 wins in the regular season and ended Cleveland's 52-year championship drought.
NBA history has seen 11 teams turn a 3-0 lead into a 4-2 series loss. Those teams, in chronological order, are: The 2022 Toronto Raptors, who lost to the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round. The 2015 Milwaukee Bucks, who lost to the Chicago Bulls in the first round.
What are the odds of a 0-3 NFL team going to the playoffs? Dating back to 1990, just four of 158 teams to start 0-3 make the postseason (2.5%). Just two of those 158 won their division (1.3%) and none won the Super Bowl.
The Heat now are what the Celtics were in 2010: a lower seed (No.8 in their case) up 3-0 in a rematch against a team that beat them in the postseason a year ago and was second in the NBA in percentage of points from 3. The 2010 Eastern Conference finals started about the same way the 2023 series began.
They did, and the rest was history. Although an NBA team has never pulled off the reverse sweep, this Celtics team is built for the task – at least talent-wise. “We have a lot of great players on this team,” said Derrick White.
Since the inception of the NBA, 148 game sevens have been played. Of those, only six went into overtime, and one into double overtime. 37 game sevens have been won by the road team.
Returning from a 3-1 deficit is a remarkable achievement in the high-stakes world of NBA playoffs. With 277 cases of teams falling into a 3-1 series hole in NBA history, only 13 of them have managed to rally back and win the series, accounting for a mere 4.7% success rate.
And one of those comebacks -- arguably the most impressive and important ever -- arrived courtesy of LeBron James at the expense of Curry and his Warriors. That was in the 2016 NBA Finals, when the 73-win Warriors team cruises to an easy 3-1 series lead -- until the LeBron-led comeback happened.
That is, zero teams have ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in an NBA playoff series—relevant precedent because the Celtics and Lakers both trail 3-0, following an exuberant weekend for the Heat and Nuggets.
The one team to do that was the 1994 Houston Rockets, who came back from an 0-2 deficit against the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference semifinals that season. The 1969 Los Angeles Lakers are the only other team to make the NBA Finals after going down 0-2 in a playoff series while home-court advantage.
The Warriors are the first team ever to start 15–0 in the playoffs and their fifteen-game win streak to start the playoffs set the record for most consecutive postseason wins in NBA history. Their 16–1 record is the best playoff record in NBA history, besting the 2000–01 Los Angeles Lakers.
Introduction: My name is Trent Wehner, I am a talented, brainy, zealous, light, funny, gleaming, attractive person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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