Has any NBA team blew a 3-0 lead?
Basketball. Although no N.B.A. team has — yet — lost a series it led by 3-0, a few, like this year's Heat, have lost three straight to get to 3-3. It happened once in the finals, in 1951.
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.
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.
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.
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.
In 42 playoff series - not including the NBA Finals - LeBron James has never trailed 3-0. NBA Finals, yes. But during the conference playoffs, never.
How many times has Michael Jordan been swept in the NBA Playoffs? Jordan was swept out of the playoffs twice in his career, but it comes with a caveat. Both sweeps came in the first round in best-of-5s.
The greatest comeback in National Basketball Association play occurred on November 27, 1996, when the Utah Jazz, down by 36 points to the Denver Nuggets late in the second quarter (it was 70–36 at the half and 70–34 just before), overcame this deficit to win 107–103.
Has an NBA team ever went 82-0? No, of course not. The odds of an NBA team going unbeaten in 82 games would be astronomical. The best regular-season record of all time by an NBA team was by the 2016 Golden State Warriors, who went 73–9.
Several NBA teams have come close to sweeping the playoffs, but no team has stayed undefeated throughout the entire league postseason series.
What is the biggest deficit in NBA?
73 Points – Memphis Grizzlies 152, Oklahoma City Thunder 79 (Dec. 2, 2021) In the biggest blowout in NBA history, the surprising Grizzlies set franchise records for most points in a game and highest shooting percentage (62.5%)…and they were missing star point guard Ja Morant.
| Best-of-7 series | Reverse sweeps | |
|---|---|---|
| NHL hockey | 755 | 4 |
| NBA basketball | 601 | 0 |
| MLB baseball | 184 | 1 |
The 2015-16 Cleveland Cavaliers are the only team to come back after being down 3-1 in the NBA Finals and win Game 7. The 2019-20 Denver Nuggets are the only NBA team to come back from a 3-1 series deficit multiple times in the same year.
Has an NBA team ever finished a season with a record of 82-0? No, no NBA team has ever achieved a record of 82-0. The team that came closest was the Golden State Warriors in 2015-2016, finishing the Regular Season with a record of 73-9.
There have been no perfect seasons (or even perfect regular seasons) in the American Association, World Football League, United States Football League, original XFL, the Arena Football League or the Alliance of American Football, all of which are now defunct.
The Celtics have made history just by forcing a Game 7, joining the 2003 Portland Trail Blazers, 1994 Denver Nuggets and 1951 New York Knicks in evening a series after being down 3-0.
He can't guard big 5s for a whole game, but on a possession by possession basis, he'll hold up and that's pretty valuable in a league where switching is so common.
Paul Pierce has the most career wins versus LeBron James, with 21 wins.
As that historic moment creeps closer and closer – at his current scoring average (30.2 ppg), LeBron is on pace to pass Kareem on Feb. 4 against New Orleans – LeBron added another accolade to his storied career on Tuesday, becoming the first player in NBA history to score 40 points against all 30 franchises.
Steph Curry has never been swept in the playoffs…
Has Shaq been swept?
Only two players have been swept six times: Shaquille O'Neal and Pau Gasol. FYI.
In 1975, after compiling a 48–34 regular season record, the Golden State Warriors swept the Washington Bullets 4–0 in the 1975 NBA Finals.
The Utah Jazz's 36-point turnaround against the Nuggets in November 1996 has never been matched nor bested. Utah trailed the Nuggets 70-34 at home in the final minute of the first half. But, led by Karl Malone and Jeff Hornacek, the Jazz outscored the Nuggets 71-33 in the second half for a 107-103 win.
NBA Lowest-Scoring Record
On November 22, 1950, the Fort Wayne Pistons defeated the reigning champions of the Minneapolis Lakers for 19 to 18, in the match that would go down in history as the game with the lowest-scoring (37 combined points).
The record for the largest NFL comeback is held by the Minnesota Vikings, who overcame a third-quarter deficit of 33–0 to defeat the Indianapolis Colts 39–36 in overtime during the 2022 NFL season.
