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The Spurs almost did it
Eight NBA teams have rallied from 3-1 deficits to win a playoff series; a complete listing
by Rich Exner, The Plain Dealer
The odds certainly are stacked against the Cleveland Cavs, down 3-1, in their best-of-seven series against the Orlando Magic.
But eight teams have rallied to victory from such a deficit.
The last one, the 2006 Phoenix Suns, were led by a league MVP, Steve Nash.
Most of the teams who have successfully rallied from a 3-1 hole (six of the eight) enjoyed homecourt advantage.
Some of them have had major NBA stars, players like Jerry West, Elvin Hayes, Larry Bird and Bill Russell.
Here's a summary of the teams who won the final three games to win a series, 4-3:
• 2006: The Phoenix Suns started the 2006 playoffs by falling behind, 3-1, to the Los Angeles Lakers before winning the series. They won the next round against the Los Angeles Clippers before losing in the conference finals to the Dallas Mavericks. Phoenix (54-28 during the regular season) had the homecourt advantage over the Lakers (45-37). Phoenix star: league MVP Steve Nash.
• 2003: The Detroit Pistons trailed the Orlando Magic, 3-1, but came back to win the Eastern Conference first-round matchup. The Pistons also won in the next round before losing in the conference finals. The Pistons (50-32) enjoyed the homecourt advantage over Orlando (42-40). Detroit defender: NBA defensive player of the year Ben Wallace.
• 1997: The Miami Heat came back to defeat the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals, but lost in the next round despite a 61-win regular season. Miami (61-21) had the homecourt advantage over New York (57-25). Miami scoring leader: Tim Hardaway.
• 1995: The underdog Houston Rockets rallied to defeat the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference semifinals, and then went on the win the NBA championship. During the regular season, Phoenix (59-23) was 12 games better than Houston (47-35). Houston starting lineup included current TNT analyst Kenny Smith.
• 1981: The Boston Celtics stormed back to defeat the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference finals en route to the NBA le. Boston and Philadelphia had tied for the best record in the East that year at 62-20, but Boston had the homecourt for Game 7. Boston star: Larry Bird.
• 1979: The Washington Bullets rallied to defeat the San Antonio Spurs in the Eastern Conference finals, before losing to the Seattle Supersonics in the NBA finals. Washington (54-28) had the homecourt advantage over San Antonio (48-34). Washington star: Elvin Hayes.
• 1970: The Los Angeles Lakers came back to defeat the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference semifinals and then advanced to the NBA finals before losing to the New York Knicks. During the regular season, the Lakers (46-36) had a better record than Phoenix (39-43). Laker stars: Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor.
• 1968: The Boston Celtics rallied to defeat to the Philadelphia 76ers to win the Eastern Conference finals and then went on to win the NBA championship. The Celtics did this despite having to win Game 7 in Philadelphia. The 76ers (62-20) had a better record than Boston (54-28) during the regular season. Boston stars: Bill Russell and John Havlicek.
Sources: National Basketball Association and basketball-reference.com
The Spurs almost did it
That Orlando-Detroit series is still fresh in the minds of many Pistons fans since T-Mac got into the post game press conference for game 4 talking about how happy he was to finally get out of the first round and how excited he was to play in the second round... being up 3-to-1. That was the first year the NBA made the first round of the playoffs a 7 game series, IIRC. Pretty good memories from that one.
That was the start of his playoff chokes ...talk about counting chickens
LOL, at least he made it out this year, kinda...
2009 Cavs are about to enter that small group of teams. Excuse me, I mean Lebron is about to enter.
Magic haven't even brought their A game yet!
The Spurs almost did it
Wow BSPN gave out the lamest stat on there ticker this morning. It read:
The last team to overcome a 3-1 defecit was the 1981 Celtics
Cleveland won't be able to rally and win after being down 3-1 because they lack the major starpower that past NBA teams rallying to win from 3-1 have had. They don't have any superstars on their team. On the other hand, the Nuggets will come back down from 3-2 to win the series with the Lakers. These series' are best of 7.
If only Danny Manning stayed healthy in 1995.
I ing love you.
Ah 1995, damn Steve Nash and Amare weren't on the team, but probably attended a game which explains what happened...
Interesting that quite a few other teams managed to come back.
All but one of those teams had the HCA and game 7 at home. If you get down 3-1 but have the final two out of three at home then you're ok. Coming back from down 3-1 without the HCA is pretty impossible. The Queen and his witnesses can pull it off.
I wonder if there will be any next sure, ain't gonna happen this year.
• 1995: The underdog Houston Rockets rallied to defeat the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference semifinals, and then went on the win the NBA championship. During the regular season, Phoenix (59-23) was 12 games better than Houston (47-35). Houston starting lineup included current TNT analyst Kenny Smith.
If the suns beat the rockets the spurs would of beat the suns and beat the magic in the finals to win there first championship
• 1979: The Washington Bullets rallied to defeat the San Antonio Spurs in the Eastern Conference finals, before losing to the Seattle Supersonics in the NBA finals. Washington (54-28) had the homecourt advantage over San Antonio (48-34). Washington star: Elvin Hayes.
I don't think they would of beat the sonics that year but who knows maybe could of won the finals or at least have 5 conference championships
2006: The San Antonio Spurs(63-19) rallied to beat the Dallas Mavericks(60-22)in the Western Conference Semi-Finals down 3-1 in the series, and then went on to win the first of back to back championships in team history, in which the following year would be the second franchise this century to win back to back to back championships. Spurs star:Manu Ginobili
Sources: National Basketball Association and basketball-reference.com
I'm pretty sure it read the last team to come back in a conference finals.
The Cavs are gonna get blown the out in Game 6. The Magic are going to the Finals. Sorry, LeBron...I'm a big fan of yours, but you ain't getting that ring this year.
It's possible that the Cavs could comeback. We haven't had a team come back from down 0-2 this year in the playoffs yet so maybe we will see something different and more impressive like a team coming back from being down 3-1.
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