NBA: Blown 3-1 leads..

**HarlemHeat37** · 05-16-2018

Other than the Warriors, obviously, which was the worst?

2016 Thunder- OKC outscored by 15 in the 4th of game 6, Klay and Curry combine for 72 points while Dominos shoots 10-31

2015 Clippers- Up 3-1, winning by nearly 20 in the 2nd half of game 5, Harden quits and get benched, Josh Smith and Corey Brewer lead a comeback win to change the series

2006 Lakers- The infamous Kobe quit game to end the series..this one wasn't that bad IMO..Lakers weren't expected to win the series and still lost in game 6 with Kobe scoring 50, not much else they could have done, that team overachieved..the Tim Thomas shot IIRC

2003 Magic- This one wouldn't have been bad since Orlando was the underdog and a 1-man team, but T-Mac's comments and subsequent struggles made it a bad look(it feels good to finally be in the 2nd round)

1997 Knicks- in full control of the series until the brawl + suspensions that changed the series

1995 Suns- more bad luck than anything IIRC..an OT loss + the kiss of death+ game 7 clutch time loss

Clippers is the worst IMO, even worse than OKC..that was their best chance at a le, they were so hyped following that Spurs series win..the Warriors were still raw, that was before they became the Clippers' masters..losing to Josh Smith and Corey Brewer is inexcusable..

**spurraider21** · 05-16-2018

good thread

forgot that tim thomas shot

admittedly don't know much about the 95 or 97 series. the lakers one didnt matter so much because it was a first round matchup between 2 teams that had no chance to ring (suns were minus stoudemire that year).

i think the clippers one was the worst, because it was their one real chance in the CP3 era where they were healthy in the playoffs. knocked off the reigning champs in the first round only to let the rockets beat them despite harden actively trying to choke that series away (shot under 40% for the series, averaged 5 TO per game, went 7-20 with 7 turnovers in game 7)

the monster comeback sans harden was game 6 tho

**Caltex2** · 05-16-2018

Originally Posted by HarlemHeat37

Other than the Warriors, obviously, which was the worst?

2016 Thunder- OKC outscored by 15 in the 4th of game 6, Klay and Curry combine for 72 points while Dominos shoots 10-31

2015 Clippers- Up 3-1, winning by nearly 20 in the 2nd half of game 5, Harden quits and get benched, Josh Smith and Corey Brewer lead a comeback win to change the series

2006 Lakers- The infamous Kobe quit game to end the series..this one wasn't that bad IMO..Lakers weren't expected to win the series and still lost in game 6 with Kobe scoring 50, not much else they could have done, that team overachieved..the Tim Thomas shot IIRC

2003 Magic- This one wouldn't have been bad since Orlando was the underdog and a 1-man team, but T-Mac's comments and subsequent struggles made it a bad look(it feels good to finally be in the 2nd round)

1997 Knicks- in full control of the series until the brawl + suspensions that changed the series

1995 Suns- more bad luck than anything IIRC..an OT loss + the kiss of death+ game 7 clutch time loss

Clippers is the worst IMO, even worse than OKC..that was their best chance at a le, they were so hyped following that Spurs series win..the Warriors were still raw, that was before they became the Clippers' masters..losing to Josh Smith and Corey Brewer is inexcusable..

@1995

Bad luck? Is that what they're calling choking these days? Yeah, the Rockets were clutch but the weren't definitively worse than the Suns and the Suns had two home games. Even Chuck admitted he choked at the end of Game 5.

**StrengthAndHonor** · 05-16-2018

I was going to say ‘16 OKC because that could’ve tremendously change the landscape of the league, but assuming they lost to the Cavs, Durant would’ve still joined the Warriors.

He read the writing on the wall- his time on OKC was up for one reason. Russell Westbrook.

**Clipper Nation** · 05-16-2018

CP0's chokejob against Terry and Prigioni. No contest.

**JoeTait75** · 05-16-2018

Originally Posted by HarlemHeat37

Other than the Warriors, obviously, which was the worst?

2016 Thunder- OKC outscored by 15 in the 4th of game 6, Klay and Curry combine for 72 points while Dominos shoots 10-31

2015 Clippers- Up 3-1, winning by nearly 20 in the 2nd half of game 5, Harden quits and get benched, Josh Smith and Corey Brewer lead a comeback win to change the series

2006 Lakers- The infamous Kobe quit game to end the series..this one wasn't that bad IMO..Lakers weren't expected to win the series and still lost in game 6 with Kobe scoring 50, not much else they could have done, that team overachieved..the Tim Thomas shot IIRC

2003 Magic- This one wouldn't have been bad since Orlando was the underdog and a 1-man team, but T-Mac's comments and subsequent struggles made it a bad look(it feels good to finally be in the 2nd round)

1997 Knicks- in full control of the series until the brawl + suspensions that changed the series

1995 Suns- more bad luck than anything IIRC..an OT loss + the kiss of death+ game 7 clutch time loss

Clippers is the worst IMO, even worse than OKC..that was their best chance at a le, they were so hyped following that Spurs series win..the Warriors were still raw, that was before they became the Clippers' masters..losing to Josh Smith and Corey Brewer is inexcusable..

1995 was the worst. Not only because the Suns had Games 5 and 7 at home, but because they'd just blown a series against the Rockets the previous year after winning the first two games at the Summit. So they did it to themselves two years in a row against the same team.

**lefty** · 05-16-2018

I might be in the minority, but I believe the 97 Knicks would have beaten the Bulls.
They were clicking at the right time.

**DAF86** · 05-16-2018

There's no beating the Warriors choke. That sent all the Lakers bandwagoners into eternal limbo. Even they couldn't keep the Kobe > Lebron after that.

**Caltex2** · 05-16-2018

Originally Posted by lefty

I might be in the minority, but I believe the 97 Knicks would have beaten the Bulls.
They were clicking at the right time.

LOL, no one was beating the Bulls, Jordan was only taken to a decisive game three times during both 3-peat era, including when he came back from baseball.

**Capt Bringdown** · 05-16-2018

1978 Spurs vs Bullets

**daslicer** · 05-16-2018

Originally Posted by Caltex2

LOL, no one was beating the Bulls, Jordan was only taken to a decisive game three times during both 3-peat era, including when he came back from baseball.

Actually he was only taken to game 7 twice during the championship years. '92 against the Knicks and '98 against the Pacers.

**lefty** · 05-16-2018

Originally Posted by Caltex2

LOL, no one was beating the Bulls, Jordan was only taken to a decisive game three times during both 3-peat era, including when he came back from baseball.

Oh yeah the 97 Knicks were good.
Jordan dodged a bullet (as he did for many seasons actually)

**TDMVPDPOY** · 05-17-2018

spurs losing 4-0
spurs up 2-0 for the backdoor sweep

duncan the same constant, but the variable was that kent enrique who never showed up or didnt have an answer when teams adjusted to his 1 trick pony offense...

**KimmyGib** · 05-17-2018

Originally Posted by HarlemHeat37

Clippers is the worst IMO, even worse than OKC..that was their best chance at a le, they were so hyped following that Spurs series win..the Warriors were still raw, that was before they became the Clippers' masters..losing to Josh Smith and Corey Brewer is inexcusable..

And that gift kept on giving. Clippers were so impressed by the Josh Smith performance that they signed him the next year, only to get screwed by him a second time as he turned out to be a complete dud.

**LakerHater** · 05-17-2018

1978-79 San Antonio Spurs

**Caltex2** · 05-17-2018

Originally Posted by daslicer

Actually he was only taken to game 7 twice during the championship years. '92 against the Knicks and '98 against the Pacers.

I was also referring to the Magic series, which is why I said 3-peat era.

**Caltex2** · 05-17-2018

Originally Posted by lefty

Oh yeah the 97 Knicks were good.
Jordan dodged a bullet (as he did for many seasons actually)

What team could have beaten the Bulls except the Rockets (because of a mismatch)? He didn't dodge the Jazz or Sonics during the second 3-peat, the best team each of those years, he got the second best team in the east every year of the 3-peat and the 4-5 matchup is usually a pick 'em. He got the Suns and Knicks in '93, the best teams that year and in '92 he got the 3-seed instead of the 2-seed, which meant because of conference tiebreakers, he got a 57-win team instead of a 51-win team. They ended the Pistons mini-dynasty in a sweep.

And they were significantly better than the compe ion by at least 10 games for most of their series, so who cares who they play before the conference finals or even NBA Finals most years? Jordan never played lower than a 3-seed after the second round during any le run. Sounds like you just pulled that idea out your rear.

**spurraider21** · 05-17-2018

Originally Posted by DAF86

There's no beating the Warriors choke. That sent all the Lakers bandwagoners into eternal limbo. Even they couldn't keep the Kobe > Lebron after that.

That’s why op specifically excluded that one