13 teams in NBA Playoff history have fended off elimination in three-straight win-or-go-home games.
The ‘down 3-1’ comeback is the greatest single-series resurgence ever made by an NBA team, as no side has ever rebounded from 3-0 down.
In 2023, the Boston Celtics became the fourth team ever to force a Game 7 after going behind 3-0, but lost to the Miami Heat to fall short of making NBA history.
Here we look at every instance of this happening in the NBA Playoffs.
Celtics vs. 76ers (1968 East Finals)
The first ever 3-1 series comeback in NBA playoff history came in one of the fiercest rivalries in league history.
Led by Wilt Chamberlain, Philly was on its way to back-to-back titles in 1968 – a remarkable feat given Boston won eight-straight championships from 1959 to 1966. The Sixers won three of the first four games of the conference finals against player-coach Bill Russell and the Celtics.
But Boston, led on the scoring front by John Havlicek and Sam Jones, won three-in-a-row, including two in Philadelphia, to advance to the NBA Finals, where they would defeat the Lakers, 4-2, for their ninth title in 10 years.
Lakers vs. Suns (1970 West Semis)
Despite the Lakers’ 17 championships to the Suns’ zero, these Western Conference foes have been an even match for eachother in the playoffs over the last few decades.
The rivals have met in the postseason 13 times, the first of which came in 1970 – Phoenix’s second season as an NBA franchise.
ABA superstar Connie Hawkins led the Suns to wins in Games 2, 3 and 4 to take a 3-1 series lead on the juggernaut Lakers that boasted Chamberlain, Jerry West, and Elgin Baylor. But the upstart Suns’ luck ran out before they could get a crucial fourth win, and the vastly experienced Lakers rode their momentum three-straight wins.
Bullets vs. Spurs (1979 East Finals)
The third 3-1 series comeback in the history of NBA involved the defending champion Washington Bullets and the San Antonio Spurs, hungry for their first title. Yes, the Spurs were in the Eastern Conference at the time – there were just 22 teams in the NBA.
The Bullets’ mission was simple: stop George Gervin. They failed at that in each of the Spurs’ three wins, which the ‘Iceman’ led the team in scoring, including a 42-point shooting in San Antonio’s Game 4 win.
Led by Hall of Fame big men West Unseld and Elvin Hayes, Washington battled back to the all-deciding Game 7 at home. Gervin’s 42 was trumped by Bob Dandridge’s series-winning shot with eight seconds remaining, edging the Bullets to a 107-105 victory.
Celtics vs. 76ers (1981 East Finals)
Penned “the greatest playoff series ever,” the 1981 Eastern Conference Finals pitted Larry Bird’s Celtics against Julius Erving’s 76ers. After a dominant 1960s, Boston won two championships between 1970 and 1980, while missing the playoffs four times. But after drafting Bird to years prior, they were on the up.
Both teams went 62-20 in the 1980/81 regular season, then the Celtics won a regular season finale to earn home-court advantage.
Fresh off a Game 7 win over the Bucks, the 76ers jumped out to a 3-1 series lead over Bird and the C’s. They also jumped out to leads – and held them for most of the game – in all three closeout opportunities. But Boston prevailed in each, winning the last three by a combined five points, then went on to win the 1981 NBA Finals.
Rockets vs. Suns (1995 West Semis)
This series featured two of the greats of the Western Conference in this era: Hakeem Olajuwon and Charles Barkley. So many times, these and other superstars met in the playoffs, went to war against each other, then went on to lose to Michael Jordan’s Bulls. That made winning a ring feel even more elusive.
Jordan’s hiatus from basketball in 1994 meant a window of opportunity, which the Rockets took. That year, they became the first Western Conference team to win a title since the 1988 Lakers. The following year, with Jordan still out, they went for it again, notably via trading for Clyde Drexler midway through the 94/95 season.
Phoenix’s two-man band of Barkley and Kevin Johnson was enough to jump out to a 3-1 lead, but their lack of depth began to show compared to Houston. This was apparent in Game 7, when Johnson’s 46p/10a and Barkley’s 18p/23r was not enough to outlast Olajuwon and co., who went on to win the ‘ship in 1995.
Heat vs. Knicks (1997 East Semis)
The 1997 Eastern Conference Semifinals marked the first of four straight postseasons the Heat and Knicks faced off. It was also the only of the four won by Miami.
The story of this series was the suspensions handed out, ultimately costing New York.
Up 3-1, but losing Game 5, Knicks starts Patrick Ewing, Allan Houston, Larry Johnson and John Starks left the bench during a brawl that resulted in one-game suspensions for each – some to be served in Game 6 and others in Game 7.
Without two starters (Johnson and Starks) in the all-deciding seventh game, the Knicks lost a third straight to drop the series.
Some believe Heat head coach Pat Riley orchestrated the whole thing to mitigate what was an “unwinnable” series.
Pistons vs. Magic (2003 First Round)
After going up 3-1 on the Pistons, 2003 NBA scoring champion Tracy McGrady said some famous ‘last words.’
“It feels good to get into the second round.”
T-Mac scored 43, 46, 29 and 27 in the first four game as his Magic sprung out to a 3-1 lead. Enter Tayshaun Prince.
Prince, a key member of the 2004 title-winning Pistons, was relatively unknown in 2003. He was inserted into the lineup to stifle McGrady, which he did. The Magic star scored 25.7 PPG on 36.1 FG% - including a 7-for-24 outing in Game 7 – in the final three games of the series. The Magic lost all three by double-digits, including a 31-point blowout in Game 5.
Suns vs. Lakers (2006 First Round)
Nearly four decades after the first playoff encounter between the Suns and Lakers, they met again for the 11th time.
This time, it was Kobe Bryant leading the way for LA and league MVP Steve Nash for Phoenix.
The Lakers, seeking their first championship since Shaquille O’Neal left town for Miami, went up 3-1, thanks to Kobe’s Game 4 overtime buzzer beater, one of the most famous shots in NBA history.
The Suns won Game 5 at home, then won a legendary 126-118 overtime battle in LA that saw Kobe score 50, while Nash logged 32 points and 13 assists.
Phoenix blew out the Lakers in Game 7, 121-90, to advance to face the eventual 2006 runners-up Dallas Mavericks.
Rockets vs. Clippers (2015 West Semis)
The mid-2010s Clippers were one of the darling of the NBA, with “Lob City” members Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan ate the forefront. After defeating the defending champion Spurs in the first round, the Clips looked a real title contender, no longer just a ‘fun’ NBA team.
LA cruised to a 3-1 lead, lost Game 5, then it all fell apart in Game 6. The Clippers held a 19-point lead in the third quarter, all they needed was a strong fourth to advance to the conference finals.
With James Harden on the bench, Rockets role players Corey Brewer (15 points in 4Q) and Josh Smith (14 points in 4Q) ambushed the complacent Clippers. Houston outscored them 40-15 in the final period to win Game 6 in LA, then took Game 7 at home to advance to the West Finals.
Cavaliers vs. Warriors (2016 Finals), Warriors vs. Thunder (2016 West Finals)
Just once has a team overcome a 3-1 series deficit in the Finals, that being the Cleveland Cavaliers spectacular effort in the 2016 championship series.
The 2016 and 2020 playoffs each had two instances of a team coming from 3-1 down to win. No other NBA season in history has had two 3-1 series comebacks in the same postseason.
Not only was the Cavaliers’ come-from-behind triumph in the 2016 Finals improbable due to the series deficit, but also because they were up against one of the greatest teams of all-time.
The 2016 Golden State Warriors posted the best regular season record in NBA history at 73-9 and were poised to win a second-straight championship. Even though they were pushed to their limit (GSW came back from 3-1 down in the West Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder), the Dubs were favored to win it all and cap off the greatest season in NBA history.
LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and company had other plans.
In Games 5 through 7, LeBron and Kyrie took over while Golden State’s shooters – Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson – went cold. All-world utility man Draymond Green also missed the first of GSW’s closeout chances when he was suspended for Game 5 after being assessed Flagrant 1 foul in Game 4.
In the final three games of the series, LeBron averaged a staggering 36.3 PPG, 11.7 RPG, 9.7 APG, 3 blocks and three steals per game. He and Kyrie famously combined for 82 points in Game 5, which proved to be the crucial turning point of the series.
James and Irving teamed up to seal the deal in Game 7, considered one of the greatest games in NBA history.
With 1:52 remaining in the game and the score knotted at 89, LeBron produced the most iconic play of the series. King James chased down a driving Andre Iguodala and pinned his layup attempt off the glass, keeping Golden State from taking what would have been a vital two-point lead.
Almost exactly one game minute later, Irving splashed a three-pointer to break a four-minute scoreless streak by both teams. The basket gave the Cavs a 92-89 advantage and, soon after, their first championship in franchise history.
Nuggets vs. Jazz (2020 First Round), Nuggets vs. Clippers (2020 West Semis)
The 2020 playoff ‘bubble’ was unordinary in many ways.
In a setting that had no home-court advantage, no fans in the stands, and required masks to be worn at all times when not on the court, NBA fans were treated to some of the most thrilling playoff basketball in recent memory.
Although they fell short in the Western Conference Finals to the Lakers, the Denver Nuggets provided one of the best stories of the bubble and etched their name in the history books because of it.
It started in the first round against the Utah Jazz, when Donovan Mitchell and company stormed to a 3-1 series lead. Mitchell’s 57-point Game 1 set the tone early on, but the star guard was matched by Denver’s Jamal Murray down the stretch.
Mitchell and Murray each logged two 50-point performances in the series, including Game 4 when they both surpassed the half-century mark.
Murray, Nikola Jokic, and the Nuggets won three-straight to finish the series and advance, including a typically low-scoring Game 7 that ended 80-78 in favor of Denver.
Up against a much stronger Los Angeles Clippers team led by Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, the Nuggets again fell behind three games to one and looked ready to depart the bubble. But Clippers head coach Doc Rivers was unable to will his star-studded team to one final win, as Murray and Jokic powered another comeback capped with a statement Game 7 win to advance to the West Finals.
Leonard and George combined to shoot 10-for-38 in Game 7, as LAC lost by 15 to confirm Rivers’ third career blown 3-1 series lead (2003 Orlando Magic, 2015 Los Angeles Clippers).
