After winning Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals against Miami, the Boston Celtics find themselves in a unique situation: of the 116 teams who have gone down 3-0 since 1984, only 10 have recovered to force a Game 6, and only one has ever done so after losing the first two games at home. Still, no team has ever recovered from a 3-0 series deficit in the NBA, the only one of the three major North American sports leagues that use a best-of-7 playoff format to never see such a comeback. Let’s look at some of the Celtics predecessors and see how they fared in their quest to break the curse of 3-0:

1994 Denver Nuggets:

The 8th seeded Nuggets were already a Cinderella story, coming back down 2-0 to defeat the top-seeded SuperSonics in 5, and thus becoming the first 8 seed to ever win a playoff series. They nearly continued the run in the second round, forcing a Game 7 after going down 3-0 against the Utah Jazz behind all-around offensive contribution and spectacular defensive efforts from Dikembe Mutombo. Denver fell short in Game 7, losing 91-81, a score tied for the largest winning margin of a series in which the average margin of victory was just 6.1 points.

2003 Portland Trail Blazers:

Without any real stars, the Blazers managed to push the 60-win Mavs to a Game 7 similarly to how Denver used their depth to do so against Utah. In Game 7, however, future MVPs Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash would take over, putting up 31 points to go with 11 rebounds and 21 points plus 7 assists and 6 rebounds respectively to lift Dallas to the second round with a 12-point win.

2010 Orlando Magic:

While Orlando didn’t force a Game 7, they were the only team until Boston to force a Game 6 after losing the first two games of a 2-2-1-1-1 series (higher seed hosts first 2 games, lower seed hosts nexts two, higher seed hosts Game 5, etc.) at home, coincidentally doing so in the ECF against the eventual Eastern Conference champion 2010 Boston Celtics. Boston dispatched Orlando in Game 6 behind 31 points and 13 rebounds from Paul Pierce, and Miami will look to close out this years ECF in similar fashion.

Bonus:

1951 New York Knicks:

While Basketball Reference’s playoff series data only dates back to 1984, the 1951 NBA Finals represent the first and so far only instance of a Game 7 being forced from 3-0 down in the Finals. After being decisively beaten three games in a row, the Knicks clawed back with tight wins in Games 5-7 by a combined 16 points. In the first ever NBA Finals Game 7, the Knicks came up just short of ghe Rochester Royals in a 79-75 loss.

Although history is decisively in Miami’s favor, it would be unwise to count out a Boston team only needing two more wins to clinch their second straight Finals berth. Teams trailing 3-2 with home court advantage in a 2-2-1-1-1 series are 20-62 since 1984, but given the Celtics’ ability to tear Miami apart with huge runs in Games 4 and 5, who’s to say the NBA won’t have its 2004 ALCS moment right here?