The Boston Celtics are facing both the Miami Heat and history in these Eastern Finals. When everything pointed to a sweep for those from Florida, Mazzulla’s team has drawn strength from weakness and has managed to become the 15th team to force a Game 6 after starting the tie losing 3-0. The group is undoubtedly select, but not as much as that of the teams that managed to stretch their series a little longer.
No one has ever come back from 3-0, but three times that feat came close, giving the Celtics three precedents to cling to when they step onto the Kaseya Center floor tomorrow. Three reasons to believe that the series can return to Boston. Three epic stories with sad endings that they must try to emulate by changing the ending.
Rochester Royals-New York Knicks, 1951
With the league still in its infancy, perhaps those present did not fully appreciate how extraordinarily complex what they were witnessing was in neither more nor less than an NBA Finals. With two comfortable victories at home and a hard-fought away win, the Royals already saw themselves with the title of champions in the showcase, and although that was where the cup ended, it did not do so easily. The Knicks returned the three consecutive blows to force the first Game 7 in the history of the Finals, but, in a very even duel, they ended up falling 79-75 and staying on the verge of a feat that, 72 years later, continues. without having materialized.
Utah Jazz-Denver Nuggets, 1994
More than four decades were needed to return to the gates of the greatest of comebacks, and in fact the context invited us to think that, if there were some playoffs to experience the impossible, they were those of 1994. The Denver Nuggets had just become the first eighth seed to defeat their conference leader and advance to the second round in league history, but the Jazz weren’t about to be blindsided in the conference semis. Those from Salt Lake City asserted their home court factor in the first games and, after a disputed overtime, made it 3-0 on aggregate, but they were not able to finish off the job in a Game 4 that escaped them by a single point . And that it was about to cost them dearly.
And it is that the Nuggets clung to the epic in a fifth game that was resolved after two extensions and that confirmed that the Colorados were determined to sign the most improbable postseason ever seen. The illusion grew after the triumph in the sixth duel, but the father of all underdogs He had to wake up in Game 7, in which he fell 91-81 but not without leaving a story worth telling.
Dallas Mavericks-Portland Trail Blazers, 2003
The most recent example is found in the first round of the West in 2003, in which, led by an incredible Nowitzki who exceeded 40 points in two of the first three games, Dallas seemed to have everything under control and had already booked the ticket for the second round. It was then that Zach Randolph took over from the German as the dominator of the series and guided the Blazers to three victories, two of them more than convincing, which instilled fear in the Texan body, making them fear the possibility of becoming the first to star. the biggest collapse possible.
But Dirk refused. As in the previous two cases, Portland swam to end up collapsing on the shore, not earning the reward in the form of a bye to the second round but earning the honor of being the last team to start a playoff 3-0 down and who managed to force a Game 7. The last one… for now.
(Cover photo: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
2023-05-26 13:00:00
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