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The Celtics begin to write their miracle in the NBA playoffs

Bruno AltieriMay 26, 2023, 13:1Reading: 3 min.

The Boston Celtics played the way we knew them in the regular series and won their second game in the Eastern Conference Finals series against the Miami Heat. Extended and fluid parked offenses, hits on three-point shots and an intense defense that made Miami difficult were three key points in Thursday’s victory.

Now, Boston aims to spin a story that could very well be part of a far-fetched Hollywood script. From being 3-0 down, with a lapidary record of 0-150 for teams looking to reverse a seven-game tie, to 3-2 and trying to force a decisive game back at home. But to achieve this, they must beat the Heat on the road this Saturday, something that a priori seems very complicated.

What teams in history managed to turn the tie to reach the seventh game? Only three.

Let’s get to know them.

Rochester Royals vs. New York Knicks (1951)

The Rochester Royals, now the Sacramento Kings, won the first three games of the 1951 Finals. It looked as if they would pass the broom quickly, but the Knicks managed to reverse history by winning three straight games by margins of six, three and seven points. , as reported by the official site of the NBA.

Game 7 was played in Rochester. The Royals led the game by 16 points at the end of the first half, but the Knicks rallied to within two with 40 seconds left. Finally, the locals managed to unlock the game and ended up winning 79-75 to win the championship.

Utah Jazz vs. Denver Nuggets (1994)

Utah Jazz, in the era of John Stockton and Karl Malone, had the matter almost sentenced against the Nuggets in the Western Conference Semifinals. However, Dan Issel’s team did not give up and became the second team in NBA history to achieve a complete ‘comeback’: Dikembe Mutombo and Bryant Stith each converted two free kicks in the final minute, Jeff Hornacek he missed a 3-pointer and they managed to even the tie in Game 6.

Although the seventh game was won by the Jazz -they would end up losing later in the Conference Finals against the Rockets of Hakeem Olajuwon and company-, that Denver was a special team, since in that same playoff course they won six games in a situation of ‘ win or goodbye’. After trailing 2-0 to the Seattle Supersonics in the first round, they won three in a row. And then three more in a row to tie the tie against Utah.

Dallas Mavericks vs. Portland Trail Blazers (2003)

First round of playoffs. The Mavericks had a clear advantage over the Blazers that they captured in the first three games of the series (96-86, 103-99 and 115-103) to place themselves 3-0 up and enjoy a breeze that later, days later, It would turn into a storm. Maurice Cheeks’ team managed to turn the tie around to win the next three games (98-79, 103-99 and 125-103) to become the third team in history to force a seventh game.

In the seventh game, a young Dirk Nowitzki, author of 31 points and 11 rebounds, cleared ghosts and gave Dallas peace of mind to qualify for the Western Conference Semifinals, where they would beat the Sacramento Kings 4-2. They would then fall in the Conference Finals against the San Antonio Spurs (2-4), who would finally be crowned champions with the trio of Tony Parker, Manu Ginóbili and Tim Duncan to start one of the great dynasties in NBA history.

The statistic the Celtics must destroy

We already said it: No team has come back from a 0-3 deficit in NBA playoff history. But there’s one more stat in the Heat’s favor, courtesy of ESPN Stats: Miami is 4-0 at home when leading a playoff series three games to two, including, of course, the one it won in the previous round against the Knicks.

Not only that: the Heat are 10-2 overall (home and away) when leading 3-2 in the series. He has nine straight wins in this situation since losing in the Eastern Finals to the Pistons in 2005.

That being said, the Celtics are going for the most wonderful thing in sports: the search for a sports miracle to rewrite history.

Will he be able to do it? On Saturday night we will have the answer.

2023-05-26 17:35:26
#Celtics #write #miracle #NBA #playoffs

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