The NBA playoffs are where the real action begins. Forget about the regular season – true fans know that teams save their best for the playoffs and the chance of winning an NBA ring. Over the years, the playoffs have given us some amazing series and matches.
More interestingly, there have been some truly incredible games and series that defied the odds – games where one team was seemingly overwhelmed and had no chance of winning but turned things around and managed to defy logic. We look at five top comebacks in NBA playoff history that match this description.
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1. Cavs Overcome A 3-1 Deficit To Beat The Warriors In The 2016 Finals
This is not a single-game comeback but it stands as one of the greatest NBA playoffs/finals comebacks in history. Of course, it is the 2016 finals, in which the Cavs won their first professional sporting trophy in 50 years. If you were a betting person at the time and used things like bet promotions at The Game Day, you would not have put money on the Cavs winning 4-3.
Things were just stacked against them. They were 3-1 down and the Warriors had finished a record-breaking season with KD, Curry, and Thompson in lethal form. However, LeBron and Kyrie wouldn’t lie down. The rest is history. They would go on to win 4-3 in what has to be one of the 10 greatest NBA finals of all time.
2. The Clippers Smash A 31-Point Deficit To Beat The Warriors In 2019
I can remember watching this game and thinking, what the hell just happened? The Warriors were on a tear and demolishing the Clippers in Game 2 of the Western Conference first-round playoffs. They became complacent and pretty much thought they had the game won – who wouldn’t think that, with a 94-63 lead in the third quarter?
Sweet Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell thought differently, however. The Clippers outscored the Warriors 72-37 in the second half and won 135-131. Despite all their efforts, they would lose in Game 6, but still, this was a sublime game where the Warriors had to eat humble pie, which is always a bonus.
3. Lakers Resurge Against The SuperSonics In The Western Conference Semifinals 1989
Magic Johnson has had some amazing playoff performances and his five rings are proof of this. In the 1989 Western Conference Semifinals, things were looking bleak for the Lakers in Game 4 but Johnson wanted to finish them off and complete the sweep – as things happened, this transpired!
After just 14 minutes of play, the SuperSonics were up by 29 points – believe it or not! Johnson rallied the team and little by little, they played tough and eliminated the deficit. Eventually, they would win 97-95 and advance to the NBA Finals, where they would meet the Bad Boy Pistons.
4. Boston Defy The Odds And Eliminate A 26-point Deficit Against The Nets In 2002
In 2002, Boston had a pretty decent team with Paul Pierce, Antoine Walker, Tony Delk, and other solid players. However, the Nets were also relatively strong, with Kidd leading the way and other key players such as Richard Jefferson, Kenyon Martin, and Kerry Kittles.
The series was tied at 1-1 and the Celtics were having an abysmal Game 3. They were down in the fourth quarter by a seemingly insurmountable 74-53 score – a deficit of 21.
At one point, this went to 26, but the Celtics somehow managed to outscore the Nets by 41-16 and win the game 94-90. This was partly helped by Pierce overcoming his first-half shooting drought. Ultimately, the Nets went on to win 4-2 and advance to the NBA Finals.
5. LeBron Scores 28 Second-half Points To Overcome A 26-Point Deficit Against The Pacers
LeBron is not a player who you can ignore and he has proved this time and time again over his lengthy NBA career. A particularly memorable performance was against the Indiana Pacers in the 2017 Eastern Conference first round.
Incredibly, the Pacers were up 2-0 and in Game 3, they had a commanding 74-49 lead at halftime. Surely, they would take a comfortable 3-0 lead? No! LeBron had other ideas and scored a whopping 28 points in the second half, to finish the match with a 41-point triple double. James would also hit a game-sealing three with 2:50 left, and the Cavs pulled off a brilliant win at 119-114.
These games have become legendary in their own right and stand as some of the greatest comebacks in NBA playoff history. My personal favorite is LeBron’s Cavs obliterating the Warrior’s 3-1 lead, in what should have been their greatest season ever. Do you think there are any other noteworthy games we have missed? Drop a comment and share your thoughts!