NBA playoffs have brought many exciting moments to fans in its history. This includes some teams who can still win the final victory of the series when they are behind 1-3. In the 75-year history of the NBA, the team has not been able to successfully complete a reversal and win the series even though they were behind 1-3. The first happened in 1968 and the last happened in 2020. Therefore, the US media listed the series in NBA history that can complete a major reversal while falling behind 1-3. Which is the most memorable time.
1968 Eastern Conference Playoffs Finals: Boston Celtics vs. Philadelphia 76ers
NBA playoff history The first game that completed a reversal when falling 1-3 was behind occurred in the 1968 Eastern Conference Finals. The series is the Boston Celtics vs. the Philadelphia 76ers.
In the 1968 NBA playoffs, Chamberlain led the 76ers to defeat Celtics again. Bill Russell led the Celtics to win the first game 127-118. The Sixers will take control of the series and win the next three games. It looks like Chamberlain's 76ers will have a chance to beat Bill Russell and the Celtics in the second straight year in the playoffs.
Celtics players worked together to win the next three games, defeating the 76ers 4-3. This is also the first time in NBA playoff history that a team has completed a reversal and won the series when they fell 1-3.
1970 Western Conference Playoff Semi-Finals: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Phoenix Suns
Two years after the Boston Celtics made history in 1968, the Los Angeles Lakers did it. Chamberlain saw the team be defeated in 1968 with a 3-1 lead, and this time he stood on the other side of history.
Chamberlain played for the Lakers in 1970, and the Suns won three straight wins after the Lakers won their first game. The Lakers won Games 5 and 6, creating a classic tiebreaker. Chamberlain showed the world in Game 7 why he is one of the greatest players of all time. When the Lakers won 129-94, he scored 30 points and grabbed 27 rebounds.
1979 Eastern Conference Playoff Finals: Washington Bullets vs. San Antonio Spurs
In the ninth year after Chamberlain led the Lakers to complete a classic big reversal, the Washington Bullets also encountered the same fate. The Washington Bullets meet the San Antonio Spurs. The Bullets were led by Erwin Hayes , and the Spurs were led by scoring champion George Gervin in the 1978-79 season.
Bullets will win the next two games, forcing them to enter Game 7, with Dandridge scoring a team-high 37 points in the tiebreak, but more importantly, he hits the winning goal and the series winning goal with 8 seconds left. Help the Bullets win the game 107-105.
1981 Eastern Conference Playoff Finals: Boston Celtics vs. Philadelphia 76ers
NBA only two years later saw another series reversal in the playoffs. This time it was the Boston Celtics led by Larry Bird. Larry Bird ruled the 80s with Los Angeles Lakers' Magic Johnson . Before Larry Bird ruled the East in the 1980s, he needed to beat the Philadelphia 76ers led by Julius Irving .
1981 The Eastern Conference Finals between the Celtics and the Sixers is one of the greatest playoff series ever. The reason may be that five of the seven games won by one or two points. This includes the Celtics' three-game winning streak when they were 1-3 behind in the series.
won 111-109 in Game 5, and 100-98 in Game 6, both of which were won by two points. The Celtics finally won Game 7 with a score of 91-90. The Celtics won their first championship under Larry Bird.
1995 Western Conference Playoff Semi-finals: Houston Rockets vs. Phoenix Suns
NBA After 14 years, the playoffs have only once again experienced a series of 1-3 behind and can reverse the game. This time, the Houston Rockets face the Phoenix Suns.
Phoenix won the first two games. Rockets won the third game, and the fourth game was the Suns' victory. As the defending champion, the Rockets seem to be eliminated. However, the Rockets found a way to win, winning the next two games, forcing Suns to enter tiebreak. Game 7 determines the winner and loser. In the end, the Rockets won the game 115-114.
1997 Eastern Conference Playoff Semi-finals: Miami Heat vs. New York Knicks
1997 New York Knicks and Miami Heat met, Knicks led 3-1, and seemed to have completely control over the series. However, Game 5 changed all this, Heat defeated the Knicks with a score of 96-81, but it was not that the team's strength allowed the Heat to win the final victory, but that the Heat's bench clashed with the core players of Knicks .
The five best players of the Knicks were suspended. This includes Patrick Ewing , Allen Houston, John Starks , Charlie Ward and Larry Johnson . The only Heat player to be suspended is PJ Brown who initiated the quarrel. The league has adopted a batch suspension to allow the Knicks to have enough players to participate in Game 6. Ewing , Houston and Ward were all suspended in Game 6, and the Heat won 95-90.
Ewing, Houston and Ward all returned in Game 7 as Johnson and Starks were forced to absent. The Heat won 101-90 in Game 7.
2003 Eastern Conference Playoffs First Round: Detroit Pistons vs. Orlando Magic
2002-03 season Detroit Pistons completed a reversal and defeated Orlando Magic at the time. At that time, the Pistons knew that if they wanted to win this series, they needed to slow down McGrady on the offensive end.
In Game 5, the Pistons slowed down McGrady and the entire Magic offensive speed. The Pistons allowed the Magic to score only 67 points, and McGrady scored 19 points from 8 of 520 shots. The Pistons won the game 98-67.
In Game 6, the Pistons won again with a score of 103-88. The Pistons did not leave the Magic in Game 7, and they easily won with a score of 108-93.
2006 Western Conference Playoffs First Round: Phoenix Suns vs. Los Angeles Lakers
Kobe leads Lakers After losing the first game, the team quickly won the next three games, so they led 3-1. Despite Kobe's incredible few wins, the Suns didn't panic, dragging the game into a tiebreak with two straight wins. In the seventh game, Barbosa scored 26 points, helping the Suns complete a major reversal. It was also the first time in his career that head coach Phil Jackson led a team to lose the game while leading the series. Phil Jackson's previous record was 44 wins and 0 losses.
2015 Western Conference Playoff Semi-finals: Houston Rockets vs. Los Angeles Clippers
Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Clippers made history in the 2015 Western Conference Semi-finals, but it was not a good thing for a coach. Rivers is the head coach of Clippers , and he finds himself in a familiar embarrassing situation.
Rivers was the head coach of the Orlando Magic in 2003, when the Magic led 3-1 and was finally reversed. This time, Rivers led the Clippers to lead the Houston Rockets 3-1 in the series. But the team lost three consecutive games in a row and was defeated, which also made Rivers the first head coach in NBA history to be reversed twice in NBA playoff history to lead 3-1 twice.
2016 Western Conference Playoff Finals: Golden State Warriors vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
2016 NBA playoffs have multiple historical moments. The first historic moment happened in the Western Conference Finals between defending champions Golden State Warriors and Oklahoma City Thunder.
Warriors broke the regular season record and won 73 games, but they didn't look very ideal against the Thunder in the playoffs. The Warriors quickly fell into danger of falling behind 1-3. But soon the Warriors returned to their regular season form, won the next three games, and entered the NBA Finals for the second time in a row. Barbosa, who played for the Warriors, became the first player in league history to fall behind 1-3 twice and win back.
2016 Playoff Finals: Cleveland Cavaliers against Golden State Warriors
73 won the Warriors completed a big reversal when they were 1-3 behind in the Western Conference Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder. But in the finals, the Warriors became the reversed side, winning three of the first four games and preparing to win back-to-back titles. You should know that there is no team in NBA Finals history that can complete a reversal while falling behind 1-3 in the series.
LeBron James and teammates Kyrie Irving performed very well in the fifth to seventh games. LeBron James and Irving each scored 41 points to lead the team to win in the fifth game. After the Warriors' Draymond Green was suspended in Game 5, the Cavaliers launched a counterattack and won again. Draymond Green returns in Game 6, but that doesn't matter. Because LeBron James scored 41 points while grabbing 8 rebounds and 11 assists, the Cavaliers won Game 6 with a score of 115-101.
After entering the tiebreak, with 1 minute and 51 seconds left in the final quarter, the score was tied at 89. Andre Iguodala was chased by LeBron James in a crazy fast break. Next, with 53 seconds left in the game, Kyrie Irving made a three-pointer, and the Cavaliers led by 3 points. LeBron James helped the Cavaliers complete an epic reversal, and the team won the game with a score of 93-89. More importantly, the Cavaliers won the first NBA championship in team history . The Warriors became the first team in NBA history to lead 3-1 in the Finals but were reversed by a big reversal.
2020 Western Conference Playoffs First Round Second Round: Denver Nuggets vs Utah Jazz vs Los Angeles Clippers
Denver Nuggets vs Jazz and Clippers is the first time we have seen a team able to complete a big reversal in two rounds of the playoff series 1-3. This season, Nuggets is the third team in the West, and they have future MVP player Nikola Jokic and sharpshooter Jamal Murray .
The Nuggets play against the Utah Jazz, the sixth in the West. This series can be said to have witnessed the incredible performance of Jamal Murray and Jazz Donovan Mitchell . Both players played a total of four 50-point games, including their performances of 50 or more in Game 4. The Nuggets won three games in a row when they were behind 1-3, and entered the tiebreak. Nikola Jokic used his hook shot to help , Nuggets win with an 80-78 score.
Then the Nuggets fell behind the Clippers 1-3 again in the semi-finals. The Nuggets made a comeback again under the leadership of the dual cores, winning three games in a row and entering the tiebreak. The Nuggets defeated the Clippers 104-89, and Murray scored 40 points.
