celtics

How Celtics Can Make Sports History by Rallying From 3-0 Deficit to Beat Heat

A trip to the NBA Finals to face the Denver Nuggets is at stake -- as is the opportunity for the Celtics to combine destiny and history.

How Celtics can make pro sports history by taking down Heat in Game 7 originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

BOSTON -- Jaylen Brown declared the Boston Celtics a team of "destiny" after their Game 5 win over the Miami Heat in the NBA's Eastern Conference Finals.

If they secure one more win, they'll at least be a team of history.

The Celtics host the Heat in Game 7 at TD Garden on Monday night despite losing the first three games of the series. They're just the fourth team in NBA history to force a Game 7 after trailing a playoff series 3-0, and if they win Monday night, they'd succeed where 150 previous teams have failed to become the first NBA team ever to win a series after trailing 3-0.

The Celtics also would follow in the footsteps of the 2004 Boston Red Sox, who are one of just five teams North American professional sports history to come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a best-of-seven playoff series.

Outside the '04 Red Sox, only four other teams have mounted comebacks from down 3-0, and all were NHL squads. Here's the full list, sorted by date:

  • 2014, NHL: Los Angeles Kings over San Jose Sharks (First Round)
  • 2010, NHL: Philadelphia Flyers vs. Boston Bruins (Second Round)
  • 2004, MLB: Boston Red Sox over New York Yankees (American League Championship Series)
  • 1975, NHL: New York Islanders over Pittsburgh Penguins (Second Round)
  • 1942, NHL: Toronto Maple Leafs over Detroit Red Wings (Stanley Cup Final)

It's been nine years since any team rallied from down 3-0, and nearly two decades since a team did it this late in their respective playoffs. So, it's fitting that the Celtics are using the 2004 Red Sox as motivation: Head coach Joe Mazzulla said before Game 7 that the coaching staff had the team watch a documentary about the 2004 Red Sox' comeback -- ESPN's "Four Days in October" after their blowout Game 3 loss.

Mazzulla's Celtics are in a unique situation in that they entered the series as heavy favorites; of the previous three NBA teams to force a Game 7 after trailing 3-0, all three had to play Game 7 on the road, while Boston will host the No. 8 seed Heat in front of a raucous TD Garden crowd.

A trip to the NBA Finals to face the Denver Nuggets is at stake -- as is the opportunity for the Celtics to combine destiny and history.

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