Celtics, Stars look to be a part of playoff history after down 3-0
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The Boston Celtics have a chance to make NBA history on Monday night when they battle the Miami Heat in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Once down 3-0 to the Heat in the series, the Celtics have clawed their way back to force a Game 7 at TD Garden on Monday.
The comeback is already part of NBA lore. Of the 151 teams that have gone down 0-3 in a series, only three others have come back to force Game 7
Only the 1951 New York Knicks, 1994 Denver Nuggets, and the 2003 Portland Trail Blazers have erased a 3-0 deficit and pushed their opponents to the brink
However, no team has completed the comeback.
Rallying from a 3-0 hole is a rarity in all of the big team sports in North America.
The Dallas Stars are also looking be a part of history by becoming the ninth NHL team to push a series to Game 7 after being down 3-0 to the Vegas Golden Knights. Game 6 of the Western Conference Final goes Monday night in Dallas.
Of the eight teams that have made it to Game 7, only four teams have finished the job.
The Toronto Maple Leafs were the first to accomplish the comeback in all four major sports when they rallied to beat the Detroit Red Wings in seven games to win the Stanley Cup in 1942. Roles were reversed three years later, when the Red Wings fought out of a 3-0 hole to force Game 7 against the Maple Leafs during the 1945 Stanley Cup Final, but Toronto was able to secure the victory.
No NHL team mounted another comeback until the New York Islanders lost the first three games to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round of the 1975 Stanley Cup Playoffs and roared back to win the next four to win the series. The Islanders almost did it again in the following round when they came back from 3-0 to force a Game 7 with the Philadelphia Flyers but were unable to complete the comeback. Philadelphia went on to win the 1975 Stanley Cup over the Buffalo Sabres.
The Flyers had to erase a 3-0 deficit in order to reach the Eastern Conference Final in 2010 when they came back to defeat the Boston Bruins in the second round, some 35 years after the Islanders last accomplished the feat. Not only were the Flyers down 3-0 in the series and had to come back, but they were also down 3-0 during Game 7 to the Bruins before mounting a comeback to win 4-3.
Four years later, the Los Angeles Kings rallied from 3-0 to beat San Jose Sharks in the first round of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs. After beating the Sharks, the Kings had to play two more Game 7s in the second and third rounds and eventually beat the New York Rangers in five games to win the 2014 Stanley Cup. Los Angeles ended up setting a record by winning seven elimination games in a single playoff run.
One of the most famous times a team has come back from 3-0 down was the 2004 American League Championship Series when the Boston Red Sox overcame their fierce rival New York Yankees to reach the World Series
Boston was down 4-3 in the ninth inning in Game 4 and managed to stave off elimination by tying it in the ninth then winning the game in the 12th inning 6-4. The Red Sox were once again down 4-3 in the eighth inning of Game 5 before coming back to tie the game, eventually winning in the 14th inning to stay alive.
The two extra-inning games served as a catalyst for Boston starter Curt Schilling to pitch seven innings, allowing one run on four hits on an injured ankle to lead the Red Sox to a 4-2 victory in Game 6. The Red Sox then beat the Yankees 10-3 in Game 7 to reach the World Series.
Boston became the only team in MLB history to come back from three games down to win a series and ended up defeating the St. Louis Cardinals in a four-game sweep to end their 86-year World Series drought.
The Houston Astros are the only other team to rally from three games down to force a Game 7 when they mounted the comeback against the Tampa Bay Rays during the 2020 ALCS. The series was played in San Diego's Petco Park due to the COVID-19 pandemic, where the Rays held off the Astros comeback, beating them 4-2 in Game 7.