Down 3-0, it's looking grim for the Boston Celtics
BOSTON -- If the Celtics want to get back to the NBA Finals, they'll have to do something no other NBA team has ever done.
After another embarrassing no-show in Sunday night's Game 3 in Miami, Boston is now in a 3-0 hole to the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Celtics have to win Tuesday night just to keep their season alive.
There have been 110 teams to go down 3-0 in an NBA playoffs series since 1984, and none of them have come back to win the series. Zero.
Of those 110 teams to take a 3-0 lead, 70 of them have gone on to sweep the series. The series loser has forced a Game 5 on 31 occasions, a Game 6 just seven times, and only two teams to fall into a 3-0 series hole have come back to force a Game 7.
The Celtics have a much more difficult task at hand with Game 4 in Miami. When a lower seed has gone up 3-0, they've gone on to complete a series sweep at home in 10 of the 13 series. No higher seed to lose the first three games of a set has ever forced a Game 7.
Stretching things out to all sports, only five teams have ever overcome a 3-0 series deficit. Boston fans are pretty familiar with the only baseball team to pull off the feat, with the Red Sox storming back against the New York Yankees in a truly epic 2004 ALCS. After winning four straight against the Yankees, the Red Sox went on to sweep the St. Louis Cardinals for the club's first World Series championship in 84 years.
Boston is also on the other end of the spectrum. The Bruins blew a 3-0 series lead to the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2010 Eastern Conference semis, a series that ended with a 4-3 loss on TD Garden ice.
Three other hockey teams have come back from down 3-0: The 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs in the Stanley Cup Final over the Detroit Red Wings, the 1975 New York Islanders over the Pittsburgh Penguins in the quarterfinals, and the 2014 L.A. Kings in the first round over the San Jose Sharks.
It's such a small list because coming back from down 3-0 is near impossible to pull off. It feels like an even more daunting task for the Celtics, who would have to win two games in Miami (Games 4 and 6) where the Heat are undefeated this postseason. Boston is an impressive 4-3 on the road during the playoffs, but they'd also have to win two games at TD Garden, where the C's are a disappointing 4-5 in postseason play.
After kicking away second-half leads in Games 1 and 2, and then getting totally outplayed and outclassed in Miami in Game 3, it would be a small miracle for the Celtics to extend this series past Tuesday night. Given how uneven and unconnected they've played this postseason, it would to take a giant miracle for these Celtics to pull off something that the NBA has never seen before.
