Here’s how Celtics would make NBA history if they beat Heat, force Game 7 originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Boston Celtics are halfway to completing the greatest comeback in NBA playoff history.
After falling into a shocking 0-3 hole to the Miami Heat in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals, the Celtics fought back and won the next two games in convincing fashion. Boston’s 110-97 win in Game 5 at TD Garden was perhaps the team’s most complete performance of the season.
The Celtics shot poorly from 3-point range in the first three games, while the Heat simultaneously shot lights out from the deep. The Heat are still shooting pretty well, but the Celtics’ percentages from beyond the arc have improved quite a bit. Boston shot 34-for-84 (40.4 percent) on 3-point shots in Games 4 and 5 combined.
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The series has shifted back to Miami for Game 6 on Saturday night. The Celtics have won four of their last six playoff games in Miami, but the Heat are 7-1 at home in the 2023 playoffs.
If the Celtics win Game 6, they will join a very small list of teams that have forced a Game 7 after trailing a series 0-3. Just three of the 150 teams that have trailed 0-3 in a best-of-7 have battled all the way to a Game 7. It hasn’t happened in 20 years.
Here’s the full list of teams:
The 2003 Trail Blazers, 1994 Nuggets and 1951 Knicks all played Game 6 at home and lost Game 7 on the road as the lower seeded team. The Celtics are in the opposite situation. They have Game 7 at home, if necessary.
The 2003 Trail Blazers won by 22 at home in Game 6, then lost by 12 in Dallas a few nights later. The Mavericks won another Game 7 against the Sacramento Kings in the conference semifinals before losing to the eventual champion San Antonio Spurs in the conference finals.
The 1994 Nuggets were a No. 8 seed and pulled off a stunning upset of the No. 1 seed Seattle SuperSonics in the first round. The Nuggets won by three in Game 6 against the Jazz but lost by 10 on the road in Game 7. The Jazz got trounced by the eventual champion Houston Rockets in the conference finals.
The 1951 Knicks came the closest to pulling off the miracle comeback. They won by seven at home in Game 6 and lost by only four points in Game 7 in Rochester. That series was the first NBA Finals ever to reach a Game 7.
Will the Celtics expand this group to four teams with a Game 6 win on Saturday night? Tip-off from Miami is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET.
