All 13 NBA Teams to Come Back From 3-1 Deficit in Playoff Series

Among North America’s major professional sports leagues, the NBA may be the one in which the most talented teams most often take home the championship.

The NBA playoffs certainly are designed to give the stronger teams an advantage, as each round has been a best-of-seven since 2003. To wit, unlike the MLB and NHL, no NBA team ever has overcome a 3–0 playoff series deficit, and only a very small number of teams has managed to overcome a 3–1 deficit.

Entering this NBA postseason, there had been 281 previous playoff series that have gone to 3–1. The team on the wrong side of that mark has rallied to win three straight games and win the series just 13 times (4.6%), per Land of Basketball. Amazingly, the most recent team to do so pulled off the feat in back-to-back series.

Here is the full list of teams which successfully rallied from 3-1 deficits to win a playoff series.

1968 Boston Celtics vs. Philadelphia 76ers — Eastern Division finals

Bill Russell (6) and the Boston Celtics overcame a 3–1 deficit against the Philadelphia 76ers in 1968 en route to reclaiming the NBA championship. Dreamstime/IMAGO

After winning Game 1 of the second-round playoff series in Philadelphia, these legendary Bill Russell-led Celtics would drop the next three games and faced elimination on the road at the Spectrum.

Sam Jones scored 37 points to lead the C’s in a blowout Game 5 win, and they followed it up with a 114–106 win at the Boston Garden to force Game 7. Six Celtics would score in double digits, and Boston held Wilt Chamberlain to just 14 points in a tight 100–96 win in Philadelphia to take the series. Boston subsequently would go on to win the 10th title in franchise history, beating the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals.

1970 Los Angeles Lakers vs. Phoenix Suns — Western Division semifinals

Two years later, Chamberlain was a member of the Lakers, and he helped engineer a 3–1 comeback of his own. The Lakers picked up a comfortable Game 1 win at the Forum before dropping three straight games to the Suns to go down 3–1. Ultimately Chamberlain, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor & Co. would kick things into gear with three straight double-digit wins to put Phoenix away.

L.A. would sweep the Atlanta Hawks in the division finals before falling in a dramatic seven-game NBA Finals series to the New York Knicks.

1979 Washington Bullets vs. San Antonio Spurs — Eastern Conference finals

The 1978–79 Bullets put together the NBA’s top record at 54–28, but they faced stiff competition throughout the playoffs. After hanging on to knock off the Hawks in seven games after leading 3–1, they were on the other side of things against the Spurs in the conference finals, dropping Games 1, 3 and 4. Led by Elvin Hayes and Bob Dandridge, they’d claw back to win the final three games in the series. The Bullets would not be so lucky in the NBA Finals, however, winning Game 1 before losing four straight to the Seattle SuperSonics.

1981 Boston Celtics vs. Philadelphia 76ers — Eastern Conference finals

Larry Bird led the way for the Boston Celtics in 1981. PCN Photography/IMAGO

Once again, the Celtics ruined the 76ers’ hopes for a trip to the NBA Finals, and this time, they were led by a star-studded roster that featured Larry Bird, Robert Parish and Kevin McHale.

After sweeping the Chicago Bulls to start the playoffs, Boston dropped Game 1 of the conference finals to the Sixers at the Garden, but picked up a Game 2 win. Philadelphia then took control of the series with a pair of wins at the Spectrum. But the Celtics would take the final three games, the first two by a mere two points and Game 7, 91–90, to win the conference. Boston went on to win the NBA Finals in six games against the Houston Rockets.

1995 Houston Rockets vs. Phoenix Suns — Western Conference semifinals

There was a 14-year gap between teams overcoming 3–1 playoff deficits, with Hakeem Olajuwon’s Rockets doing so against the Suns. After beating the Utah Jazz, 3-2, in the opening playoff round, Houston dropped three of their first four games against Charles Barkley and Phoenix. The Rockets needed overtime to win Game 5, and after a comfortable 13-point win at home in Game 6, they edged out the Suns, 115–114, in the decisive Game 7 in Phoenix. Olajuwon put up 29 points and 11 rebounds, while Clyde Drexler chipped in 29 points of his own in the win.

The Rockets then would beat the Spurs, 4-2, in the conference finals, on their way to a second straight NBA Finals victory with a sweep of the Orlando Magic.

1997 Miami Heat vs. New York Knicks — Eastern Conference semifinals

The Heat and Knicks shared a serious rivalry in the 1990s, with this playoff series as a centerpiece.

After beating the Magic, 3-2, to begin the playoffs, Miami dropped three of its first four games to New York, all of them low-scoring slugfests played in the 70- and 80-point range. Things picked up a bit when the series returned to Miami for Game 5, with the Heat scoring a 96–81 win to cut the deficit to one game. The Heat then squeezed out a 95–90 win at Madison Square Garden in Game 6, before finishing with a win back at home to end the series.

Things would end there, as Miami fell in five games to Michael Jordan and the Bulls in the Eastern Conference finals.

2003 Detroit Pistons vs. Orlando Magic — Eastern Conference first round

Ben Wallace was a dominant defensive force for the 2000s Detroit Pistons. Kirthmon F. Dozier/IMAGO

The ’03 Pistons were not quite ready to make a championship run, which would come a year later, but they flashed some of their famous grit in the playoffs. After falling behind 3-1 to start their opening playoff series against No. 8-seed Orlando, Richard Hamilton, Ben Wallace and Detroit rallied to win the final three games of the series, including a Game 5 in which their stifling defense held the Magic to just 67 points.

The top-seeded Pistons then handled the 76ers in six games to advance to the conference finals but were swept by the Jason Kidd-led New Jersey Nets. The following year, they would make it over the hump and famously upset the Shaquille O’Neal- and Kobe Bryant-led Lakers to win it all.

2006 Phoenix Suns vs. Los Angeles Lakers — Western Conference first round

Mike D’Antoni’s run-and-gun Suns were one of the NBA’s most fun teams to watch, but they were brought into a drag-out fight by Kobe Bryant and the seventh-seeded Lakers to open the ’06 playoffs. After the Suns won Game 1 in Phoenix, Los Angeles would grind out three close wins, including a Game 4 overtime thriller, to take a 3-1 lead. The Suns got back on track with a Game 5 win at home, and then they pulled out an overtime win of their own at Staples Center in Game 6. Phoenix sealed the comeback with a blowout victory in Game 7 at home.

Phoenix won a back-and-forth seven-game series with the Los Angeles Clippers in the next round, before falling in six games to Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference finals.

2015 Houston Rockets vs. Los Angeles Clippers — Western Conference semifinals

As the Golden State Warriors prepared for the first NBA championship of their recent dynastic era, a number of other star-studded Western Conference teams attempted to keep pace. Two of them—the James Harden-led Rockets and Chris Paul-led Clippers—faced off early in the 2015 playoffs.

The Clippers took three of the first four games of the series, including a blowout win in Game 1 at Toyota Center in Houston. After L.A. dominated Games 3 and 4 at Staples Center, Harden, Dwight Howard and Houston managed to flip momentum with a 21-point win in Game 5 before winning comfortably in the final two games to take the series.

However, the Rockets then ran into the buzzsaw that is Golden State in the conference finals, falling in five games.

2016 Golden State Warriors vs. Oklahoma City Thunder — Western Conference finals

This 2016 series went a long way toward shifting the direction of the NBA.

After posting a record-breaking 73–9 mark in the regular season, Golden State rolled through the first two rounds with 4–1 wins over the Rockets and Portland Trail Blazers. But the Warriors ran into trouble early in the series against Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and the Thunder.

Oklahoma City opened up a 3–1 lead, including back-to-back blowout wins at home in Games 3 and 4. From there, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson took over, winning three straight games by single digits to advance to the NBA Finals.

What happened next turned the 3–1 lead into a full-on meme.

2016 Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Golden State Warriors — NBA Finals

LeBron James and the Cavaliers authored a 3-1 comeback for the ages in their 2016 NBA Finals win over the Warriors. ZUMA Wire/IMAGO

Just one series later, Curry’s Warriors fell in the same manner to LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and the Cleveland Cavaliers, a championship that solidified James’s legacy in his home state.

The Warriors took the first two games in Oakland before losing by 30 in Cleveland in Game 3. Golden State rebounded to win Game 4 behind 38 from Curry, taking firm control of the series, but losing Draymond Green for a subsequent game for hitting James in the groin. Green was given his fourth flagrant foul of the playoffs, earning him a Game 5 suspension and giving Cleveland extra life. The Cavaliers would take that game in Oakland and Game 6 in Cleveland by double digits. Finally, the Cavs won a tight 93–89 Game 7, completing the comeback.

Golden State’s loss would open the door for Durant—whose Thunder were eliminated by the Warriors a round earlier—to join the team. They’d go on to beat the Cavaliers in the 2017 and ’18 NBA Finals, after which James would join the Lakers.

2020 Denver Nuggets vs. Utah Jazz — Western Conference first round

The Nuggets proved their playoff mettle in the NBA’s 2020 bubble playoffs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their first-round series against Utah was a coming-out party for Jamal Murray, who averaged 31.6 points per game, including 36 in Game 1, 42 in Game 5 and a pair of 50-point outings in Games 4 and 6. Denver opened the series with a 135–125 overtime win before losing three straight, including the first of Murray’s 50-point games. The Nuggets would recover to win the final three games of the series, by 10, 12 and two points, respectively.

2020 Denver Nuggets vs. Los Angeles Clippers — Western Conference semifinals

The experience of overcoming a 3–1 deficit would come in handy exactly one round later, when Denver pulled it off again.

The Clippers blasted the Nuggets in Game 1, but Murray & Co. answered with a 110–101 win in Game 2. Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, L.A.’s new fearsome forward duo, controlled the next two games but ultimately were outlasted by Murray and Nikola Jokić, who was just a year away from winning his first MVP award. They won Game 5 by six points before rolling in the final two matchups to advance to the conference finals.

LeBron James and the Lakers would take that series in five games and win the NBA title, but things have been on the rise for Denver since the bubble playoffs. Jokić would win back-to-back MVP awards in ’21 and ’22, and he led the Nuggets to the NBA title in ’23, winning series MVP honors.

2024 NBA Playoff Schedule

Monday, April 29:

• No. 1 Boston Celtics at No. 8 Miami Heat — Game 4 — 7:30 p.m. ET, TNT/TruTV (Boston leads 2–1)
• No. 1 Oklahoma City Thunder at No. 8 New Orleans Pelicans — Game 4 — 8:30 p.m. ET, NBA TV (OKC leads 3–0)
• No. 7 Los Angeles Lakers at No. 2 Denver Nuggets — Game 5 — 10 p.m. ET, TNT/TruTV (Denver leads 3–1)

Tuesday, April 30:

• No. 7 Philadelphia 76ers at No. 2 New York Knicks — Game 5 — 7 p.m. ET, TNT (New York leads 3–1)
• No. 5 Orlando Magic at No. 4 Cleveland Cavaliers — Game 5 — 8 p.m. ET, NBA TV (series tied 2–2)
• No. 6 Indiana Pacers at No. 3 Milwaukee Bucks — Game 5 — 9:30 p.m. ET, TNT (Indiana leads 3–1)

Wednesday, May 1:

• No. 8 Miami Heat at No. 1 Boston Celtics — Game 5 — 7:30 p.m. ET, TNT (Boston leads 2–1)
• No. 5 Dallas Mavericks at No. 4 Los Angeles Clippers — Game 5 — 10 p.m. ET, TNT (series tied 2–2)

The Minnesota Timberwolves, No. 3 in the Western Conference, swept the Phoenix Suns in four games and will face the winner of the Nuggets—Lakers series in the conference semifinals.