In Major League Baseball, there has been one successful comeback from a 3-0 deficit, and that occurred when the Boston Red Sox stormed back to defeat the New York Yankees 4-3 in the 2004 ALCS. That is a series that will live on in the minds of both fan bases for many, many years.
In the National Hockey League, teams have come back from 3-0 deficits four times to win the series.
The first time was in 1942, when the Toronto Maple Leafs rallied from 3-0 down to beat the Detroit Red Wings. This is the only time that this has ever happened in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Teams also rallied from 3-0 behind to win in 1975 (Islanders vs Penguins), 2010 (Flyers vs Bruins) and 2014 (Kings vs Sharks).
In five other cases, NHL teams rallied from 3-0 behind to tie the series, only to end up losing.
-
The successful 3-0 comeback has also happened on eight occasions in other leagues across the world, including the Nippon Professional League, the Finnish Elite League and the Kontinental Hockey League, to name a few.
-
The most notable 3-0 comeback likely belongs to the Boston Red Sox in 2004, as the series involved two of baseball's most storied franchises and occurred in an era with a great deal of media coverage.
In the history of these leagues, teams that were down 3–0 in a series have come back to win the series five times; four times in the NHL and once in MLB. The most recent example is the Los Angeles Kings of the NHL in the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs
Stanley Cup playoffs
The Stanley Cup playoffs consists of four rounds of best-of-seven series. Each series is played in a 2–2–1–1–1 format, meaning the team with home-ice advantage hosts games one, two, five, and seven, while their opponent hosts games three, four, and six. Games five, six, and seven are only played if needed.
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Stanley_Cup_playoffs
Johnny Damon's Game 7 grand slam seemed to lift whatever burden was left from the Red Sox's shoulders, as the self-proclaimed "idiots" became the first team to erase a 3-0 postseason deficit before sweeping the Cardinals for Boston's first championship since 1918.
NBA history has seen 11 teams turn a 3-0 lead into a 4-2 series loss. Those teams, in chronological order, are: The 2022 Toronto Raptors, who lost to the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round. The 2015 Milwaukee Bucks, who lost to the Chicago Bulls in the first round.
But only one, the 2004 Boston Red Sox, has completed the comeback. In light of the Boston Celtics looking to become the first NBA team to ever come back from a 3-0 deficit, here's a look at the MLB teams that made the best comeback attempts from a three-games-to-none deficit in the postseason.
The last playoff team down 3-0 to force a Game 7 was the 2003 Portland Trail Blazers in the first year the NBA expanded its first round from best of five to best of seven.
The Mets fell to 0-5 for the first time since the 2005 season. After blowing a 3-0 lead and failing to muster a run when they had a chance to walk it off in the ninth and 10th innings, New York allowed three runs in the top of the 11th and fell, 6-3, to the Detroit Tigers.
In the American League, the longest 0–0 game was played between the Washington Senators and Detroit Tigers on July 16, 1909. The game was called after 18 innings due to darkness at Bennett Park in Detroit.
Second blown 3–1 series lead in Clippers' franchise history and second such blown lead in five years; only the Philadelphia 76ers and Phoenix Suns have blown two 3–1 series leads (albeit in a much longer time period). Third such blown lead for head coach Doc Rivers.
Of the 158 teams that started 0-3 between 1990-2022, four managed to get into the postseason. Only one 0-3 team has won a playoff game, and no such team has reached the Super Bowl.
1949 BAA Finals: Washington Capitols trailed Minneapolis 3-0, lost in six. 1951 NBA Finals: New York trailed Rochester Royals 3-0, lost in seven. 1962 Western Division finals: Detroit trailed L.A. Lakers 3-0, lost in six. 1994 Western Conference semifinals: Denver trailed Utah 3-0, lost in seven.
Has any NBA team achieved a perfect season with a record of 82-0 or a winless season with a record of 0-82? No, no NBA team has ever achieved a record of 82-0 or 0-82 in a regular season [1].
To date, there has never been a successful comeback from a 3–0 series deficit in the NBA. Of the 151 NBA teams that have fallen into a 3–0 deficit, only four of them (~3%) have forced a game seven, with all four losing in game seven.
In the history of these leagues, teams that were down 3–0 in a series have come back to win the series five times; four times in the NHL and once in MLB.
The 15 teams that have overcome the odds have proved, time and again, that no two-game lead is safe. Even a 3-0 deficit has been conquered once, by the curse-busting Red Sox against the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS.
Background. Johnny Vander Meer pitched the only consecutive no-hitters in MLB history. An official no-hit game occurs in Major League Baseball (MLB) when a pitcher (or pitchers) allows no hits during the entire course of a game, which consists of at least nine innings thrown by the pitcher(s).
On May 2, 1917, a game between the Chicago Cubs and the Cincinnati Reds reached the end of nine innings in a hitless scoreless tie, the only time in baseball history that neither team has had a hit in regulation.
Introduction: My name is Mrs. Angelic Larkin, I am a cute, charming, funny, determined, inexpensive, joyous, cheerful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.
The 3-0 comeback to win in a best-of-7 series. 