“We want to come back to Miami”announced Jaylen Brown after Boston’s victory on Tuesday on the Miami floor (99-116). The Celtics will need to win Game 5 for that, in front of their home crowd, which doesn’t seem so impossible after dodging a sweep. It would however be a feat of great rarity.
Since 1984 and the establishment of the playoff format we know today, with 16 teams, only one franchise has managed to do so, according to Basketball Reference data. The Magic, led 0-3 despite the advantage of the field, had managed to win at TD Garden in Boston, then at the Amway Arena in Orlando in 2010 to prolong the suspense. If the Celtics pull off another win at home, they’ll be only the second group in NBA history to go that route.
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In Miami, the Celtics have already accomplished a rare thing
Nothing is impossible. After all, their victory in Game 4 is already an unusual performance. Of 14 teams down 3-0 before playing on enemy ground, 10 couldn’t avoid the sweep. Counting Jayson Tatum and his teammates, they are now four survivors.
Removing the series, however, is another story. None of the 13 franchises that have been in this situation have managed to turn the tide. More broadly, the teams led 3-0 show an overall record of 0 series won, against 111 lost. For the Celtics to win Game 5 would already be a great historical achievement, for them to qualify is more in the realm of cataclysm.
The Boston Celtics never recovered from the departure of Ime Udoka
2023-05-24 11:07:12
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