How Celtics can make pro sports history by taking down the Heat in Game 7 originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
BOSTON — Jaylen Brown declared the Boston Celtics a team of “destiny” after their Game 5 win over the Miami Heat in the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals.
If they secure one more win, they’ll at least be a team of history.
The Celtics host the Heat in Game 7 at TD Garden on Monday night despite losing the first three games of the series. They’re just the fourth team in NBA history to force a Game 7 after trailing a playoff series 3-0, and if they win Monday night, they’d succeed where 150 previous teams have failed to become the first NBA team ever to win a series after trailing 3-0.
The Celtics also would follow in the footsteps of the 2004 Boston Red Sox, who are one of only five teams in North American professional sports history to come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a best-of-seven playoff series.
Outside the ’04 Red Sox, only four other teams have mounted comebacks from down 3-0, and all were NHL squads. Here’s the full list, sorted by date:
It’s been nine years since any team rallied from down 3-0, and nearly two decades since a team did it this late in their respective playoffs. So, it’s fitting that the Celtics are using the 2004 Red Sox as motivation: Head coach Joe Mazzulla said before Game 7 that the coaching staff had the team watch a documentary about the 2004 Red Sox’ comeback — ESPN’s “Four Days in October” after their blowout Game 3 loss.
Mazzulla’s Celtics are in a unique situation in that they entered the series as heavy favorites; of the previous three NBA teams to force a Game 7 after trailing 3-0, all three had to play Game 7 on the road, while Boston will host the No. 8 seed Heat in front of a raucous TD Garden crowd.
A trip to the NBA Finals to face the Denver Nuggets is at stake — as is the opportunity for the Celtics to combine destiny and history.