To force a seventh game, they will have to beat the Heat on the road tonight, something that at first glance seems very complicated. Now, what teams in history managed to turn their series after being 0-3 to reach the decisive game? Only three.
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Rochester Royals vs. New York Knicks (1951)
The Royals won the first three games of the 1951 Finals. The Knicks reversed history by winning three in a row by margins of six, three and seven points. But it was not enough: Rochester won the 7th and was champion.
Utah Jazz vs. Denver Nuggets (1994)
The Jazz, in the era of John Stockton and Karl Malone, had the matter almost sentenced against the Nuggets in the Western Semifinals. However, Dan Issel's team did not give up and achieved a historic 'comeback'.
Denver was a special team, since in that same playoffs they won six games in a 'win or loose' situation. After trailing 2-0 to the Supersonics in the first round, they won three in a row. And then three more in a row to tie against Utah.
Dallas Mavericks vs. Portland Trail Blazers (2003)
First round of playoffs. The Mavericks had a clear advantage over the Blazers in the first three games of the series (96-86, 103-99 and 115-103) to go 3-0.
However, that breeze would turn into a storm. Portland turned the tie around to win the next three games (98-79, 103-99 and 125-103). In Game 7, Dirk Nowitzki came to the rescue of Dallas, who advanced thanks to his 31 points and 11 rebounds.
Let's go back to the present. There's one more stat that favors the Heat against the Celtics, courtesy of ESPN Stats: Miami is 4-0 at home when leading a playoff series three games to two, including, of course, the one it won in the previous round against the Knicks.
Not only that: the Heat are 10-2 overall (home and away) when leading 3-2 in the series. He has nine straight wins in this situation since losing in the Eastern Finals to the Pistons in 2005.
Boston teams are made for historic comebacks, Patriots vs. Falcons, Red Sox vs. Yankees... That being said, the Celtics are going for the most wonderful thing in sports: the search for a sports miracle to rewrite history. We repeat the data: 0-150 for teams in their situation. Can they make it? Tonight we will begin to have the answer.