Can Celtics overcome 0-2 deficit? Here’s what recent NBA playoff history says originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Boston Celtics are in a tough spot after losing the first two games at home to begin their Eastern Conference semifinals series against the New York Knicks.
There’s no way around it. Boston has a difficult job ahead.
But overcoming an 0-2 deficit is not an insurmountable task. In fact, it’s actually happened fairly often in recent NBA history.
There has been at least one team in each of the last four postseasons to win a series after losing the first two games. It’s also happened in eight of the last nine years.
Two of these teams — 2017 Celtics over Bulls, 2021 Clippers over Mavericks — overcame that deficit to win the series after losing the first two games at home.
- 2024: Pacers over Knicks in conference semifinals
- 2023: Warriors over Kings in first round
- 2022: Mavericks over Suns in conference semifinals
- 2021: Clippers over Mavericks in first round, over Jazz in conference semifinals; Bucks over Nets in conference semifinals, over Suns in NBA Finals
- 2020: None
- 2019: Raptors over Bucks in conference finals
- 2018: Cavaliers over Celtics in conference finals
- 2017: Celtics over Bulls in first round
- 2016: Cavaliers over Warriors in NBA Finals, Trail Blazers over Clippers in first round
Overall, 34 teams in league history have overcome an 0-2 deficit to win a playoff series.
The Celtics have overcome an 0-2 deficit twice.
The first was in 2017 against the Chicago Bulls in the first round. The Celtics lost the first two games at home but won the next four matchups.
The other example was all the way back in 1969 when the Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
The Celtics have built a 20-point lead in both of the first two games against the Knicks. They’ve also shot just 25 percent (25-for-100) from 3-point range through two games, which is well below their regular season rate. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have not played at a superstar level. And yet, despite so much going wrong, the Celtics lost by just three points in overtime in Game 1 and lost by only one point in Game 2.
If the Celtics play anywhere near the level they’re capable of, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them win Game 3 on Saturday afternoon and put the pressure back on the Knicks. Boston has won four straight games at Madison Square Garden and its 33-8 road record this season was the second-best in league history.
