Welcome to the Comeback Playoffs, led by the Indiana Pacers.
Indiana’s rally from 15 points down in Game 1 of the NBA Finals was the 10th such comeback — from 15 or more — in this season’s playoffs. The Pacers and Tyrese Haliburton are responsible for five of those comebacks; the rest of the league, combined, have the other five.
Since the NBA began keeping track of such things in 1997, there has never been a postseason with more 15-point comebacks or more by a single team than the Pacers have pulled off this spring.
Dallas had four comebacks from 15 points or more in the 2003 playoffs, and as a whole, the league saw nine of these games in the 2021 playoffs.
But never five by one team, or 10 in one postseason since these things began getting charted — until now.
A breakdown of the moments:
Game 1, NBA Finals: Pacers down 15
Indiana — which looked doomed by turnovers all night — trailed by 15 points with just under 10 minutes to go in the fourth quarter and took its only lead of the game on a jumper by Tyrese Haliburton with 0.3 seconds remaining to steal Game 1 of the finals over the Thunder. Final score: Indiana 111, Oklahoma City 110.
Game 3, East finals: Knicks down 20
This time, the Pacers had it happen to them. Indiana led by 20 points with 3:20 left in the second quarter, only to get outscored 71-45 the rest of the way. Jalen Brunson’s jumper with 1:17 left put New York up for good and the Knicks prevailed, 106-100.
Game 1, East finals: Pacers down 17
This game felt very over, especially when Karl-Anthony Towns made a 3-pointer for a 17-point New York lead with 6:26 left. Ha. The Pacers were still down 14 with 2:40 remaining, went on an incredible 20-6 run to tie the game — Haliburton’s jumper hit the back of the rim, went about 17 feet in the air, and bounced in to force overtime — and the Pacers won 138-135.
[Related: Pacers stun Knicks with historic comeback: ‘Second-worst loss of my life]
Game 5, East semifinals: Pacers down 19
Indiana closed out the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 5 of this series, rallying from a 19-point hole that had been dug early in the second quarter. The Pacers got within four by halftime, took the lead midway through the third and kept it the rest of the way in what became a 114-105 win.
Game 2, East semifinals: Knicks down 20
This game on May 7 marked the third consecutive day that a road team in the East semifinals erased what was exactly a 20-point deficit. Boston led 73-53 late in the third quarter, and New York outscored the Celtics 38-17 in the final 14 minutes. Brunson gave the Knicks their last lead on two free throws with 12.7 seconds left and New York escaped, 91-90.
[Related: Tyrese Haliburton is on historic clutch streak; here are his best moments]
Game 2, East semifinals: Pacers down 20
Max Strus’ dunk with 6:51 left in the third quarter put Cleveland up 81-61. and the Cavaliers kept their double-digit lead into the fourth quarter. Cleveland was up 119-112 with 48 seconds left; Indiana scored the final eight points and Haliburton’s 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds remaining sealed a 120-119 stunner of a win.
Game 1, East semifinals: Knicks down 20
Again, Boston led by 20 midway through the third quarter. The Knicks were undeterred. Brunson’s 3-pointer with 4:07 left put New York on top, the start of what became a back-and-forth finish until OG Anunoby’s dunk with 3:25 left in overtime put the Knicks up for good. Final score: Knicks 108, Celtics 105.
Game 5, East quarterfinals: Pacers down 20
Milwaukee, playing to keep its season alive and without injured guard Damian Lillard (torn Achilles), roared out to a 33-13 lead early in the second quarter. Indiana kept chipping away, and a great back-and-forth battle after halftime was sealed when Haliburton made a layup with 1.4 seconds left for a 119-118 series-clinching win.
Game 3, West quarterfinals: Thunder down 29
The biggest comeback of these playoffs still belongs to Oklahoma City, which was down 69-40 in Memphis in Game 3 of those teams’ Western Conference first-round series. But Ja Morant got hurt and left the game, and without their guard the Grizzlies couldn’t hold the lead. Oklahoma City outscored Memphis by 35 in the game’s final 27 minutes to win 114-108.
Game 1, West quarterfinals: Nuggets down 15
Little did we know that this game on Day 1 of the playoffs, April 19, was a harbinger of what awaited the rest of the way. Denver trailed the L.A. Clippers 51-36 midway through the second quarter, but recovered for a 112-110 win behind 29 points from Nikola Jokic.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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