The Celtics and Mavericks have gotten comfortable playing from ahead, for the most part. That’s what happens when you win 12 playoff games and have enough success to secure a trip to the NBA Finals.
Odds are whichever team wins a championship will have to master the art of the comeback at least once.
The Celtics know all about that, as they rallied to overcome a double-digit deficit in Game 1 of the Finals in 2022, outscoring the Warriors 40-16 in the fourth quarter. They also put together a masterful comeback in Game 4 of the 2008 NBA Finals, which set the stage for a championship.
The Mavericks, meanwhile, are arguably the more battle-tested team in the series, having played numerous close games between their playoff meetings with the Thunder and Timberwolves. Dallas has risen to the occasion in high-pressure moments, and that experience could be meaningful if the Mavericks find themselves trailing against a Celtics team that has been here before.
Here’s a look at the biggest comebacks in NBA Finals history, from the 1971 Bucks to the 2008 Celtics.
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Biggest comeback in NBA Finals history
The Celtics’ 24-point comeback over the Lakers in Game 4 of the 2008 NBA Finals is the largest Finals comeback in the past five decades. Elias Sports Bureau reported at the time that the comeback was the largest in the NBA Finals since 1971, when the Bucks swept the Baltimore Bullets, but the exact details of the comeback aren’t known due to less complete record-keeping at the time.
Game 4 of the 2008 Finals is one that might still linger in the minds of Lakers fans, though winning back-to-back championships in 2009 and 2010 undoubtedly erased some of the pain.
The Lakers led 45-21 in the second quarter of Game 4 and still held an 18-point advantage at halftime. The second half was an offensive nightmare for Los Angeles, who scored just 33 points and was badly outplayed by Boston. The Celtics outscored the Lakers by 24 in the second half, winning 97-91 on the road to take a 3-1 series lead.
It was a balanced effort by the Celtics, who had five players score in double figures and were led by Paul Pierce’s 20 points. Kobe Bryant shot just 6-of-19 in the Lakers’ loss, and it didn’t help matters that their bench was just 5-of-21 from the field.
The Lakers would win Game 5 to force another game back at TD Garden, but Game 6 was a 39-point destruction that put the Celtics back on top of the basketball world.
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Recent NBA Finals comeback wins
History tells you to expect a double-digit comeback in the 2024 NBA Finals.
The Heat overcame a 13-point deficit in their lone win over the Nuggets in last year’s NBA Finals, while the Celtics trailed by as much as 15 in their Game 1 win over the Warriors in 2022. The Bucks entered the second quarter of Game 5 in 2021 down by 16 before coming back to win. Both the Warriors and Raptors completed double-digit comebacks during the 2019 Finals.
Of course, some late-game comebacks that don’t match the Celtics’ 24-point resurgence or even the Bucks’ 16-point recovery are just as impressive. The Heat trailed by 13 points with under seven minutes remaining in Game 3 of the 2006 NBA Finals but stormed back to avoid a 3-0 series deficit. The Mavericks returned the favor five years later with a furious comeback in Game 2 of the Finals.
Few leads will be safe in the series between the Celtics and Mavericks, and the team that can steal a win when it’s least expected just might be the team that has the advantage in the end.