5 largest comebacks in NBA Playoffs history

It's safe to say this year's playoffs have been a blast compared to last season. Whether it be the epic 7 game series between Cleveland Cavaliers and Indiana Pacers or the one between Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks, it's been a lot of fun to watch, but the standout moment of possibly the whole playoffs is the historic comeback by the Oklahoma City Thunder against the Utah Jazz.

That got us thinking about some of the other great playoff comebacks over the years. So, today we rank the largest comebacks we've seen in the playoffs.

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#5 Oklahoma City Thunder 107-99 Utah Jazz: 25 Points, 2018

Donovan Mitchell and Russell Westbrook

The Thunder seemed dead and buried. Down 3-1 in the series, the humiliation of getting blown out at home to an unfancied Utah squad seemed to be on the cards. The Thunder seemed lifeless and so was the crowd, but then the tables turned with a bit of luck.

Utah's defensive monster Rudy Gobert, the Stifle Tower picked up his 4th foul on a phantom call. Gobert made little to no contact with Carmelo Anthony but the refs bizarrely called him for a foul and the game flipped on its head.

Gobert went to the bench with Utah up 21 in the 3rd quarter and the lead evaporated as Russell Westbrook scored 20 in the 3rd quarter to tie it up. He then scored 13 in the 4th quarter to end up with 45 points, in one of the greatest elimination game performances we have ever seen. His heroics were however ultimately in vain, as the Jazz won Game 6 to knock OKC out.

#3 Boston Celtics 94-90 New Jersey Nets: 26 Points, 2002

Boston Celtics v New Jersey Nets

After stealing home court from the Nets in Game 2, Boston looked to consolidate their grip on the 2002 Eastern Conference Finals but it sure didn't start the way they hoped. Boston trailed by 26 at one point and were down 21 points heading into the 4th quarter.

No team had ever overcome a 20+ points deficit in the 4th quarter and the Celtics seemed headed in the same direction with Paul Pierce missing 12 of his first 14 shots, but then something clicked.

Pierce scored 19 in the 4th quarter, leading a 41 point explosion from Boston, as the Celtics stole Game 3 in remarkable fashion. Their defense was on point too, limiting the Nets to just 4/22 shooting, to go along with 6 turnovers in the quarter. Just like the Thunder, however, it was ultimately in vain as the Nets won the next 3 games to advance to the NBA Finals.

The 26-point comeback is the joint third-biggest comeback in NBA Playoffs history.

#3 Cleveland Cavaliers 119-114 Indiana Pacers: 26 Points, 2017

LeBron James

It's easy to forget that just like this year, the Cavs-Pacers series in Round 1 last year was pretty close despite the end result being a sweep. After close losses in Game 1 & 2, the Pacers went on a first-half onslaught and were at one point up 26. They scored 74 points, a franchise record and held a 25 point halftime lead. Then, their offense went ice cold.

Indiana shot 5/26 in the 3rd quarter and to make matters worse, the Cavs shot lights out. Then in the 4th, LeBron turned himself into the human wrecking ball as Cleveland with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love on the bench, went on another scoring explosion to seal the game and basically the series.

The 26-point halftime deficit was the largest for the Cavs in NBA playoff history. This game was seen as somewhat of a turning point for Cleveland. After a sluggish end to the Regular season, and a sluggish start against Indiana, they crushed the Raptors and Celtics in the next 2 rounds to advance to their 3rd straight Finals.

#2 Los Angeles Clippers 99-98 Memphis Grizzlies: 27 Points, 2012

Chris Paul and Mike Conley

The Clippers and Grizzlies battled in one of the most memorable first-round matchups of all time in 2012 and it started off with a bang. The Grizzlies started strong, and stretched the lead to as much as 27, as the Clippers offense stumbled its way to just 40 1st half points. Things didn't look much better in the 3rd and they entered the 4th quarter down 21 points (sounds familiar?).

Then, the Grizzlies just collapsed, both on offense and defense. The Clippers went on a ridiculous 26-1 run, with contributions across the board. Nick Young led the way with 9 in the quarter and Blake Griffin had 8 as the Clippers almost matched their entire 1st half total, with 35 points in the 4th quarter.

Chris Paul sank two late free throws to give the Clippers their 1st lead of the game and they hung on to win it. This was just a sign of things to come in this series, which the Clippers would eventually win in 7 games.

#1 Los Angeles Lakers 97-95 Seattle Supersonics: 29 Points, 1989

Byron Scott

The largest deficit overcome in a game in the playoffs came all the way back in 1989. The Lakers, reaching the back 9 of the Showtime era, were looking to match the Celtics as the only teams ever to win 3 NBA titles in a row. After relatively easy wins in the first 3 games, they stumbled out of the blocks in Game 4.

LA only scored 12 points in the first quarter, and were behind by 29 points twice, early in the second quarter. Then, they slowly but surely began cutting into the Seattle lead. They cut it to 11 at the half and 8 entering the 4th quarter. LA then went up for good with 6 minutes left in the quarter.

James Worthy led the way with 33 points and hit some key shots down the stretch as the Lakers swept the Sonics. They would ultimately be denied a 3 peat in the Finals by Detroit.