Atlanta Hawks lost 70-44 in the stadium of Philadelphia 76ers with just over nine minutes to play in the third quarter. The 76ers’ Wells Fargo Center, one of the league’s best-atmospheric stadiums, had previously been a boiler as a fifth game in the Playoffs in a series that is tied 2-2 and Joel Embiid, the star of the locals, warranted it. , enjoyed scoring a 24-point double-double in the first half.
The comeback seemed highly unlikely, but nothing is impossible in sports and Georgia managed to end up making history of their franchise, with his biggest comeback in the Playoffs to end up winning by 109-106 and travel home with a 3-2 advantage, where they will try to finish off the series next Friday.
This tremendous comeback by the Hawks is the biggest in the Playoffs of this franchise with more than 70 years of history, but fails to be the biggest ever seen in the NBA.
More | Atlanta Hawks achieved an incredible comeback against Philadelphia 76ers: won as a visitor after losing by 26 points
That record was set precisely by a team led by Doc Rivers, the victim of the onslaught of the Hawks. When he was tactically driving LA Clippers in 2019 Rivers enjoyed as his rebounding from a 31-point deficit against the Golden State Warriors, at that time nothing more and nothing less than the defending NBA champion.
The Clippers trailing 94-63 with seven and a half minutes left in the third quarter and from then on they achieved a partial of 72-37 to end up winning 135-131 on the road in Oakland: they got into the game in the remainder of the third period and came to the front just 16 seconds from the end with a triple by Landry Shamet assisted by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, then two rookies that they beat a team that had Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, DeMarcus Cousins, Andre Iguodala and Draymond Green and that he ended up reaching the Finals after winning that First Round series 4-2.
The data? The Clippers figure that day was Lou Williams with 36 points and 11 assists from the bench and the talented veteran was also key for Atlanta this Wednesday.
The third-biggest comeback in history also belongs to the LA Clippers, what in 2012 he won the first match of the First Round Memphis Grizzlies as a visitor leaving a 27-point disadvantage two and a half minutes after the third period with a partial 44-16 pushed by the bench, with 9 goals from Nick Young, 7 from Mo Williams and 7 from a young Eric Bledsoe against the team of Marc Gasol, Mike Conley and Zach Randolph.
What’s in between and above Atlanta’s 26 points? A comeback from another Los Angeles team, from the neighbors Lakers. In the fourth game of the Second Round of 1989 they left a 29-point pot in Seattle against the Supersonics at the beginning of the second quarter (they were down 43-14) to finish 97-95 on top and end up winning that series 4-0 on the way to the Finals, in which they were defeated 4-0 by the Detroit Pistons. Before six minutes to finish the game the Lakers were already ahead.
“We never panic, we never accuse each other, we never quit. That’s what it was all about.” Magic Johnson commented after the feat. He was on the verge of triple-double that day with 17 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists and the Lakers’ leading scorer was James Worthy with 33 points.
Tied with Atlanta’s comeback are those of Boston Celtics against New Jersey Nets in Game 3 of the 2002 Eastern Finals (from 65-39 for the Nets to 8:31 from the end of the third quarter to the 94-90 triumph of the Celtics with Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker as stars) and that of Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Indiana Pacers in Game 3 of the 2017 First Round (from the Pacers ’72-46 one minute before the end of the second quarter to the Cavaliers’ 119-114 on the road with 41 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists from LeBron James).
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