Over its history, the NBA has seen some truly spectacular playoff moments. The highlights haven’t only included incredible comebacks and great individual player performances. They have also featured ridiculously lopsided blowouts that demonstrated a winning team’s dominance, often on its way to a championship.

The biggest loss in NBA playoff history came in 2009, when the Denver Nuggets dismantled the Charlotte Hornets for a 121-63 win. That 58-point margin of victory left Denver with one of the most embarrassing NBA playoff scores fans will likely ever see. 

The biggest fourth-quarter comeback in NBA playoff history was staged in 2002 by the Boston Celtics, who outscored the New Jersey Nets 41-16 to overcome a 26-point deficit. Celtics star Paul Pierce led his team to that remarkable victory, scoring 19 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter.

How many teams make the NBA playoffs?

There are 16 teams in the NBA playoffs with eight qualifying from each conference. That creates four first-round matchups on each side of the bracket. The two groups of eight teams face off until both an Eastern and Western Conference champion are crowned. Those teams then meet in the NBA Finals.

The 2023 NBA Playoffs feature the recently implemented NBA Play-In Tournament that results in the Nos. 7 and 8 seeds in each conference being finalized by both single- and double-elimination outcomes.

Ranking the Top 10 Greatest Comebacks in NBA Playoff history

10. 1997 Eastern Conference Semifinals: Miami Heat vs New York Knicks

Biggest Series Deficit: Knicks led 3-1
Series Result: 4-3 Heat

The 1997 Eastern Conference semifinals between the Miami Heat and New York Knicks was one of the most chippy and tense series in memory. Both teams were jawing at each other throughout the series, and it finally boiled over in Game 5 with the Knicks on the verge of advancing.

New York’s Charles Oakley was ejected from Game 5 with two technical fouls for fighting with the Heat’s Alonzo Mourning. Things were just heating up at that point, because moments later, P.J. Brown picked up Knicks guard Charlie Ward and tossed him to the floor.

An all-out brawl ensued with both teams clearing the benches to take part in the fisticuffs. Coaches and team personnel rushed out and tried to separate the two sides, and the tussle resulted in multiple suspensions for both teams.

Five Knicks players were suspended for Game 6, including leading scorers Allan Houston and Patrick Ewing. The decision to punish Ewing was a controversial one. Although Ewing left the bench, he was never directly involved in the fight -- having stood at center court for most of it while the chaos developed in front of him.

The Heat won Game 5 and leveled the series against the depleted Knicks in Game 6 at Madison Square Garden. Miami then stole the show in Game 7, as Tim Hardaway's 38 points led the Heat to a 4-3 series win that eliminated the Knicks from the playoffs.

9. 2015 Western Conference Semifinals: Houston Rockets vs Los Angeles Clippers

Biggest Series Deficit: Clippers led 3-1
Series Result: 4-3 Rockets

The L.A. Clippers shot out to a 3-1 lead against James Harden and the Houston Rockets in their 2015 playoff series and looked to be on the verge of having things wrapped up in Game 5.

Chris Paul and the Clippers had blown the Rockets out in Games 3 and 4 before heading to Houston’s Toyota Center with a chance to wrap up the series. Based on how the previous two games had gone, nobody gave the Rockets a chance to fight their way back into the series, yet that’s exactly what they did.

Houston won Game 5, but the Rockets would have to go back to the Staples Center for a sixth game, which again were given very little chance of winning. The Rockets came so close to exiting the playoffs after falling behind by as many as 19 points in Game 6 before miraculous performances from Josh Smith and Corey Brewer took the team on an immense run that led to a 119-107 win.

James Harden’s Game 7 performance gave the Rockets an eventual 4-3 series win over Doc Rivers’ Clippers. Houston tied the league record for the biggest playoff series comeback, becoming the ninth NBA team to overcome a 3-1 deficit.

8. 1971 Eastern Conference Finals: Baltimore Bullets vs New York Knicks

Biggest Series Deficit: Knicks led 2-0
Series Result: 4-2 Bullets

Wes Unseld, Earl Monroe and the 1970-71 Baltimore Bullets had a strong rivalry with the New York Knicks. The teams had previously faced each other in two playoff series, and New York had won both. Things looked to be heading the same way in 1971 when the defending NBA champion Knicks took a 2-0 lead at Madison Square Garden.

It was a classic matchup, as the Knicks’ Walt Frazier went toe-to-toe with the Bullets’ Earl Monroe and these two standout talents traded blow for blow throughout the series. In addition, there were Wes Unseld and Willis Reed, two elite centers who had both captivated the NBA by winning the previous two seasons’ MVP awards (Unseld in 1969 and Reed in 1970).

Baltimore couldn’t seem to get past the Knicks, but when the series reached Game 7 at The Garden, the Bullets suddenly had a chance, and they took it. Unseld had a magnificent game in the paint with no less than 20 rebounds, and the Bullets stole the win 93-91.

Earlier that year, the Baltimore Colts had won the Super Bowl, and the Baltimore Orioles were coming off a 1970 World Series victory. When the Bullets finally overcame the rival Knicks, Baltimore was suddenly rebranded “Titletown USA.” Unfortunately, the Bullets would fall to Milwaukee in the NBA Finals and did not win their first NBA title until seven years later in 1978.

7. 2020 Western Conference Semifinals: Denver Nuggets vs Los Angeles Clippers

Biggest Series Deficit: Clippers led 3-1
Series Result: 4-3 Nuggets

The Nuggets’ 2020 NBA playoff journey, which took part in the league’s COVID-19 pandemic bubble, was wild.

Denver had to overcome a 3-1 series deficit to beat the Utah Jazz 4-3 in the opening round of the 2020 playoffs just to reach their meeting with the Clippers. That win over the Jazz was a wild series in itself, and its Game 4 marked the first time in NBA playoff history that a player from each team scored at least 50 points. Nuggets guard Jamal Murray dropped 50, while Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell had 51 for Utah, which eventually stole the win to go up 3-1.

The two talented guards went toe-to-toe in Games 5 and 6, and Murray continued his fine form. He scored 42 points in Game 5 and 50 more in Game 6, as the Nuggets leveled the series before claiming the seventh game and advancing to the next round.

After having to rally from a 3-1 deficit to win a series, it would seem the Nuggets had learned their lesson, but they faced the same fate a second time in the next series against coach Doc Rivers’ Clippers.

Paul George and Kawhi Leonard led Los Angeles out to a 3-1 series lead. This time it was Murray and Nikola Jokic who powered the Nuggets back into the series by forcing another Game 7. Murray would emerge as the hero with 40 points, while Jokic managed 22 rebounds as Denver beat the odds to advance yet again.

Denver’s win marked the third time in Rivers’ coaching career that he surrendered a 3-1 series lead in the playoffs, having also done so with the Magic in 2003 and the Clippers in 2015.

6. 1968 Eastern Conference Finals: Boston Celtics vs Philadelphia 76ers

Biggest Series Deficit: 76ers led 3-1
Series Result: 4-3 Celtics

The 1968 playoffs featured one of the many great rivalry matchups between NBA icons Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain. It was also the first time that an NBA team would overcome a 3-1 playoff series deficit.

Russell’s Celtics had won nine titles over the previous 10-year span, and he was now his team’s player-coach as he went up against Chamberlain's Sixers in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Wilt had just won his third consecutive NBA MVP award in 1968, and the Sixers entered the series as defending champions. They had beaten the Celtics in the 1967 Eastern Conference finals to end Boston’s eight-year championship streak. Expectations were high for the 1968 series when the two star-studded rosters met again, but Philly jumped out to a heavy lead that made it look like they would return to the NBA Finals.

After winning Game 1, the Celtics suffered three straight losses -- including both home games at the Boston Garden. Down 3-1 despite Bill Russell averaging over 20 rebounds per game, Boston headed back to Philadelphia for Game 5 with the series on the line.

Before Game 5, a Boston Globe columnist jeered that the Celtics “might as well have the (Boston Garden) floor taken up, it won’t be needed until next year.” That insult stuck with the team and gave it an extra boost to prove that their dynasty still had life.

The Celtics won Game 5 and then executed a marvelous game plan against Wilt Chamberlain in Game 6 that forced him out of the paint against the pick-and-roll. Chamberlain reached five fouls, and Russell drove at him for the remainder of the game. Wilt was never willing to foul out of a game, and Russell used that to his advantage as Boston leveled the series at 3-3.

Russell made a coaching change for Game 7, having Wayne Embry guard Chamberlain. That freed Russell up to guard the Sixers’ Chet Walker, who had been damaging the Celtics by averaging more than 20 points per game. Russell shut Walker down in Game 7 and played all 48 minutes to cap one of the best NBA playoff series comebacks. The Celtics regained their Eastern supremacy and returned to the top against Los Angeles in the NBA Finals, where Bill Russell would claim his 10th title.

5. 2016 Western Conference Finals: Golden State Warriors vs Oklahoma City Thunder

Biggest Series Deficit: Thunder led 3-1
Series Result: 4-3 Warriors 

The Golden State Warriors went 73-9 during the 2015-16 regular season and headed for the playoffs as the NBA’s defending champions. Their series with Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, and the prime Oklahoma City Thunder made for some of the best NBA playoff games that year, especially after the Warriors lost Game 1 on their home court.

When the Thunder took Game 1, fans sat up in their seats a little, sensing a possibility that Oklahoma City would end the Warriors’ record-breaking season one stop short of the NBA Finals.

OKC returned to Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma to win the third and fourth games. That left them one win shy of a spot in the NBA Finals as they headed back to California for Game 5. However, the Warriors held the Thunder off in Game 5 before Golden State guard Klay Thompson dropped 11 threes as part of a 41-point performance in Game 6 -- breaking the NBA playoffs’ single-game record for 3-pointers  and evening the series at 3-3.

The Warriors eventually took the series finale 96-88 in front of an electric home crowd. Sparked by Steph Curry’s 36-point night, Golden State headed back to the NBA Finals.

4. 1977 NBA Finals: Portland Trail Blazers vs Philadelphia 76ers

Biggest Series Deficit: 76ers led 2-0
Series Result: 4-2 Trail Blazers

The 1976-77 NBA season was the first played after the NBA-ABA merger, and both the Portland Trail Blazers and Philadelphia 76ers benefited from the ABA dispersal draft.

The Blazers, who already boasted former UCLA sensation Bill Walton, added power forward Maurice Lucas to their lineup, while the Sixers signed Julius Erving, who had just won an ABA title with the New York Nets. With Erving on board, Philadelphia was suddenly a powerhouse. As expected they reached the 1977 NBA Finals, where they faced a Trail Blazers team that had swept the Lakers to win the NBA Western Conference.

The Sixers were prohibitive favorites, and after two home victories, they headed to Portland with a 2-0 series lead. Game 2 had seen the benches clear, and the intensity of the Finals heated up when Philadelphia’s Darryl Dawkins tried to challenge Bob Gross to fight. Lucas intervened, and as a result, both he and Dawkins were ejected after a wild melee that Sixers fans tried to join.

Game 3 saw the series quickly turn around. The Blazers weren’t going to be intimidated and went out on their home court to prove it. Portland stunned the Sixers with a strong 129-107 Game 3 win and then blew them out 130-98 in Game 4.

Back in Philadelphia for Game 5, the Blazers’ Bill Walton set a team record with 24 rebounds, and Portland jumped out to a 91-69 lead. The Sixers fought back, but it wasn’t enough, and Portland suddenly led the series 3-2 with a chance to clinch it at home.

Erving had a huge night with 40 points for the Sixers in Game 6, but Walton matched his play stride for stride. The Blazers’ big man had 20 points, 23 rebounds, seven assists and eight blocks in the game. After George McGinnis missed a jumper to tie the game on a play that started with four seconds left on the clock, the crowd stormed onto the court and the Portland Memorial Coliseum went crazy after perhaps one of the biggest NBA playoff upsets of all time.

3. 1969 NBA Finals: Boston Celtics vs Los Angeles Lakers

Biggest Series Deficit: Lakers led 2-0
Series Result: 4-3 Celtics

The Lakers entered the 1969 NBA Finals as a heavy favorite, thanks to a roster that included superstars Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, and Wilt Chamberlain. Wilt had been traded to the Lakers after playing for Philadelphia in the previous season's Eastern Conference Finals loss to the Celtics. He would once again come face to face with Bill Russell on the biggest stage, continuing one of the greatest individual player rivalries in NBA history.

Jerry West had his way with the Celtics in Games 1 and 2. His impressive stats included scoring totals of 53 and 41 points that helped the Lakers to a 2-0 series lead. Russell eventually decided to double-team him in Game 3, which gave the Celtics a way back into the series. Boston won the game, and a Sam Jones buzzer-beater in Game 4 leveled the series at 2-2.

The Lakers won Game 5, but West pulled his hamstring trying to recover the basketball off a turnover and had to be carried out. He continued to play through the pain in Game 6 of the series -- limping around the court as Boston pulled away to win 99-90 that forced a Game 7 in Los Angeles.

The winner-takes-all Game 7 infamously saw Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke arrange premature championship celebrations in advance of the game. Balloons were suspended from the rafters, the USC marching band was prepared to play at the final buzzer, and postgame interviews were planned for the Lakers stars. These decisions infuriated Jerry West and, of course, the entire Celtics organization. Boston suddenly had a major incentive to spoil the party.

Wilt Chamberlain left the game with an awkward ankle injury, but the Lakers cut the Celtics’ lead to just one point without him. When he tried to return, Chamberlain was told by head coach Butch Van Breda Kolff that the team was “doing just fine without him.”

The Celtics led 103-102 when the Lakers’ Keith Erickson tried to poke the ball away from Boston guard John Havlicek. The ball ended up in the hands of the Celtics’ Don Nelson, who sank a basket that would put the game out of reach. Boston went on to win an 11^th and final title with Russell, who is undoubtedly the most successful -- and perhaps the best -- NBA playoff player of all time.

2. 1981 Eastern Conference Finals: Boston Celtics vs Philadelphia 76ers

Biggest Series Deficit: 76ers led 3-1
Series Result: 4-3 Celtics 

In an NBA Eastern Conference Finals littered with NBA superstars, the Celtics and the Sixers created one of the best series in NBA playoff history with a seven-game thriller that went down to the wire.

The Celtics, led by Larry Bird, Robert Parish and Kevin McHale, faced a Sixers team that featured Julius Erving and Maurice Cheeks. Dr. J had just been named the league's MVP and was looking to crown his season with his first NBA championship since entering the league as part of a 1976 merger with the ABA.

The Sixers took a 3-1 lead in a closely contested series between two Eastern Conference rivals who had met many times in the postseason. Philadelphia won Game 4 by just two points and was on the cusp of eliminating Bird and the Celtics to reach the NBA Finals. However, what came next was a three-game stretch of truly remarkable outcomes.

The Celtics fought their way back into the series with back-to-back wins by two-point margins (111-109 and 100-98). Game 7 ended when Larry Bird's series-winning jump shot made it 91-90 at Boston Garden. The final game is one of the best that Boston’s famed home court has ever seen, and the crowd stormed onto it to celebrate the Celtics reaching the NBA Finals against the Houston Rockets, whom they went on to defeat 4-2.

1. 2016 NBA Finals: Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Golden State Warriors

Closing NBA Betting Lines: Golden State to win the series -220, Cleveland +180
Biggest Series Deficit: Golden State led 3-1
Series Result: 4-3 Cavaliers

The Cleveland Cavaliers had lost the 2015 NBA Finals to the Golden State Warriors, who were almost untouchable behind the play of “Splash Brothers” Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. As the defending champions the following year, Golden State set an NBA record with 73 regular-season wins, claiming the Western Conference’s No. 1 playoff seed.

Led by LeBron James, the 2015-16 Cavs finished the regular season as the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. Cleveland and Golden State seemed destined to meet in the NBA Finals for the second season in a row.

That almost failed to materialize after the Warriors fell behind Oklahoma City 3-1 in the Western Conference Finals before rallying to beat the Thunder in seven games. Little did the Warriors know that the fate they inflicted on Oklahoma City also awaited them at Cleveland’s hands in what would become the biggest comeback in NBA Finals history.

The series started out in a manner much like the previous year’s matchup. The Warriors claimed the first two games, which included a blowout win in Game 2 that had critics writing off the Cavs in a hurry. The Cavs came home to Cleveland and won Game 3, but when they dropped Game 4 and had to fly back to California on the brink of elimination, the series appeared all but over.

It was far from over, because a LeBron and Kyrie Irving master class in Game 5 turned the series on its head. Each player scored 41 points in a stunning 112-97 win that silenced Oracle Arena. The Cavs headed back to Cleveland knowing they had the momentum.

LeBron scored 41 again in Game 6, adding 11 assists, eight rebounds, four blocks and three steals. That performance enabled the Cavs to tie the series at 3-3. Three days later in Game 7 at Oracle Arena, Irving would sink the eventual championship-winning shot near the end of regulation to secure the first NBA title in Cleveland Cavaliers franchise history.

It was the biggest comeback in league playoff history, as the Cavs became the first and currently only team to overcome a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals.

Parameters for ranking

Every series ranked here featured either a 3-1 or 2-0 deficit that was overcome by the winning team. These series were then ranked on the intensity of the comeback, with additional plaudits awarded to those teams that managed the biggest comebacks in the NBA Finals. 

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