Knicks: How many NBA teams have come back from 3-1 playoff deficit?

In a must-win Game 4, the New York Knicks treated the contest more like a meaningless preseason game. There was zero effort and zero hustle as the Heat went on to secure the 3-1 series lead. The Knicks could be eliminated on their homecourt with Game 5 taking place at MSG on Wednesday.

It was a little over a week ago when New York defeated Cleveland 4-1 in the first round, and Miami could wind up doing the same to the Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Based on how New York played in Games 3 and 4 on the road, it’s looking as if Playoff Jimmy Butler will carry the Heat to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second straight year.

The Knicks aren’t dead yet, though. A 3-1 deficit may seem like it’s insurmountable, but New York could surprise us all.

When was the last time an NBA team came back from a 3-1 deficit?

The last time that a team came back from a 3-1 deficit in the playoffs happened in 2020 when the Nuggets did so twice in the NBA Bubble. Denver came back from 3-1 in the first round against the Jazz and proceeded to do the same in the semifinals against the Clippers. The Nuggets made history in doing so by becoming the only team to overcome that deficit multiple times in the same season.

Before that, it was LeBron James and the Cavaliers in what was an epic 2016 NBA Finals that saw Cleveland’s 52-year championship drought snapped.

If the Knicks erase a 3-1 deficit, the team will become the 13th team to do so and the sixth team (counting the Nuggets once) to do so since 2000.

It would be nice to see New York get revenge for losing a 3-1 lead to Miami 26 years after the Heat climbed back in the 1997 playoffs. That would be the best possible outcome for the Knicks at this point.

Hey, never say never (but maybe never in this case)!

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