1) 2020 Conference Quarterfinals: Nuggets over Jazz

It was an instant classic series, with Donovan Mitchell and Jamal Murray etching their names in NBA lore in the Disney World “bubble.” Utah struggled in the ’19-’20 restart re-seeding games, dropping five out of eight to slip from the #4 seed to the #6 seed, setting up this match-up. It was a series of major momentum shifts, starting with the Nuggets winning game one, 125-115, despite 57 points from Mitchell. Utah took the next three games, including a 124-87 demolishing in game three, and a game four win with Mitchell’s 51 out-dueling Murray’s 50. Denver then took the final three games, with high-scoring, double-digit victories in games five and six, followed by a grueling 80-78 win in the deciding game seven, with both teams looking completely drained, both physically and emotionally. Previously, only Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson had ever scored 50+ points multiple times in a single playoff series. Then Murray and Mitchell both accomplished it here. Murray finished the series averaging 31.6 points, 6.3 assists, and 5.6 rebounds per game, while Mitchell had 36.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 4.9 assists per game.

2) 2016 NBA Finals: Cavaliers over Warriors
3) 2016 Western Conference Finals: Warriors over Thunder

The 73-9 Warriors blew a 3-1 series lead. It’s the incredible turn of events that has inspired countless memes, Halloween cookies, t-shirts, and even a Cavaliers logo change. Not to mention, it was the impetus for the Warriors going out and signing Kevin Durant, whose Thunder had blown their own 3-1 series lead to Golden State in the series prior to the 2016 NBA Finals. Oklahoma City had blown out the Warriors in games three and four of that series to take the 3-1 advantage, and held an eight-point lead at home in game six heading into the fourth quarter. That’s when Klay Thompson went off, scoring 19 points in the quarter, hitting five-of-six on three-pointers, as the Warriors came back to win, 108-101, before finishing off the shell-shocked Thunder in game seven to advance. They arguably could have finished off Cleveland in five games in the Finals if not for an ill-timed Draymond Green suspension, but the Cavs used the momentum shift to rattle off three straight victories. Similar to the Red Sox World Series title in 2004, it was a miraculous sequence that seemed almost necessary for a curse-breaking finish (the first Cleveland pro sports title in 52 years).

4) 1968 Eastern Conference Finals: Celtics over 76ers

It can’t come as much of a surprise that a Bill Russell Celtics team was the first in NBA history to overcome a 3-1 series deficit. They did so in dramatic fashion in 1968, defeating arch rival Wilt Chamberlain and his defending champion 76ers. It was an especially uncanny series not just for the comeback, but for its timing, with game one tipping off just barely 24 hours after the shocking assassination of Martin Luther King. The Celtics prevailed in game one in Philadelphia, and game two was summarily delayed, as both Russell and Chamberlain attended King’s funeral in Atlanta. The Sixers then stunned the Celtics by winning the next three games, two of them at the Boston Garden, to take a 3-1 lead. But the veteran Celtics never gave up, with player-coach Russell making some defensive adjustments to spark a comeback. Game seven in Philadelphia was an especially arduous affair, with both Russell and John Havlicek logging a full 48 minutes in a 100-96 Boston win. The Celtics advanced and eventually won the 10th and penultimate title of Russell’s career by defeating the Lakers, who would soon after trade for Chamberlain that summer.

5) 1995 Western Conference Semifinals: Rockets over Suns

When once asked which playoff series was the most disappointing of his Hall of Fame career that ended without a title, Charles Barkley answered not with the 1993 NBA Finals but with this series, and for good reason. The Suns were the #2 seed in the West and looking as likely as anyone to win the title in a wide-open playoff field. Meanwhile, the defending champion Rockets had slumped down the stretch of the regular season, winning just 12 out of their final 28 games and slipping to the #6 seed. Houston had already overcome a 2-1 series deficit in the first round to upset the Jazz and fell behind 3-1 here, thanks to some dominating performances from Barkley and Kevin Johnson, who dropped 43 points in Phoenix’s game four win. The Rockets displayed the old heart of a champion adage from there, stealing game five in Phoenix and game six at home. Game seven was a thrilling, high-scoring affair, capped off by Rockets backup forward Mario Elie nailing a spot-up three-pointer to give Houston a 113-110 lead with seven seconds left. As he trotted down the court, celebrating his game winner, Elie blew a kiss to the Suns bench, lending the play its “Kiss of Death” nickname. The Rockets then intentionally fouled Danny Ainge to preserve the lead and close out the series.

6) 2003 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals: Pistons over Magic
7) 2006 Western Conference Quarterfinals: Suns over Lakers

We’ve run down the 15 greatest first round playoff upsets before, but here are two near misses that were narrowly avoided thanks to three straight wins from the favorite after falling behind 3-1. The Pistons were the top seed in the East in ’02-’03 and reached the Conference Finals for what would be the first of six consecutive appearances, a stretch that included an NBA title in 2004. But it almost got upended before it even got started, against the #8 seed Magic in the Conference Quarterfinals. Tracy McGrady, fresh off clinching his first scoring title, was unstoppable in the first four games of this series, averaging 36.3 points per game as Orlando opened up a 3-1 lead. The brash star then guaranteed a Magic series win but the Pistons turned it around, thanks to a breakout defensive performance from Tayshaun Prince. He held T-Mac to just 36% shooting from the field in the final three games, which the Pistons won by an average margin of 20 points per game to advance. In 2006, the Lakers were making their first playoff appearance since trading away Shaquille O’Neal three years earlier, and put a scare into heavily favored #2 seed Phoenix. The signature moment came in game four, when Kobe Bryant hit a game-tying shot in regulation and a game-winning buzzer beater in overtime to give Los Angeles a 3-1 series advantage. But Steve Nash took over from there, spurring three consecutive wins, culminating in a 121-90 blowout in game seven.

“This 2015 series was the apex of disillusionment for the [Clippers], one from which they never recovered.”

8) 1979 Eastern Conference Finals: Bullets over Spurs

Though they were the defending champions and holder of the league’s best record during the regular season, the Bullets just barely survived their first two playoff series in 1979. They opened up their own 3-1 lead in the Conference Semifinals and almost blew it, recovering in game seven behind 39 points from Elvin Hayes to hold off the upset-minded Hawks. In an incredible bit of synchronicity, their Conference Finals foes, the Spurs, also had to survive a game seven to avoid blowing a 3-1 series lead in the previous round against Philadelphia. San Antonio star George Gervin was nearly unstoppable in the Conference Finals, scoring 31.0 points per game, while the Bullets took a more balanced approach, with six players averaging double-digit scoring. The leading scorer for Washington was Bobby Dandridge, who would also turn out to be hero in game seven. After barely eking out wins in games five and six, the Bullets were in trouble in game seven, trailing by 10 in the fourth quarter. That’s when Dandridge took the reins, scoring 13 points in the final quarter and hitting the game-winner with eight seconds left. Washington’s luck and resolve would finally run out in the NBA Finals, where they captured game one before dropping four straight games to the SuperSonics.

9) 1997 Eastern Conference Semifinals: Heat over Knicks

Teams getting testy and looking for altercations when all hope seems lost in a game and/or series is typically a desperate move that backfires, if anything. But it somehow worked out for the Heat in their 1997 second round series against the Knicks. This was the heart of the rough-and-tumble Pat Riley era in Miami and they were facing off against his former team, New York, for the first of what would end being four straight playoff match-ups. The Knicks held a 3-1 series lead when Heat forward P.J. Brown shoved Charlie Ward into the stands while fighting for a rebound during game five. New York’s bench cleared to defend their point guard, an admirable response with costly consequences. The still standing rule that leaving the bench triggers an automatic one game suspension had just been implemented, meaning that in addition to Brown and Ward, suspensions were handed out for Patrick Ewing, Larry Johnson, John Starks, and Allan Houston. New York was additionally forced to stagger those suspensions over the next two games, meaning that they were missing two of their top scorers in games six and seven, both of which the Heat won to advance. New York did eventually get its revenge though, winning the next three postseason battles between the teams.

10) 1970 Western Conference Semifinals: Lakers over Suns

Best-of-seven NBA playoff series are a concept dating all the way back to the inaugural ’46-’47 season, but it took nearly a quarter century for a Western Conference team to erase a 3-1 deficit. The first instance happened in the Conference Semifinals in ’69-’70, when the Lakers found themselves locked in an unexpected battle with the Suns. With the superstar trio of Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, and Elgin Baylor leading the way, Los Angeles was the #2 seed in the West and prognosticated by most to make quick work of a Suns team in just its second year of existence that had reached the postseason despite posting a losing record. The Lakers took game one in a blowout, but future Laker Connie Hawkins and former Laker Gail Goodrich led the way to three straight Phoenix wins, all of them by double digits. Things turned just as quickly back the other way from there, with Chamberlain and West dominating the remainder of the series, and the Lakers winning the final three games by a combined 63 points. It took the Suns six years to return to the playoffs again, when they made a shocking run to the 1976 NBA Finals.

11) 2015 Western Conference Semifinals: Rockets over Clippers

With Chris Paul and Blake Griffin on the floor and Doc Rivers manning the bench, the Clippers were one of the most thrilling and consistently solid teams of the ’10s. They were also ultimately the most unfulfilling, never advancing past the second round despite six consecutive playoff appearances. This 2015 series was the apex of disillusionment for the squad, one from which they never recovered. Though the Rockets were the higher seed here, the Clippers were considered the favorites, as Houston had not yet fully gelled their offensive strategy around James Harden under then coach Kevin McHale. Los Angeles won game one in Houston by 16, dropped game two, then absolutely decimated the Rockets in games three and four at home, winning 124-99 and 128-95. Harden and Trevor Ariza pushed the Rockets to a game five win that seemed to be just delaying the inevitable, but then the Clippers, always a snake-bit franchise, suffered the ultimate collapse in game six. With Paul, Griffin, and J.J. Redick leading the way, L.A. opened up a 19-point lead late in the third quarter. They were still up by 12 with about seven-and-half minutes left in the fourth when Houston embarked on an incredible 24-2 run to completely flip the script. During that six minute stretch, the Clippers hit just 1-of-12 field goals, while the Rockets were assisted by six offensive rebounds. A beaten and deflated Clippers team then barely showed up for game seven, allowing Houston to finish off the series with a 113-100 win.

12) 1981 Eastern Conference Finals: Celtics over 76ers

Considered one of the greatest playoff series in NBA history, the 1981 Eastern Conference Finals did feature a little bit of everything. There was a budding Julius Erving-Larry Bird rivalry, clutch shots, backbreaking mistakes, Boston fans storming the court too early (in game five), and an incredible 3-1 series comeback by the Celtics. All three of the those final Celtics wins came down to the wire, and they won the games by a combined five points. Game seven was especially thrilling, with Bird leading the way down the stretch as Boston erased a seven-point deficit in the final few minutes. This series was all the more intense for being considered a de facto NBA Finals, as the Lakers had been previously stunned by the Rockets in a first round series. Though the Celtics made the ultimate comeback here and went on to easily defeat Houston in the NBA Finals, the Sixers did get the better of this short rivalry, overcoming Boston in the 1980 and 1982 Conference Finals, and finally winning a title of their own in 1983.