To celebrate Palmerbet’s new sportsbetting product becoming available on the NBA, the team at Palmerbet have dug through the NBA archives to find their best Eastern Conference Playoff comebacks.
No lead is safe when LeBron James is staring at you from the opposite end of the court. The Indiana Pacers found that out the hard way when facing the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2017 playoffs.
Already down 2-0 in the series, the Pacers were desperate for a home win. Producing poster dunks and in-bound alley-oops on their way to a 74-49 halftime lead, it appeared as though the series would move to 2-1.
But James had other ideas.
Scoring 13 points himself while assisting on another eight, James played a hand in 21 third-quarter points as the Cavaliers closed the gap to 91-84 ahead of the final 12 minutes. Paul George did his best to stop the rot for the Pacers. He flew out of the third-quarter break to score five quick points on his way to 13 for the quarter. However, James bettered him still. With 15 points on 5-9 shooting while handing out three assists, James and the Cavaliers completed the comeback from 26 points down to take Game 3 119-114.
We’re going all the way back to the 2002 Eastern Conference Finals as Paul ‘The Truth’ Pierce inspires an outrageous 4th quarter for the Boston Celtics to beat the New Jersey Nets in Game 3.
Down 74-53 heading into the 4th, Pierce had made just five of his 34 attempts since Game 2 tipped off. It took a huge deficit and a spray from Antoine Walker for The Truth to start knocking them down. But knock them down he did. Going back to what works, Pierce attacked the basket. He blew by his defender to earn layup after layup. Eventually sinking the go-ahead free throw with 46 seconds left, Pierce finished the quarter with 19 points. The Nets as a team, just 16.
Boston rallied back to win 94-90 and take a 2-1 series lead before New Jersey won three on the bounce to advance to the NBA Finals.
Sometimes, comebacks happen across a week. That’s what the Toronto Raptors needed before eventually winning the 2018-19 NBA Championship.
The Milwaukee Bucks finished the 2018-19 NBA season with a league-best 60-22 regular season record. Cruising through the first two rounds and taking a 2-0 lead over the Raptors in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Bucks needed just two more W’s to book a place in the NBA Finals. It seemed like a formality.
Enter: Kawhi Leonard.
The Claw scored 36 points in Game 3 to give the Raptors hope. Winning Game 4 at home, the series was all of a sudden level. Home court should have been enough for the Bucks to regain the ascendancy of the series.
Should have...
Another 35 points from Leonard gave the Raptors a 3-2 series lead and the chance to clinch it in Toronto. His steely eyed look never wavered in Game 6. Scoring 27 points while pulling down a career-high 17 rebounds, Leonard secured the 100-94 win after trailing through three quarters. The Raptors, digging themselves out of a 2-0 hole, had rattled off four wins in a row to advance to the NBA Finals.
