List of teams to overcome 2–0 series deficits
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The following is the list of teams to overcome 2–0 series deficits concerning North American professional sports, otherwise known as a reverse sweep. The listed teams won three consecutive games after being down two games to none in a best-of-five playoff series. This is similar to a comeback from a 3–1 series deficit in a best-of-seven playoff series, which also requires winning three straight games, but these are not covered here.
All 2–0 deficit comebacks in a five-game series involve winning a succession of elimination games, finally featuring a double-elimination game five. Longer series of this nature are almost always structured as single-elimination knockout tournaments, so the loss of the series ends playoff contention for the losing side.
This playoff structure used to be common in North American professional sports, particularly in the sports of baseball, basketball, and ice hockey, but is currently only used by Major League Baseball in North America.
One common comeback scenario is where a heavy favorite digs themselves into a deep hole on early adversity, before reasserting their dominance over a weaker opponent when the chips are down. This explains in part why these comebacks are rare in most sports: powerhouse teams most capable of mounting a comeback don't usually dig themselves into this predicament in the first place.
Additionally, over a longer series, teams adapt to the strengths and weaknesses of their opponent (more so than in regular season play); stronger teams are usually better at making these adjustments, which makes a "Cinderella" comeback by the weaker team that much more difficult to pull off. In team sports where an individual position has the potential for outsize impact (e.g. a starting pitcher in baseball or a goalie in hockey), a comeback can sometimes be leveraged by a weaker team off of a heroic individual performance.
Background[edit]
Three major North American professional sports leagues have had playoff series throughout their history that can reach a winner-take-all fifth game: Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the National Hockey League (NHL). Currently, however, only the MLB is actively using best-of-5 series, with the best-of-5 series that were used in the NHL and NBA being permanently expanded to best-of-7 series in 1987 and 2003, respectively. In the history of these leagues, teams that were down 2–0 in a series have come back to win the series 17 times; 10 times in MLB, 6 times in the NBA, and once in the NHL. The most recent instance was accomplished by the New York Yankees of the MLB in the 2017 American League Division Series.
National Hockey League[edit]
From 1980 to 1986, the first round of the playoffs was played as a best-of-5 until it was expanded to a best-of-7 starting with the 1987 playoffs. In 2020, the qualifying round was played as a best-of-5 as part of the modified playoff format due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1]
Successful comebacks[edit]
Only one team has ever overcome a 2-0 deficit in NHL playoff history.[2]
| Year and series | Won after trailing 2–0 |
Loser after leading 2–0 |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 Patrick Division Semifinals | New York Islanders | Washington Capitals |
Unsuccessful comebacks[edit]
Three teams have evened a best-of-5 series after falling behind 2-0, only to lose game 5.
| Year and series | Loser after trailing 2–0 |
Winner after leading 2–0 |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 Preliminary round | Quebec Nordiques | Philadelphia Flyers |
| 1982 Patrick Division Semifinals | Pittsburgh Penguins | New York Islanders |
| 1985 Adams Division Semifinals | Buffalo Sabres | Quebec Nordiques |
Major League Baseball[edit]
From 1969 to 1984, the League Championship Series was a best-of-5, until it was expanded to a best-of-7 in 1985 [3][4]. Since its inception in 1995 (and its one-off use in 1981), the League Division series has used the best-of-5 format.
Successful comebacks[edit]
Ten teams have overcome a 2-0 deficit in a best-of-5 series, 2 of which having occurred in the League Championship Series.[5]
Unsuccessful comebacks[edit]
Seven teams have evened a best-of-5 series after falling behind 2-0, only to lose game 5, with one of which occurring in the Championship Series.
| Year and series | Loser after trailing 2–0 |
Winner after leading 2–0 |
|---|---|---|
| 1972 ALCS | Detroit Tigers | Oakland Athletics |
| 1981 NLDS | Philadelphia Phillies | Montreal Expos |
| 1981 ALDS | Milwaukee Brewers | New York Yankees |
| 2010 ALDS | Tampa Bay Rays | Texas Rangers |
| 2011 NLDS | Arizona Diamondbacks | Milwaukee Brewers |
| 2012 ALDS | Oakland Athletics | Detroit Tigers |
| 2020 ALDS | Tampa Bay Rays | Houston Astros |
National Basketball Association[edit]
The NBA used a best-of-5 playoff from 1951 to 1953 and from 1955 to 1957 for the second round of the playoffs, before it was expanded to a best-of-7 starting in 1958. A best-of-5 playoff was also used in the first round from 1961 to 1967 and from 1984 to 2002 before it was also expanded to a best-of-7 starting in 2003.[6]
Successful comebacks[edit]
Six teams have overcome a 2-0 deficit in NBA playoff history.[7]
| Year and series | Won after trailing 2–0 |
Loser after leading 2–0 |
|---|---|---|
| 1956 Western Division Finals | Fort Wayne Pistons | St. Louis Hawks |
| 1987 First Round | Golden State Warriors | Utah Jazz |
| 1990 First Round | New York Knicks | Boston Celtics |
| 1993 First Round | Phoenix Suns | Los Angeles Lakers |
| 1994 First Round | Denver Nuggets | Seattle SuperSonics |
| 2001 First Round | Dallas Mavericks | Utah Jazz |
Unsuccessful comebacks[edit]
Nineteen teams have evened a best-of-5 series after falling behind 2-0, only to lose game 5.[8]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ "NHL Records". records.nhl.com.
- ↑ "Panthers eye comeback against Islanders trailing 2-0 in Cup Qualifiers". NHL.com.
- ↑ "Times Daily - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
- ↑ "The Spokesman-Review - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
- ↑ "These teams came back from 0-2 holes". MLB.com.
- ↑ "Throwback Thursday: The history of NBA playoff reformatting". October 12, 2017.
- ↑ "NBA Teams That Recovered From a 0-2 Deficit in Playoffs". www.landofbasketball.com.
- ↑ "NBA Teams That Won Their Series After Having a 2-0 Lead in Playoffs". www.landofbasketball.com.
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