Remember another famous Game 3 loss...

[nickagneta]

The year is 1984. It's the NBA Finals and the Celtics after dropping Game 1 of the series came back and won Game 2. The Lakers lost in an embarrassing fashion as they led by 2 with just seconds to go only to have Gerald Henderson steal a cross court pass and lay it in. Magic Johnson then also embarrassingly dribbled out the clock to force an OT the Celtics won.

The series then goes to Game 3 tied 1-1 and the Celtics came out and laid a massive egg. Magic Johnson, still smarting from being a huge superstar that came up short in game 2, came out strong and led a continuous assault on the Celtics beating them by 33 points, 137-104. Magic dished out 21 assists and was everywhere doing everything in the rout.

The Celtics went on to win that series in 7 games and won the 1984 NBA championship.

Sound familiar? It's not over until it's over. This isn't the first time the Celtics lost a Game 3 in embarrassing fashion. Hold your heads high, game 4 is just a day away and redemption will be sweet.

[PosImpos]

The year is 1984. It's the NBA Finals and the Celtics after dropping Game 1 of the series came back and won Game 2. The Lakers lost in an embarrassing fashion as they led by 2 with just seconds to go only to have Gerald Henderson steal a cross court pass and lay it in. Magic Johnson then also embarrassingly dribbled out the clock to force an OT the Celtics won.

The series then goes to Game 3 tied 1-1 and the Celtics came out and laid a massive egg. Magic Johnson, still smarting from being a huge superstar that came up short in game 2, came out strong and led a continuous assault on the Celtics beating them by 33 points, 137-104. Magic dished out 21 assists and was everywhere doing everything in the rout.

The Celtics went on to win that series in 7 games and won the 1984 NBA championship.

Sound familiar? It's not over until it's over. This isn't the first time the Celtics lost a Game 3 in embarrassing fashion. Hold your heads high, game 4 is just a day away and redemption will be sweet.

Who was on the 1984 Celtics, how old were they, and how many games did they win in the regular season?  Had they shown a tendency to fall apart during the regular season?

This is a heartening comparison but I imagine a lot of the particulars are very very different.

[Jon]

Exactly.  I've posted in other threads how the Lakers lost in '85 148-114 and went on to beat the C's in 6 games. 

I think some people have selective memories and forget that even the great teams don't win in blow out form every night.  And yes, great teams can even get blown out. 

[Donoghus]

Exactly.  I've posted in other threads how the Lakers lost in '85 148-114 and went on to beat the C's in 6 games. 

I think some people have selective memories and forget that even the great teams don't win in blow out form every night.  And yes, great teams can even get blown out. 

Agreed.  One that always comes to mind for me is the '95 playoffs when we were playing ORL. 

We got absolutely destroyed in Game 1 (and were a much more inferior team back then) yet bounced back and shocked the Magic on their homecourt in Game 2.

I know we ended up losing the series but just goes to show that teams have shown the ability to bounce back from blowout losses in the playoffs and win the next game.

[nickagneta]

The year is 1984. It's the NBA Finals and the Celtics after dropping Game 1 of the series came back and won Game 2. The Lakers lost in an embarrassing fashion as they led by 2 with just seconds to go only to have Gerald Henderson steal a cross court pass and lay it in. Magic Johnson then also embarrassingly dribbled out the clock to force an OT the Celtics won.

The series then goes to Game 3 tied 1-1 and the Celtics came out and laid a massive egg. Magic Johnson, still smarting from being a huge superstar that came up short in game 2, came out strong and led a continuous assault on the Celtics beating them by 33 points, 137-104. Magic dished out 21 assists and was everywhere doing everything in the rout.

The Celtics went on to win that series in 7 games and won the 1984 NBA championship.

Sound familiar? It's not over until it's over. This isn't the first time the Celtics lost a Game 3 in embarrassing fashion. Hold your heads high, game 4 is just a day away and redemption will be sweet.

Who was on the 1984 Celtics, how old were they, and how many games did they win in the regular season?  Had they shown a tendency to fall apart during the regular season?

This is a heartening comparison but I imagine a lot of the particulars are very very different.

Who cares what the particulars are. The fact is it's happened before.

Heck Cleveland, if particulars are so important, was a team that didn't demonstrate mediocrity in the regular season. Cleveland has a good young core. Cleveland didn't show a tendency to mail it in during the regular season. Cleveland won the most games in the regular season in the NBA this year and they STILL go blown out at home by the Celtics.

Blowouts and bad efforts happen. To everyone.

[celticinorlando]

i gotta think we saw the cavs at their very best yesterday and the c's at their very worst. that is all that is giving me hope for tomorrow

[Andy Jick]

history won't mean a thing come sunday.  we will learn what kind of resolve THIS team has tomorrow.

i think the first 5 minutes of the game will tell the story...

[Mr October]

TP nick. Blowouts happen to even the best teams. Even Cleveland. Lets tie this thing up tomorrow.

Go Celtics!!

[FatjohnReturns]

The year is 1984. It's the NBA Finals and the Celtics after dropping Game 1 of the series came back and won Game 2. The Lakers lost in an embarrassing fashion as they led by 2 with just seconds to go only to have Gerald Henderson steal a cross court pass and lay it in. Magic Johnson then also embarrassingly dribbled out the clock to force an OT the Celtics won.

The series then goes to Game 3 tied 1-1 and the Celtics came out and laid a massive egg. Magic Johnson, still smarting from being a huge superstar that came up short in game 2, came out strong and led a continuous assault on the Celtics beating them by 33 points, 137-104. Magic dished out 21 assists and was everywhere doing everything in the rout.

The Celtics went on to win that series in 7 games and won the 1984 NBA championship.

Sound familiar? It's not over until it's over. This isn't the first time the Celtics lost a Game 3 in embarrassing fashion. Hold your heads high, game 4 is just a day away and redemption will be sweet.

Yea good post. Cleveland hasnt won game 4 yet. 48 minutes lets go Celtics

[housecall]

Its the playoffs"expect the unexpected".