{"id":1910937,"date":"2026-04-30T14:20:33","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T11:20:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1910937"},"modified":"2026-04-30T14:20:33","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T11:20:33","slug":"the-bounce-can-anybody-close-out-a-playoff-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1910937","title":{"rendered":"The Bounce: Can anybody close out a playoff series?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Bounce Newslette<\/b>r<\/strong>\u00a0\":basketball:\"<\/span>\u00a0| This is The Athletic\u2019s<\/em> daily NBA newsletter.\u00a0Sign up here<\/a>\u00a0to receive The Bounce directly in your inbox.<\/p>\n

How do you trade for two Hall of Famers, win a title with them \u2014 and still lose the trade? On this day in 1956, the St. Louis Hawks acquired Ed Macauley and Cliff Hagan from the Boston Celtics. They\u2019d go on to help the Hawks take the 1958 championship, but they gave the Celtics the No. 1 draft pick. Boston selected Bill Russell with it. Case closed.<\/p>\n

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The Comeback(s)<\/h3>\n

Are we about to witness playoff history?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Celtics, Wolves, Magic and Lakers have all failed to close out their respective series. Boston couldn\u2019t end Philadelphia at home while up 3-1. Minnesota and Orlando couldn\u2019t close out on the road with a 3-1 lead. And the Lakers were up 3-0 on the Rockets.<\/p>\n

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So how seriously should we take these potential comebacks? Since Doc Rivers isn\u2019t coaching any of the teams that are up 3-1, it\u2019s not such an easy answer. We\u2019ve had 13 out of 298 teams complete comebacks after going down 3-1 in a playoff series. Let\u2019s eliminate some series right off the bat. If Doc coached you, or it happened in The Bubble or it happened before the Merger, we\u2019re going to excuse you from this exercise.<\/p>\n

That leaves us with seven series.<\/p>\n