How Lakers can be first team in NBA history to blow a 3-0 series lead in embarrassing collapse

The Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers are inching closer to making NBA history. For the Rockets, the possibility would be a positive thing — a massive success for Ime Udoka, his players and the franchise. But for the Lakers, it would be borderline embarrassing.

After taking a 3-0 series lead in the teams' first-round matchup, which has included absences for Kevin Durant, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, the Lakers have allowed the Rockets to stay alive and force a Game 6. Should Houston pull out a third-straight win on Friday night, the series will come down to a decisive Game 7 on Sunday.

Despite Reaves' return to the floor in Game 5 and Durant's continued absence for Houston, a loss on Friday would put the Lakers on the cusp of blowing a 3-0 series lead — and if Los Angeles falls in both Game 6 and Game 7, it would make new league history.

Here's what to know about the history of blown 3-0 series leads in the NBA Playoffs all-time.

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How many NBA teams have come back from down 3-0 leads?

Zero, zilch, nada. The NBA has been around for 80 seasons now, and since 2003, every playoff round has been best-of-seven. Yet, not once in league history has a team ever gone up 3-0 in a playoff series, then lost the next four games and been eliminated.

If James and the Lakers lose both Game 6 on Friday and Game 7 on Sunday against the Rockets, then Houston would become the first team to ever complete a 3-0 series comeback, and Los Angeles vice-versa.

A "reverse sweep," when one team wins the first three games in a best-of-seven, then loses the next four, is only possible in three of the major North American sports leagues: MLB, the NBA and the NHL. But of those three, only the NBA has never seen a "reverse sweep."

In the NHL, it has happened four times, most recently in 2014:

• 1942 Stanley Cup Final: Maple Leafs 4, Red Wings 3
• 1975 Stanley Cup quarterfinal: Islanders 4, Penguins 3
• 2010 Eastern Conference semifinals: Flyers 4, Bruins 3
• 2014 Western Conference quarterfinals: Kings 4, Sharks 3

In MLB, the only instance of a 3-0 series comeback came in the 2004 ALCS between the Red Sox and Yankees, when Boston stunned New York by winning Games 4-7 and went on to break the "Curse of the Bambino" with the franchise's first World Series title since 1918.

According to Land of Basketball, as of 2026 in the NBA, there have been 160 previous instances where a team took a 3-0 series lead. None of them resulted in the trailing team winning the series.

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Closest teams have come to completing 3-0 comeback

Of the 160 previous teams to trail 3-0 in an NBA Playoff series, only four have come back to force a Game 7 — but after winning those three consecutive games, none of the comeback squads could pull it off.

Here are the teams to come back and tie the series from 3-0, then lose Game 7:

• 1951 NBA Finals: Royals 4, Knicks 3 (New York came back down 3-0)
• 1994 Western Conference semifinals: Jazz 4, Nuggets 3 (Denver came back down 3-0)
• 2003 Western Conference first round: Mavericks 4, Trail Blazers 3 (Portland came back down 3-0)
• 2023 Eastern Conference Finals: Heat 4, Celtics 3 (Boston came back down 3-0)

The first team to force a Game 7 after trailing 3-0 in a series was the 1951 Knicks. They remain the only team to force a Game 7 in the NBA Finals after trailing 3-0.

In 1994, the Karl Malone-John Stockton-led Utah Jazz stormed out to a 3-0 series lead over the Nuggets, including a Malone game-winner in Game 3. But Denver also had a game-winner from Reggie Williams in Game 4, won in overtime of Game 5, and took Game 6 behind 23 points and 12 rebounds from Dikembe Mutombo. After forcing Game 7, however, the Nuggets fell 91-81, with Malone posting 31 points and 14 rebounds.

In 2003, Dirk Nowitzki's Mavericks were cruising in the first round against the Trail Blazers; Nowitzki had games of 46 and 42 points by the time Dallas led 3-0. However, Portland came right back with a streak of its own, with Zach Randolph having two double-doubles over the next three games, all Blazers wins. In Game 7, the Mavericks survived, winning 107-95 as Nowitzki totaled 31 points and 11 rebounds.

Most recently, the Celtics had a chance to make a 3-0 series comeback with a trip to the NBA Finals on the line. In 2023, the No. 8-seeded Heat continued their surprising playoff run behind Jimmy Butler by claiming Games 1 and 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals in Boston, then cruising to a Game 3 win at home. Jayson Tatum, Derrick White and more stepped up, though — Boston took the following three games, including a 104-103 Game 6 victory that saw White secure the win with a putback shot at the buzzer.

The Celtics had an opportunity to complete the 3-0 comeback at home, unlike the previous three NBA teams to come back to force a Game 7 in the same deficit. But even at TD Garden, Butler was excellent, Caleb Martin added a playoff career-high 26 points, and Bam Adebayo had a double-double as the Heat took a 103-84 win to survive the scare and advance to the 2023 NBA Finals, where Miami would fall to Denver.

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