LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers didn’t author the first 3-1 series comeback in NBA playoff history. That was Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics in the 1968 Eastern Division Finals against Wilt Chamberlain and the Philadelphia 76ers.
James’ famous block of the Golden State Warriors’ Andre Iguodala in 2016 did help secure the first 3-1 comeback in the NBA Finals, in addition to another piece of history: It was the second such comeback in the playoffs that year, marking the first time one NBA postseason saw two teams rally from down 3-1.
The 2026 NBA playoffs have already become the third — after just one round of play.
The Detroit Pistons completed the second 3-1 comeback in as many days Sunday, beating the Orlando Magic 116-94 in Game 7 inside Little Caesars Arena. A night earlier, the 76ers put the finishing touches on their own 3-1 rally with a 109-100 Game 7 win over the Boston Celtics in their own building.
There are now 15 instances in league history in which a team has overcome that specific series deficit, but 2026 had the first postseason to produce two in the same round.
Two other seasons featured a pair of 3-1 comebacks. Here’s a look at both:
2016 — Warriors’ comeback vs. Thunder in WCF
Before the 73-9 Golden State Warriors got a chance to complete the greatest season ever with a potential repeat championship, it all teetered on the brink of collapse.
The Warriors led the league in scoring during the regular season, averaging 114.9 points per game. The Oklahoma City Thunder limited them to 104.75 points per game en route to building a 3-1 series lead. In the first three Oklahoma City wins, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook both averaged over 27 points, overwhelming Golden State’s defense. But Golden State didn’t win 73 games for nothing.
And it had the league’s first unanimous MVP.
Steph Curry averaged 32.6 points and just over five 3s per game over the next three games to complete the comeback. With the help of 41 points from Klay Thompson in Game 6, the reigning champions advanced to the NBA Finals for the second consecutive year, and very famously took OKC’s star player as spoils of war a few months later.
2016 — Cavaliers’ comeback vs. Warriors in NBA Finals
Golden State avoided collapse against Oklahoma City and got the chance to adorn its historic regular season with a ring to cement it as the greatest season in NBA history. The Warriors just had to beat LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and the same Cleveland Cavaliers they had beaten in the finals the year prior.
The Warriors raced to a 3-1 series lead. Then they collapsed.
All-Star forward Draymond Green was suspended for Game 5 after he was retroactively assessed a flagrant foul 1 from Game 4 for an altercation with James. The ruling gave Green 4 flagrant foul points for the postseason, resulting in a suspension. In Green’s absence, the Cavaliers staved off elimination with a 112-97 win in Game 5. Irving and James both scored 41 points, becoming the first teammates to ever each score 40 in the same finals game.
But even with Green back for the final two games, Irving and James still managed to bring the Cavaliers all the way back from the brink and deliver the city of Cleveland its first pro sports title in 52 years.
James averaged 36.3 points, 11.7 rebounds, 9.7 assists, 3.0 blocks and 3.0 steals through games 5-7. Irving averaged 30.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.1 steals in that span. Late in Game 7 in Oakland, James famously chased down Iguodala and sent Golden State’s championship hopes careening off the glass, before Irving stepped back over Curry to drive the dagger in for an eventual 93-89 win.
It was the first, and to date only, 3-1 comeback in finals history.
2020 — Nuggets’ comeback vs. Jazz in first round
A year after making his playoff debut in 2018-19, and a year before winning his first league MVP, Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokić found himself in the COVID-19 bubble, grappling with the challenges of the postseason. Denver beat the Utah Jazz 135-125 in Game 1 despite 57 points from Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell.
Then Utah held the Nuggets to 105 and 87 points in two ensuing losses before Mitchell went nuclear again in Game 4, scoring 51 points in a 129-127 victory to put Denver in a 3-1 hole.
The bubble playoffs were guard Jamal Murray’s coming-out party. He scored 42 in a Game 5 win, then dropped 50 of his own to secure a victory in Game 6. Game 7 was a slugfest, but the Joker got the last laugh, posting 30 points and 14 rebounds in an 80-78 series-clinching win.
Jokić converted a go-ahead hook shot with 27.8 seconds remaining in regulation. And Utah guard Mike Conley Jr.’s potential series-winning 3 at the buzzer rimmed out.
Nikola Jokić (left) and Jamal Murray of the Denver Nuggets celebrate their win over the LA Clippers in Game 7 of the Western Conference’s second round during the 2020 NBA playoffs. (Douglas P. DeFelice / Getty Images)
2020 — Nuggets’ comeback vs. Clippers in second round
After climbing out of a first-round hole, Denver jumped right back into it in the second against the LA Clippers. The Nuggets were held under 100 points twice in the first four games.
And just as in Round 1, Denver laughed in the face of its own mortality. Despite 36 points from Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard in Game 5, the Nuggets prevailed 111-105, then held the Clippers to an average of 93.5 points in games 6 and 7 to extend their stay in the bubble and advance out of a 3-1 deficit yet again.
Denver became the first, and still only, NBA team to come back from a 3-1 deficit in back-to-back series. It was also the third time coach Doc Rivers lost a 3-1 lead in his career. He parted ways with the Clippers shortly after the season. The Nuggets went down 3-1 yet again in the Western Conference finals against the Los Angeles Lakers. But unlike against Utah and LA, James and the eventual champions eliminated them in five games.