The 2025-26 Philadelphia Flyers needed six games to defeat Pittsburgh after taking a 3-0 lead into Game 4 of their first-round playoff series. While fans appreciated their chance to rally the host Flyers in Game 6, you can’t say it wasn’t an anxious occasion. If the Penguins had won a third consecutive contest and hosted Game 7 in Steel City, the Flyers’ first series win in six years would have been on the brink.

What are the worst blown series leads in Philadelphia history? Do the Flyers, the Phillies, or the 76ers endure the unfortunate label of having blown the biggest “sure thing” series lead in the city’s lore? 

Learn about the following four instances when Philadelphia snatched playoff defeat from the jaws of victory.

Philadelphia 76ers vs. Boston Celtics: 1968 Eastern Division Finals

The Philadelphia 76ers were the first team in National Basketball Association (NBA) history to blow a 3-1 series lead in the Eastern championship series, then known as the “Eastern Division Finals,” in an NBA with only a dozen teams and two divisions. Having qualified for the postseason as a top seed with a powerful 62-20 regular-season record, the 76ers knocked off the New York Knicks in six contests. However, the next series pitted Philly against Boston, a bugaboo rival for decades to come.

Philadelphia went icy from the field in Game 5’s loss on home hardwood, failing to cope with an injury to the 76ers’ offensive linchpin, Billy Cunningham. Boston won 122-104 despite Philly’s iconic center, Wilt Chamberlain, leading the game in three categories with 28 points, 30 rebounds, and seven assists. 

Hal Greer scored 40 points for Game 6’s Celtics in a 114-106 win that evened the series. Despite the final game at the Spectrum and a massive 34-rebound performance from Wilt the Stilt, the 76ers were beaten 100-96, losing the series and a trip to the finals, in which Boston won its 10th NBA title.

Philadelphia 76ers vs. Boston Celtics: 1981 Eastern Conference Finals

Speaking of 62-20 records, the 1980-81 Philadelphia 76ers, Boston Celtics, and Milwaukee Bucks made for a three-way tie at 62 victories at the regular season’s end. More bad luck for the 76ers led to Boston earning a higher seed via a tiebreaker and claiming home-court advantage in the Eastern Conference Finals. As Philly took a 3-1 lead, 76ers fans didn’t know the Celtics were their team’s real bad-luck charm. 

Julius “Dr. J” Erving and the 76ers had a glorious chance to clinch the series in Game 5, but the inimitable Larry Bird led the Celtics in a furious comeback to win 111-109 at Boston Garden. Bird’s supremely talented team won another tight contest, 100-98, in Philadelphia to even the series at 3-3 after six games.

With the 76ers trailing merely 91-90 at the end of Game 7, power forward Bobby Jones had the chance to inbound the ball to Erving, but more bad fortune struck as a sideline mob crowded Jones, causing his desperate pass to go awry. Mirroring the aftermath of the 76ers’ 1968 heartbreak, the Celtics went on to win another NBA crown.

Boston remains Philadelphia’s curse in the NBA postseason. The Celtics defeated the 76ers in six straight playoff meetings from 2002 to 2023. Philly broke the skid via a first-round series win over Boston in 2026.

Philadelphia Flyers vs. New Jersey Devils: 2000 Eastern Conference Finals

The Philadelphia Flyers suffered one of the franchise’s most heartbreaking moments in 2000, blowing a 3-1 series lead to fall to the New Jersey Devils in the Eastern Conference Finals. Philadelphia entered the conference finals as a sportsbook favorite, led by forwards such as Eric Lindros, Mark Recchi, and John LeClair. The Devils were no one’s favorite pick due to their style of play, a cautious and conservative “neutral-zone trap” backstopped by Martin Brodeur, one of the NHL’s all-time great netminders.

The Devils responded to their 1-3 series deficit by tightening down even more, holding the Flyers to just one goal in each of three losses that ended Philadelphia’s postseason. The series became infamous for Lindros getting blasted with a check to the head from New Jersey defenseman Scott Stevens in Game 7, falling motionless before leaving the ice with a concussion. 

The Devils went on to raise their second Stanley Cup trophy. Sadly, Lindros never performed for the Flyers again, continuing to battle various injuries while skating for three other teams. Lindros retired from pro hockey in 2007 at age 33.

Philadelphia Phillies vs. Arizona Diamondbacks: 2023 National League Championship Series

The worst blown series leads don’t always come from 3-1 or 3-0 scenarios. Philadelphia entered Game 6 of the 2023 National League Championship Series holding a 3-2 series edge. Manager Rob Thomson’s club had become such a popular pick to win the pennant that Chris Russo of ESPN threatened to retire from broadcasting if the opposing Arizona Diamondbacks won the series in seven games.

As bad luck would have it, the Philadelphia Phillies lost the final two contests to surrender the pennant to Arizona. That’s despite playing both games at home, limiting the Diamondbacks to 12 scoreless innings, and putting 10 players in scoring position during Game 7’s 5-1 defeat. The Phillies’ key offensive weapons, Bryce Harper, Nick Castellanos, J.T. Realmuto, and Trea Turner, went a combined 3-for-36 from the plate in Games 6 and 7.

As for Russo, the commentator did not retire as promised, for which Howard Stern expertly called him out.