The following is the list of teams to overcome 2–0 series deficits in a best-of-five series concerning North American professional sports, otherwise known as a reverse sweep. The listed teams won three consecutive games after being down 2–0 in a best-of-five playoff series. This is similar to a comeback from a 3–1 series deficit in a best-of-seven playoff series, which also requires winning three straight games, but these are not covered here. In addition, 2–0 deficit comebacks in the best-of-seven series are also not covered here.
All 2–0 deficit comebacks in a five-game series involve winning three straight elimination games, finally featuring a double-elimination game five. Longer series of this nature are almost always structured as single-elimination knockout tournaments, so one more loss means losing the series and ending playoff contention for the losing side.
This playoff structure used to be common in North American professional sports, particularly in the sports of baseball, basketball, and ice hockey, but is currently only used by Major League Baseball in North America.
One common comeback scenario is where a heavy favorite digs themselves into a deep hole on early adversity, before reasserting their dominance over a weaker opponent when the chips are down. This explains in part why these comebacks are rare in most sports: powerhouse teams most capable of mounting a comeback don't usually dig themselves into this predicament in the first place.
Additionally, over a longer series, teams adapt to the strengths and weaknesses of their opponent (more so than in regular season play); stronger teams are usually better at making these adjustments, which makes a "Cinderella" comeback by the weaker team that much more difficult to pull off. In team sports where an individual position has the potential for outsize impact (e.g. a starting pitcher in baseball or a goalie in hockey), a comeback can sometimes be leveraged by a weaker team off of a heroic individual performance.
Background
Three major North American professional sports leagues have had playoff series throughout their history that can reach a winner-take-all fifth game: Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the National Hockey League (NHL). Currently, however, only the MLB is actively using best-of-five series, with the best-of-five series that were used in the NHL and NBA being permanently expanded to best-of-seven series in 1987 and 2003, respectively. In the history of these leagues, teams that were down 2–0 in a series have come back to win the series 17 times; 10 times in MLB, 6 times in the NBA, and once in the NHL. The most recent instance was accomplished by the New York Yankees of the MLB in the 2017 American League Division Series.
Key
| ~ | Indicates series in the championship round |
| Eventual champion* | Indicates the winner went on to win the championship |
National Hockey League
The Stanley Cup Finals was played as a best-of-five in 1928 and again from 1931 to 1938. Also played as a best-of-five, was a Semi-Final series, which was contested between the top two seeds in the league from 1929 to 1938. From 1980 to 1986, the first round of the playoffs was played as a best-of-five until it was expanded to a best-of-seven starting with the 1987 playoffs. In 2020, the qualifying round was played as a best-of-five as part of the modified playoff format due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [1]
Successful comebacks
Only one team has ever overcome a 2–0 deficit in NHL playoff history. [2]
| Year and series | Won overcame 2–0 deficit |
Loser blew 2–0 lead |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 Patrick Division Semifinals | New York Islanders | Washington Capitals |
Unsuccessful comebacks
Five teams have evened a best-of-5 series after falling behind 2–0, only to lose game 5.
| Year and series | Loser after trailing 2–0 |
Winner after leading 2–0 |
|---|---|---|
| 1934 Semifinals | Toronto Maple Leafs | Detroit Red Wings |
| 1937 Semifinals | Montreal Canadiens | Detroit Red Wings* |
| 1981 Preliminary Round | Quebec Nordiques | Philadelphia Flyers |
| 1982 Patrick Division Semifinals | Pittsburgh Penguins | New York Islanders* |
| 1985 Adams Division Semifinals | Buffalo Sabres | Quebec Nordiques |
Major League Baseball
From 1969 to 1984, the League Championship Series was a best-of-five, until it was expanded to a best-of-seven in 1985. [3] [4] Since its inception in 1994 (and its one-off use in 1981), the League Division series has used the best-of-five format.
Successful comebacks
Ten teams have overcome a 2–0 deficit in a best-of-five series, two of which occurred in the League Championship Series. [5]
Unsuccessful comebacks
Seven teams have evened a best-of-5 series after falling behind 2–0, only to lose game five, only one of which occurred in the League Championship Series.
| Year and series | Loser after trailing 2–0 |
Winner after leading 2–0 |
|---|---|---|
| 1972 ALCS | Detroit Tigers | Oakland Athletics* |
| 1981 NLDS | Philadelphia Phillies | Montreal Expos |
| 1981 ALDS | Milwaukee Brewers | New York Yankees |
| 2010 ALDS | Tampa Bay Rays | Texas Rangers |
| 2011 NLDS | Arizona Diamondbacks | Milwaukee Brewers |
| 2012 ALDS | Oakland Athletics | Detroit Tigers |
| 2019 ALDS | Tampa Bay Rays | Houston Astros |
National Basketball Association
The NBA used a best-of-five playoff from 1951 to 1953 and from 1955 to 1957 for the second round of the playoffs, before it was expanded to a best-of-seven starting in 1958. A best-of-five playoff was also used in the first round from 1961 to 1967 and from 1984 to 2002 before it was also expanded to a best-of-seven starting in 2003. [6]
Successful comebacks
Six teams have overcome a 2–0 deficit in NBA playoff history. [7]
Unsuccessful comebacks
Nineteen teams have evened a best-of-five series after falling behind 2–0, only to lose game five. [8]
Women’s National Basketball Association
The WNBA has used a best-of-five series for the WNBA finals for every season since 2005 and for the semifinals since 2016. [9]
Successful comebacks
Similar to how no team in the NBA has overcome a 3–0 deficit in a best-of-seven series, no team in the WNBA has overcome a 2–0 deficit in a best-of-five. [10]
Unsuccessful comebacks
Only one team in WNBA history has forced a game five after trailing 2–0, which the team failed to win.
| Year and series | Loser after trailing 2–0 |
Winner after leading 2–0 |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 WNBA Semifinals | Phoenix Mercury | Seattle Storm* |
See also
References
- ^ "NHL Records". records.nhl.com.
- ^ "Panthers eye comeback against Islanders trailing 2-0 in Cup Qualifiers". NHL.
- ^ "Owners propose expanding league playoffs". Times Daily. Associated Press. March 22, 1985. p. 4B – via Google News Archive.
- ^ "League playoffs expand to seven games". The Spokesman-Review. April 4, 1985. p. C2 – via Google News Archive.
- ^ "These teams came back from 0-2 holes". MLB.com.
- ^ "Throwback Thursday: The history of NBA playoff reformatting". October 12, 2017.
- ^ "NBA Teams That Recovered From a 0-2 Deficit in Playoffs". landofbasketball.com.
- ^ "NBA Teams That Won Their Series After Having a 2-0 Lead in Playoffs". landofbasketball.com.
- ^ "WNBA Approves New Playoff Format". WNBA.
- ^ "Washington Mystics' Aerial Powers to miss game against Dallas Wings with injury". August 31, 2019.