Sports- Making History

In 2016 the Cleveland Cavaliers made NBA history as being the first team to come back from being down 3-1 in the Finals as they made their comeback against the Golden State Warriors. Many NBA fans remember when the Lebron James led Cavs were down 3-1 and thought it was impossible. Well, this year, the Denver Nuggets, led by young stars Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic, came back from being down 3-1 not once, but twice.

The first comeback came against the Utah Jazz in the first round of the playoffs. Utah, led by New York-native Donovan Mitchell, took a 3-1 lead after winning a tightly contested game 4 (history was made in this game too, as for the first time in NBA playoff history two opponents scored 50 points against each other, Jamal Murray and Donovan Mitchell both exploded for 50 points a piece). Following the game 4 loss, the Nuggets would go on to win the next 3 games including a nail-biter for fans in game 7, as Mike Conley missed an opportunity for the series winning shot at the buzzer.

The second (and more shocking) comeback followed the Jazz series as Denver would go on to play the Los Angeles Clippers in the second round. Many, many analysts and fans had selected the Clippers to win this year’s NBA title, following last summer when they signed the reigning Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, and traded for league MVP runner up, Paul George. When LA took a 3-1 lead, many had written off the Nuggets, and rightfully so. Denver had played poorly in the first game 4 and, in game 5 it looked like Los Angeles would close the series as the Nuggets were down by 16 entering the fourth quarter. With their backs against the wall, Denver would go on to win the game and save themselves from elimination. They would go on to win the next two games, led by unbelievable performances from Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. I think it’s safe to say that we all can’t wait to see them match up against the Los Angeles Lakers next in the Conference Finals.