One of the most intolerable things about following American sports in general, and the NBA in particular, is the inflation and cheapening of statements like "the first since ...", or "it's only happened this way and that many times in history."
But the 2023 playoffs — though most of it doesn't rise to particularly high levels of basketball, and even though we don't have a single team this year that comes close to being "historic" in terms of greatness — has provided us with a host of rare situations so far. Really rare.
And frankly, contrary to the zero ability of statements like "the first since the merger to give 10-15-25 in an elimination game under 25" emotional, this playoff created situations so rare that watching them develop was something that provided a special experience.
The Lakers needed overtime to get past Minnesota in the play-in games, and went all the way to the Western Conference Finals — passing both Memphis and Golden State without home-field advantage in what was the first-ever second-round series between Nos. 6 (the Warriors) and No. 7 (L.A.). And that's after the champion herself came back from 2-0 down against Sacramento, which itself hasn't been to the playoffs since 2006; And when Steph Curry sets a record of 50 points in Game 7, only to see Jayson Tatum break that record with Boston vs. Philadelphia in the second round of the East.
Tatum's tattoo. Words that say it all, photo: EPA
Speaking of the other side, Miami lost one elimination game and fell behind two or three minutes into the end, but survived it. Then it ousted Milwaukee in the most one-sided way No. 8 has ever done to No. 1. On top of that, no second-round series was over before Game 6.
It's a cluster of ups and downs that made the 2023 playoffs an experience. And if that wasn't enough, now in the Eastern Conference Finals, the historic No. 8-ranked Miami, which already led 0-3 over favorite Boston, lost its next three games — and it's only the fourth time in league history that has happened.
If Boston wins Game 7 at home and completes a turnaround, it will be the first ever to do so in the NBA, joining its city mate, the Boston Red Sox, who are still the only team to ever come back from 3-0 down to 3-4 in baseball (in hockey it's happened four times already).
Derrick White's basket at the buzzer, which set up a tie in the series, Photo: EPA
The Gospel of the Heat
And what does history tell us in this context? Well, she says Boston, with a 9-27 record, is the best Game 7 team in league history. At home is 5:22. And it's not some prehistory — they won Game 7 in the second round this year against Philly, and last year's playoffs saw this team record two of them, one over Milwaukee and one over Miami—in Miami. Jayson Tatum, for example, is already 1-5 in Game 7.
Miami, on the other hand, has a much more "reasonable" record: a historic 5-6, and only one such game since 2016 — last year's home loss to the Celtics. Jimmy Butler won just 1 of 3, and even Erik Spoelstra had just a 3-4 record.
So what could encourage the Heat right now? Perhaps the fact that in five out of six games so far in the series it was the away team that came out with the W.
And judging by the Celtics' relative disappointment with their home crowd this season, and how unbearable Boston's people and fans can be when they're on the right side of history, anyone who isn't a Bostonian should unite tonight with one clear hope: that this series won't add another statement like "the first since so-and-so-and-so" to this playoffs.
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