Back in May 2003, the Portland Trail Blazers nearly did something that has never been done in NBA history. After falling behind the Dallas Mavericks 0-3 in a first-round, best-of-7 series, the Blazers—a team that was anchored by guys like Rasheed Wallace, Derek Anderson, Bonzi Wells, Scottie Pippen, and Dale Davis that season—rebounded to win three straight games to force a series-deciding Game 7.
In doing so, the Blazers became just the third NBA team to ever force a Game 7 after falling behind 0-3 in a series (the 1951 Knicks and 1994 Nuggets also did it). And after winning Game 6 at the Rose Garden in Portland, then-Blazers head coach Maurice Cheeks talked about how he managed to keep his team motivated after going down 0-3, since no NBA team has ever won a series after losing the first three games.
"My whole message is the series isn’t over until one team wins a fourth game," Cheeks said at the time.
Unfortunately for Portland fans, a team won a fourth game in Game 7—and it wasn’t the Blazers. Dirk Nowitzki scored 31 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter, during a 107-95 win, and the Mavericks narrowly avoided becoming the first NBA team to blow a 3-0 series lead in the playoffs. But the fact that his team lost didn’t stop Cheeks from talking about how proud he was of his team for fighting their way back into the series.
"I know a lot of people didn’t believe that we could come back and win three games," Cheeks said. "We really believed we could win this seventh game."
Cheeks is now an assistant coach with, ironically enough, the Oklahoma City Thunder, Kevin Durant’s former team. So we doubt he would be available to deliver a pep talk to the Cavaliers this week, as they face an 0-3 series deficit to KD and the Golden State Warriors in the 2017 NBA Finals.
But if LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love, & Co. stand any chance of staging a comeback in their series, they’re going to have to spend the next 10 days living by the words Cheeks delivered in 2003. Granted, this year’s Warriors aren’t the 2003 Mavericks, and this is the NBA Finals featuring the two best teams in the NBA, not a first-round matchup featuring two teams in the middle of the pack in the Western Conference Playoffs. But Cheeks’ never-say-die attitude during that 2003 playoff series is exactly what the Cavaliers will need if they’re going to make NBA history during this postseason.
They’re also going to need the support of their fans. And while there are plenty of Cavaliers fans out there who have already thrown in the towel and accepted defeat, there are—maybe somewhat surprisingly, given the way the Finals have played out so far—lots of Cleveland fans who are still holding out hope for the team. They may be few and far between, but they’re out there, and they’re not ready to give up on the Cavaliers just yet.
Some fans are using the Cavaliers’ historic 3-1 comeback in the 2016 NBA Finals as a reason to keep hope alive:
Others are taking the "Well, someone has to come back to win a playoff series after trailing 0-3 eventually, so why not us?" approach to the whole thing:
There are also those who are optimistically looking at 0-3 as an opportunity for LeBron rather than a burden:
Then, there are some—like Cavaliers’ DJ Steph Floss—who already have the rest of the series mapped out in their heads:
Steph Floss also posted this on Instagram:
#CavsIn7 has become something of a rallying cry among some Cavaliers fans who saw a tweet that J.R. Smith—or possibly a hacker?—sent out after Game 3 on Wednesday night:
Those fans are trying to will #CavsIn7 into existence by including it in tweets about the Finals:
The Cavs still have a shot because it ain't over until it's over, word to Yogi Berra. Also, because I want the Warriors to drop four straight and see who Draymond is gonna call in the parking lot. I really just want to watch a competitive 2017 NBA playoff series for once. I'm a Knicks fan, I deserve good basketball, goddammit.
And there are even a couple people in the Complex office who are still believers. Editorial Producer Zach Frydenlund, a.k.a. Chopz (a.k.a. Sad Chopz?), wrote an excellent piece on what it was like to experience his first NBA title as a Cavaliers fan last season, and he wants to get back to that place again:
Staff writer Angel Diaz—who is a bitter Knicks fan who has hitched his wagon to #CavsNation—is also sticking with his (second) team:
So can the Cavaliers actually bounce back from an 0-3 deficit and make some of their fans look like geniuses? (everyone listed here wins bragging rights forlife if it happens!) We wouldn’t count on it. Winning four straight games or, hell, winning two straight games against the Warriors with the way they’re playing right now is probably out of the question. There's also this:
But as Mo Cheeks said back in 2003, a playoff series doesn’t end until one team wins a fourth game, and on Friday night, the Cavaliers will have their first opportunity to stop the Warriors from getting it. That seems like a good place to start if they’re going to have any chance of pulling off what would go down as one of the most historic series wins in NBA history.
