28-3 in the Final Eight Minutes

Anyone near a television showing Sportscenter tonight undoubtedly saw highlights of the Los Angeles Clippers amazing comeback against the Memphis Grizzlies.  For those who didn't see or hear anything, the Clippers at one point trailed the Grizzlies by 27 points in the 3rd quarter.  At the start of the 4th quarter, they had lowered the deficit to 21 points, but quickly went back to 24 points with only 8 minutes left.

As a non-basketball fan, even I find that truly remarkable.  Needing 24 points in eight minutes is akin to scoring three more points than your opponent for each of the remaining minutes of the game, and that is merely to tie.  If your opponent was held to merely a single free throw each minute, you would still need to score 32 points the rest of the way.  In any event, Los Angeles trailed Memphis by a score of 95-71 with exactly eight minutes remaining.  With 50 seconds remaining, Reggie Evans would make a layup to take the lead 97-96.  Shortly thereafter, the Clippers would win 99-98.

Not surprisingly, records were tied an broken.  The biggest deficit overcome in an NBA playoff series that I could find was during Game 4 of the 1989 Western Conference Semi-Finals when the Los Angeles Lakers stormed back from an early 29-point deficit to beat the Seattle Supersonics.  The win in Game 4 was a sweep for the Lakers.  In this case, the Clippers only trailed by 27, so the record of the biggest deficit is not erased, but it does take sole position of second on that list.

The largest deficit at the start of the fourth quarter was 21 points, a record that was tied tonight.  Previous in 2002, the Boston Celtics mounted such a comeback against the New Jersey Nets.  In that game, Boston opened the fourth quarter with an 11-point run.  However, in tonight's game, after trailing 21 to start the fourth quarter, the Grizzlies extended their lead to 24 points only 23 seconds later.  Both team put up an equal number of points through the next few minutes, leaving Memphis with a 24 point lead with exactly eight minutes remaining.

With eight minutes left, the Clippers went on an 11-point run, and closed the gap to 95-82.  The Grizzlies would land then land a single free throw, but the Clippers made another great run of 15 points to finally take the lead 97-96 with 50 seconds remaining.  The Grizzlies would take the lead back once more on a jump shot, but a couple of late free throws by Chris Paul would seal the final score 99-98.  That would leave the Clippers to have completed the greatest fourth quarter comeback in the history of the NBA playoffs.

The greatest comeback in NBA playoff history is generally credited not to the Indiana Pacers for their victory over the New York Knicks in 1995, but Reggie Miller who scored eight points in the last sixteen seconds of the game to overcome a six-point deficit.  Certainly an incredible feat, but this Clippers victory may have to give it a run for that title.