Not everybody can do it…
As the Golden State Warriors have exited stage left from being relevant in the NBA’s playoff discussion after a dismal showing in the play-in tournament to cap a very dissapointing season, it’s nice for Dub Nation to rest on the dynastic laurels of the Splash Bros and Co.
Now I can relate to the smugness Los Angeles Lakers fans had during the Smush Parker years or the shrugging smirk that Chicago Bulls fans had in 2002 when they saw teams warring for title glory. When you’ve seen your team win at the highest level year after year after year and then sit back and watch some other desperate hopefuls scrapping their hearts out, it gives quite a bit of perspective.
For example, after the Minnesota Timberwolves eradicated the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets in 7 games, two things popped to mind: the Warriors are the last time to be back-to-back title winners, and Minnesota might actually be the West’s next big thing.
The Minnesota Timberwolves are back in the Western Conference Finals for the first time in 20 years after pulling off the largest second-half comeback in Game 7 history on Sunday against the Denver Nuggets. The T-Wolves overcame a 15-point halftime deficit that had ballooned to 20 points early in the third quarter to defeat the defending champions, 98–90.
The victory sends Minnesota to the conference finals for just the second time in franchise history, with the other appearance coming in 2004 behind Kevin Garnett.
But now that they’ve been booted into a 3-1 hole by the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference Finals, suddenly those championship fever dreams are hauntingly hollow. But hey, sometimes to make the NBA Finals you’ve gotta come back from 3-1…just like the 2016 Warriors did!
Zero teams in NBA history have come back from a 3-0 deficit, which was what Minnesota trailed Dallas by to start this series. But after the Timberwolves Game 4 win, they’ve now pulled to that infamous 3-1 number.
There have been 13 teams who have come back from 3-1, and maybe the Timberwolves can make it 14!