Knicks win Game 4 vs Spurs: Aside from LeBron James’ Cavs, has any team ever come back from 3-1 in NBA Finals?

In impossible fashion, the New York Knicks have put the San Antonio Spurs in the brink of elimination and are just one win away from winning the 2026 NBA Finals. As the Larry O’Brien Trophy is within reach for the Knickerbockers, the Spurs must do what only one team in league history has ever accomplished. And that was none other than the 2015-16 Cleveland Cavaliers, led by LeBron James.

In NBA playoff history, teams that trail 3-1 in a series have a very hard time coming back. If San Antonio manages to overcome its 3-1 deficit against New York, it will accomplish what only LeBron and Cleveland could. As for 3-0 deficits, no team has ever overcome such a disadvantage in Finals history. Not only that, no team has ever come back from down 3-0 in any playoff series.

If Victor Wembanyama achieves such a milestone in only his third year in the league, comparisons to LeBron will be off to a great start. Needless to say, no other team aside from the Cavs has ever come back from a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals.

Those who came close to 3-1 comebacks in NBA Finals

Throughout league history, 23 teams managed to extend the series to seven games after falling behind 3-1. Only LeBron and Cleveland were able to come away with a win in Game 7.

For instance, the Knicks forced a Game 7 after falling behind 3-0 against the Rochester Royals (now the Sacramento Kings) in the 1951 NBA Finals. The Los Angeles Lakers also forced a Game 7 after trailing 3-1 against the Boston Celtics in the 1966 NBA Finals. However, neither team could complete the comeback.

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It felt impossible until LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and company rallied from a 3-1 deficit against Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and the Golden State Warriors in 2016. The odds of such a comeback ever happening again are low, but if there’s someone who could pull it off, it might be ‘Wemby’ and the Spurs.

Almost made NBA history

Had San Antonio not blown a 29-point lead in Game 4 of the 2026 NBA Finals, the Knicks and Spurs would have found themselves on the wrong side of an unprecedented mark in league history. Never before had both NBA finalists lost their first two home games of the series.

Home court could have been considered a disadvantage, but New York rallied from an improbable deficit to put itself one win away from its first championship since 1973.

Last sweep in NBA Finals

Just as they were responsible for the most remarkable and memorable comeback in NBA Finals history, LeBron James and the Cavaliers were also involved the last time a team was swept in the championship round. The Warriors played a role in that one as well.

The last sweep in the NBA Finals was in 2018, when Golden State blew Cleveland out of the water in four games en route to the Warriors’ sixth NBA championship. Throughout league history, a total of nine NBA Finals have ended in a four-game sweep.

The last time a Western Conference team was swept in the NBA Finals was in 1989, when the Los Angeles Lakers fell at the hands of the Detroit Pistons. Since, four Eastern Conference sides have been in the losing end of sweeps, including the Cavs being swept twice.