Mercury on ropes: How many teams in sports history have come back from down 3-0?

“I don’t know how many teams have come back from 0-3, not many, I’m not gonna sugarcoat that,” Phoenix Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts told reporters after his team dropped Game 3 of the WNBA Finals to the Las Vegas Aces on Wednesday.

Aces superstar A’ja Wilson hit a tough, game-winning jumper in the final second, putting the Mercury in a 3-0 hole.

To address Tibbetts’ curiosity, no WNBA team has ever won a series after trailing 3-0 considering that it had not been possible before this season. These are the first playoffs using an expanded WNBA Finals, as the league moved from a best-of-five to a best-of-seven format for the final round.

It has happened in other leagues, but rarely.

In Major League Baseball, the 2004 Boston Red Sox were the lone club to erase a 3-0 deficit and win the series, stunning the New York Yankees in the ALCS for arguably the most memorable series win of the 21st century. Boston defeated St. Louis in the ensuing World Series.

The 2020 Houston Astros evened their series with the Tampa Bay Rays after trailing 3-0, but they fell in Game 7. That was an odd series considering it was played at a neutral site at Petco Park due to COVID-19 restrictions. The Rays lost the World Series in six games to the Dodgers.

NBA teams leading series 3-0 are 159-0 in the playoffs, but there have been a handful of teams that have forced a Game 7. The 2022-23 Boston Celtics nearly mounted the comeback before dropping Game 7 to the Miami Heat, who went on to lose the NBA Finals to the Denver Nuggets.

The NHL has produced the most 3-0 comebacks with four of them:

• 1942 Maple Leaves over Red Wings (Stanley Cup Final)
• 1975 Islanders over Penguins (quarterfinal)
• 2010 Flyers over Bruins (quarterfinal)
• 2014 Kings over Sharks (first round)

The Mercury lost the first game of their previous series against the New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx, coming back to reach the WNBA Finals. On Wednesday, they faced a 17-point deficit in the second half before tying the game in the fourth quarter.

This is a whole other animal, but the focus remains one game at a time.

“I’m proud of our group for not giving in, that’s what we expect on Friday, too,” Tibbetts said. “We’re gonna keep fighting, that’s what this group is about. … We got a certain level of pride that we’re gonna continue to keep fighting.”

Game 4 is on Friday at Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix with tip off set for 5 p.m. MST.

Phoenix went on two winning streaks of at least four games during the regular season, for what it is worth. The Aces, however, are looking to win their third title in four years, and Wilson is coming off an elite performance of 34 points and 14 rebounds.

Mercury All-Star Satou Sabally, additionally, was helped to the locker room in Game 3 after hitting her head on an opposing player, and her status is another key factor.

“We’re facing elimination, we’ve had plenty opportunities to go out there and get a win,” Mercury All-Star Alyssa Thomas said. “At some point, we have to take it upon ourselves. Our first half was unacceptable … We gotta come out from the start.”

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