A week after facing a season-eliminating home play-in game against the Dallas Mavericks, the Memphis Grizzlies find themselves in the same predicament when they tip off Game 4 against the Oklahoma City Thunder. A Ja Morant injury took the energy out of the building in Game 3 and was followed by a 29-point lead being evaporated as the Thunder took the 3-0 commanding lead in the series.
After making history in the wrong way with the Thunder making the largest NBA playoff comeback from a halftime deficit (26), the Grizzlies will need to make history to win the series. Teams that have fallen down 0-3 in an NBA playoff series are 0-157 all-time.
Of those 157 teams, only four teams have won three straight games to take their series to a deciding Game 7. The recent team was the Boston Celtics in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat. The Celtics also had the best opportunity of the four teams as they held Game 7 at home, unlike the other three series to reach that point.
However, they suffered the same fate as the 2003 Portland Trail Blazers, 1994 Denver Nuggets, and 1951 New York Knicks with a Game 7 loss after falling behind 0-3 in a best of 7-game playoff series. With these odds stacked against the Memphis Grizzlies, let's take a look at how they have fared in their franchise history in the same circumstances.
Memphis is 0-5 in Game 4 series' they have trailed 0-3
Unfortunately for the Grizzlies fanbase, they have no history of making a series compelling after trailing 0-3 in the team's history. Four of their five series they trailed 0-3 happened in the first round of the NBA playoffs, and all five series ended in a sweep.
They were swept three years in a row by the San Antonio Spurs, Phoenix Suns, and Dallas Mavericks from the 2004 playoffs through the 2006 playoffs. Their other two sweeps occurred in the 2013 Western Conference Finals against the Spurs and the 2016 first round against the Spurs again.
The Grizzlies franchise has entered new territory with their history against the Thunder, as their previous playoff series were all closely contested, with two of those series going to seven games. Ja Morant is listed as doubtful for Game 4, so the likelihood is that the Grizzlies will have to defy the odds in multiple ways to save their season.