If the Denver Nuggets are going to repeat as NBA champions, it will take a historic comeback now that they've fallen behind 2-0 on their home court in a conference semifinals matchup with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Despite the Nuggets needing to win four of the remaining five games in the series with just two of them in Denver, history says they are actually in a better position than the other team down 2-0 playing at home Friday -- the Indiana Pacers, who trail the New York Knicks.
In best-of-seven series since the playoffs expanded to 16 teams in 1984, teams that lose the first two games of the series at home are 4-20 (.167) -- with the exception of the 2020 bubble. That's more than twice the winning percentage of teams that lose the first two games on the road (19-218, .080), arguing against the conventional wisdom that a series doesn't begin until a home team loss.
Given those long odds, it's worth considering whether there are any common factors in NBA playoff comebacks from a 2-0 deficit and looking at how they might apply to this year's second-round matchups. Let's see what the Nuggets and Pacers need to do to rally and advance.
