Game seven#comeback
{{Short description|Deciding game in a sports playoff series}}
{{redirect|Game 7|the song by T.I.|We Want Smoke}}
File:2011 World Series Game 7 Inning 2 Carpenter.jpg pitches to Mike Napoli in the 2nd inning of Game 7 of the 2011 World Series.]]
File:Syl Apps.jpg of the Toronto Maple Leafs after Game seven of the 1942 Stanley Cup Finals]]
File:Toyota Center Game 7 2018 playoffs.jpg before tip off of Game seven of the 2018 NBA Western Conference Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets]]
A game seven is the final game of a best-of-seven series. This game can occur in the postseasons for Major League Baseball (MLB) (League Championship Series and World Series), the National Basketball Association (NBA) (all rounds of the NBA playoffs), and the National Hockey League (NHL) (all rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs). The game is generally played at the site of the team holding the home advantage across the series.{{Cite web |last=Kamenetzky |first=Brian |date=2010-06-17 |title=The psychology of Game 7 |url=https://www.espn.com/blog/los-angeles-lakers/post/_/id/8497/the-psychology-of-game-7 |access-date=2024-08-15 |website=ESPN.com |language=en}} It can also happen on the television game show Jeopardy! with its Tournament of Champions format since Season 38, where a player must win three games to win the final (2-2-2 tie leads to a Game Seven).{{cite web |title="Jeopardy!" Super-Champions Assemble for Super-Sized Tournament of Champions Beginning Monday, October 31 |url=https://www.jeopardy.com/sites/default/files/files/press-release/2022-11/JEOP_S39_TOC2022.pdf |website=Jeopardy.com |publisher=Sony Pictures Television |access-date=2025-03-26 |ref=J!}}
The nature of a best-of-seven series requires that the series be tied 3–3 going into game seven, such that either team can take the series (advancing further in the playoffs or winning the championship) by winning the game. Because of this decisive nature, game sevens add an element of drama to their sports.{{According to whom|date=August 2024}}{{Cite web |last=Cotsonika |first=Nicholas J. |date=2024-05-04 |title=Vegas, Dallas 'don't think anyone is surprised' series heading to Game 7 |url=https://www.nhl.com/news/golden-knights-stars-not-surprised-series-heading-to-game-7 |access-date=2024-08-15 |website=NHL.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2024-06-22 |title=History of Game 7 in Stanley Cup Final |url=https://www.nhl.com/news/nhl-stanley-cup-final-game-7-history-307799358 |access-date=2024-08-15 |website=NHL.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=November 4, 2021 |title=A brief history: Here's every World Series Game 7 |url=https://www.mlb.com/news/history-of-world-series-game-7-c39984458 |access-date=2024-08-15 |website=MLB.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Adler |first=David |date=October 24, 2023 |title=Every Game 7 in NLCS and ALCS history |url=https://www.mlb.com/news/every-game-7-in-lcs-history |access-date=2024-08-15 |website=MLB.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Rasmussen |first=Karl |date=2024-06-07 |title=List of Every NBA Finals Series to Go Seven Games |url=https://www.si.com/nba/every-nba-finals-series-seven-games |access-date=2024-08-15 |website=SI |language=en-US}} Aside from North American sports leagues, game sevens are also a fixture in many other sports around the world, mostly in baseball, basketball, and ice hockey leagues. Most codes of football do not employ a best-of-seven series (or any best-of-x series in general), hence game sevens are not played in those leagues.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}} Some playoff rounds (such as MLB's current Division Series) are played in a best-of-five format, such that game five has similar qualities to those described above, though the suspense and drama have less time to build in a shorter series. Furthermore, the World Series of 1903, 1919, 1920, and 1921 were played in a best-of-nine format, though none of the four went to a decisive game nine.
The game seven is comparable to a final or to a single game in a single-elimination tournament or to a one-game playoff. A championship series' game seven is equivalent to the Super Bowl game in the National Football League in that the game's winner is the league's champion for the season.
Examples
=Baseball=
==Chinese Professional Baseball League==
The Chinese Professional Baseball League's championship series, the Taiwan Series, has seen nine series decided in game seven.{{cite web|url=http://www.cpbl.com.tw/english/Championships.asp |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120722215430/http://www.cpbl.com.tw/english/Championships.asp |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-07-22 |title=Championships by Season |publisher=Chinese Professional Baseball League |access-date=2012-05-26 }}
Taiwan Series that were decided in game seven include:
class=wikitable | |||||
Year | Winning team | Losing team | Score | Site | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
{{baseball year|1991}} | Uni-President Lions | Wei Chuan Dragons | 13–5 | Taipei City | |
{{baseball year|1998}} | Wei Chuan Dragons | Sinon Bulls | 5–2 | Taichung City | Capacity audience. |
{{baseball year|2000}} | Uni-President Lions
| 4–1 | Taichung City | Capacity audience. Lo Min-ching homered the fifth time and then the sixth in the series. | ||
{{baseball year|2001}} | Brother Elephants | Uni-President Lions | 7–5 | Tainan City | Capacity audience. Yofu Tetsu saved the Elephants. |
{{baseball year|2004}} | Sinon Bulls
| 8–6 | Tainan City | Capacity audience. Chang Chia-hao hit the winning triple in the ninth inning. | ||
{{baseball year|2007}} | Uni-President Lions | La New Bears | 4–2 | Kaohsiung County | Capacity audience. Nelson Figueroa became the first player taking three starting wins in CPBL playoff history. |
{{baseball year|2008}} | Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions | Brother Elephants | 4–0 | Tainan City | Capacity audience. Luther Hackman closed the game. |
{{baseball year|2009}}
| 5–2 | Tainan City | Capacity audience. Lions win their third consecutive championship. | |||
{{baseball year|2015}} | Lamigo Monkeys | Chinatrust Brothers | 11–0 | Taoyuan Stadium | Capacity audience. Lamigo overcomes a 3–1 series deficit to win their second consecutive championship. |
==Major League Baseball==
{{Main|List of Major League Baseball game sevens}}
In the Major League Baseball postseason, a game seven can occur in the League Championship Series and the World Series; a game seven cannot occur in the Division Series of the playoff, which are played as best-of-five series nor can it occur in the Wild Card Series, which are played as best-of-three series.
{{anchor|World Series}}In the World Series, there have been 40 decisive game sevens through the 2022 season; visiting teams have won 21 of those games.{{cite web |url=https://www.mlb.com/news/history-of-world-series-game-7-c39984458 |title=A brief history: Here's every World Series Gm 7 |website=MLB.com |date=October 31, 2019 |access-date=October 17, 2020}} Four non-decisive game sevens have been played, in the World Series contested as best-of-nine series (1903, 1919, 1920, 1921); none went to a game nine.
World Series decided by a game seven:
=Basketball=
==National Basketball Association==
{{main article|List of NBA game sevens}}
All playoff rounds in the National Basketball League (NBA) are now in a best-of-seven series format so all rounds can have a maximum of seven games. The NBA Finals has been consistently played in a best-of-seven series format since its inception. The game sevens where the championship was awarded:
=Ice hockey=
==Kontinental Hockey League==
In the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) playoffs, game seven can occur in all playoff series. The KHL playoffs' final series, the Gagarin Cup Final, has seen five series decided in game seven.{{cite web|url=https://en.khl.ru/news/2016/04/18/307835.html|title=The final showdown. Game 7 look back|date=18 April 2016|access-date=19 December 2019|publisher=Kontinental Hockey League|website=en.khl.ru}}
The game sevens where the Gagarin Cup was awarded are:
class=wikitable style="font-size:92%;" | |||||
Year | Winning team | Losing team | Score | Site | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2009 | Ak Bars Kazan | Lokomotiv Yaroslavl | 1–0 | TatNeft Arena, Kazan | Inaugural season for the Kontinental Hockey League after it was reorganized from the former Russian Superleague. |
2010
| HC MVD | 0–2 | Balashikha Arena, Balashikha | |||
2012 | HC Dynamo Moscow | Avangard Omsk | 0–1 | Arena Omsk, Omsk | |
2014 | rowspan=2|Metallurg Magnitogorsk | HC Lev Praha | 7–4 | Arena Metallurg, Magnitogorsk | |
2016{{cite web|url=https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/khl-championship-game-7-cska-metallurg-magnitogorsk-alexsander-radulov-semin/|title=Alex Semin, Metallurg win KHL championship in thrilling Game 7|work=Sportsnet|publisher=Rogers Digital Media|date=19 April 2016|access-date=19 December 2019|last=Fox|first=Luke}} | HC CSKA Moscow | 1–3 | CSKA Arena, Moscow |
==Liiga==
In Liiga (or Finnish Elite League) playoffs, game seven can occur in all playoff series except the wild-card rounds. The Liiga playoffs' final series has seen several series decided in game seven.
The game sevens where Liiga awarded gold medals and the Kanada-malja include:
==National Hockey League==
{{main article|List of NHL game sevens}}
In the National Hockey League's (NHL) Stanley Cup playoffs, game seven can occur in all playoff series.{{cite news|last=Kreiser|first=John|title=Game 7 of Final: The ultimate all-or-nothing contest|url=https://www.nhl.com/news/game-7-of-final-the-ultimate-all-or-nothing-contest/c-565775|website=NHL.com|publisher=National Hockey League|date=June 14, 2011|access-date=June 14, 2011}} The Stanley Cup became the NHL's de facto championship trophy in 1926, and the league instituted the best-of-seven series starting in the {{NHL Year|1938}} season. No Stanley Cup Finals game seven has ever ended with a 1–0 score.
The game sevens where the Stanley Cup was awarded are:
Comebacks
This table below lists teams that, after being down three games to none, have forced a seventh game.
{{further|List of teams to overcome 3–0 series deficits}}
More common, and not enumerated here, are teams that have forced and won a seventh game after being down three games to one.
{{further|List of teams to overcome 3–1 series deficits}}
=Successful=
In only ten instances (five in major North American sports leagues) has a team been able to come back from being down 0–3 to win a series:
Mike Richards and Jeff Carter are the only players to have been a part of two comebacks from being down 0–3, having played for both the 2009–10 Philadelphia Flyers and the 2013–14 Los Angeles Kings.
=Unsuccessful=
In the following fifteen instances, teams were able to force a seventh game in a series after being down 0–3, but lost the final game:
The New York Islanders are the only team to have twice fallen behind 0–3 and then forced a game seven in the same postseason; in the 1975 Stanley Cup Quarterfinals (which they won) and then the 1975 Stanley Cup Semifinals (which they lost).{{cite web |url=https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/latest-news/new-york-islanders-carolina-hurricanes-game-4-2024-stanley-cup-playoffs-3-0-series-1975#:~:text=Out%20of%20208%20teams%20to,after%20going%20down%203%2D0. |title=Islanders Face Large, But Not Insurmountable Odds With 3-0 Series Deficit; Flashing Back To 1975 |first=Stefen |last=Rosner |access-date=July 17, 2024}}
=Major sports leagues=
File:Boston Red Sox George W. Bush 2005.jpg, seen here at the White House, are one of just two teams to force a game seven after being down 3–0, and the only team to win a game 7 after being down 3–0.{{cite web |url=https://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2014/10/15/6983961/orioles-royals-alcs-teams-down-0-3-playoffs-postseason-baseball |title=A brief history of teams down 0-3 in a best-of-seven series |first=Grant |last=Brisbee |website=SB Nation |date=October 21, 2015 |access-date=June 12, 2019}}]]
This table summarizes the above results for the three major sports leagues in North America that play seven-game series:
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" | ||||
Sports league
! Game 7 forced ! Wins ! Losses ! Notes | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
NBA | 4 | 0 | 4 | align=left|Has occurred once in the NBA Finals (0–1) |
NHL | 10 | 4 | 6 | align=left|Has occurred three times in the Stanley Cup Finals (1–2) |
MLB | 2 | 1 | 1 | align=left|Has never occurred in the World Series |
{{clear}}
References
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