When the Celtics dropped Game 3 to the Heat to fall into a 3-0 hole in the Eastern Conference Finals, history said their season was over.
There have been 150 instances in history where an NBA team has faced a 3-0 deficit. Only 14 teams had been able to force a Game 6. Only three teams had been able to force a Game 7. Zero teams had come back to win the series.
With the past stacking the odds against the Celtics, the team's leader and engine chose to echo a mantra that has become a war cry in Boston.
"Don't let us win tonight," Marcus Smart said ahead of Game 4 in Miami.
Whether he knew it or not, Smart delivered the one statement that made the entire city and fanbase believe this comeback was possible.
MORE: The complete history of NBA teams trailing 3-0 in a playoff series
It was the same message that Red Sox first baseman Kevin Millar told The Boston Globe's Dan Shaughnessy in 2004 after they had fallen into a 3-0 deficit against the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series.
"Don't let us win today," Millar said with a smirk and a nod.
In that moment, a 3-0 comeback had never happened in MLB history, either. And no one believed the cursed franchise that hadn't won the World Series in 86 years would be the first to do it.
But just as the Red Sox were able to pull off the unthinkable to make history in 2004, the Celtics are now one win away from doing the same in 2023.
Celtics, Red Sox both blown out in Game 3
Part of what makes both comebacks so improbable was the way each team was utterly destroyed to fall into the historically insurmountable 3-0 hole.
After dropping the first two games of the 2004 ALCS in Yankee Stadium, the Red Sox had hoped a trip to Fenway Park would get them back into the series. Instead, Boston was down 3-0 in the first inning before it could even blink. It would eventually tie the game at 6-6 by the end of the third inning, but the Yankees kept piling it on.
New York ended up embarrassing the Red Sox in front of their home crowd, taking Game 3 in compelling fashion with a 19-8 win.
For the Celtics, Game 3 of the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals wasn't all that different. Boston had shockingly dropped Games 1 and 2 at home, but the team could hang its hat on the fact that it had been better on the road. With hopes of getting back into the series in Miami, the Heat crushed the Celtics from the opening tip.
Boston took a two-point lead, 16-14, with just under six minutes to play in the first quarter. It would end up being its only lead of the game as Miami blew the doors open in the second and third quarters, taking a decisive 128-102 victory to put itself one win away from the NBA Finals.
MORE: Jayson Tatum looks to add to impressive history in elimination games
The response from the media, fans and stakeholders was the same.
The Boston Globe's Shaughnessy famously called the 2004 Red Sox, "A happy-go-lucky (then suddenly unlucky) pack of frauds who failed to show up for the biggest series of their lives," after their loss in Game 3.
As for the Celtics, you couldn't turn on the TV or open social media the next day without pundits calling to fire head coach Joe Mazzulla or to split up their star duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
Somehow, some way, in both cases, that's where the tides started to turn.
Dave Roberts, David Ortiz, Derrick White and the series-altering moments
This is where the games don't line up but the significance feels similar.
For the 2004 Red Sox, the two keystone moments of their comeback both came in Game 4 to keep their season alive. Trailing by one run in the bottom of the ninth with the greatest closer of all time, Mariano Rivera, on the hill, Millar led off the inning with a walk. Boston manager Terry Francona elected to have speedster Dave Roberts pinch run for Millar, who promptly stole second base to get into scoring position.
Red Sox second baseman Bill Mueller ripped a single into center field to score Roberts, sending the game into extra innings. Fast forward to the bottom of the 12th, where David Ortiz would launch a two-run home run into the Red Sox bullpen to give his team a glimpse of hope that they could actually pull this off.
For the 2023 Celtics, it took a near-meltdown in Game 6 to set up their keystone moment. Boston led by 10 points with under four minutes to play, so close to forcing a Game 7 back at the TD Garden. In the blink of an eye, the Heat erased that deficit to make it a one-possession game, trailing by two with 16 seconds remaining.
Al Horford fouled Jimmy Butler on a game-tying shot attempt, but head coach Mazzulla's challenge of the call revealed that Butler was actually behind the 3-point line. Butler sank all three free throws to give Miami a one-point lead with 3.0 seconds remaining, giving the Celtics one chance to keep their shot at history alive.
Smart missed the potential game-winning 3-point attempt but Derrick White crashed the glass for a tip-in as time expired, getting the shot off with 0.1 seconds remaining. The basket counted, and the Celtics lived to fight another day.
DERRICK WHITE FOR THE WIN.
— NBA (@NBA) May 28, 2023
ALL ANGLES.#TissotBuzzerBeater to force Game 7! pic.twitter.com/HOKXLh3YoU
Red Sox re-wrote the history books; Will Celtics do the same?
The 2004 Red Sox didn't make things very easy at first. They needed 12 innings to win Game 4 and 14 innings to win Game 5 to get back into the series. They won Game 6 in a 4-2 nail-biter before handling the Yankees in New York,10-3, to advance to the World Series.
Once they made history as the first — and only — team in MLB history to overcome a 3-0 deficit, it didn't look back. Boston went on to sweep the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2004 World Series, rattling off eight-straight wins after falling into a 3-0 hole against the Yankees.
The Celtics saved their fans the stress in Games 4 and 5, winning each contest by double digits. After White's game-winning buzzer-beater in Game 6, Boston became the fourth team in NBA history to force a Game 7 after trailing 3-0 in a series — but they're the first team to have Game 7 at home.
The 2004 Red Sox have become a symbol of hope for any team, in any sport, that trails 3-0 in a playoff series.
They're why the internet had a field day once Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez showed up to Game 4 between the Celtics and Heat in Miami. It's why Millar, 19 years later, has delivered pregame pump-up speeches to the Celtics. It's why Boston fans were thrilled to find out Johnny Damon, and his 2004 World Series ring, were in attendance for Game 6 in Miami.
Brown said it best ahead of Game 6 when referencing the influence the 2004 Red Sox have had on their comeback, "History is at our doorstep and we gotta respond."
But it was Charles Barkley's comment to Brown on Inside the NBA after the chaotic Game 6 win that stuck with me the most.
"You say you want to make history. You only make history if you win No. 4. Don't forget that."
