On April 27, 2003 and April 27, 2026, the #8 seed Orlando Magic took a 3–1 lead over the #1 seed Detroit Pistons… the Magic lost the series both times.
What a strange coincidence that out of the 15 times in NBA history a team has come back from 3-1 deficit, twice it happens with the same teams, then being the same seed, and the lead being taken on the same day. Adam Silver is really cooking with this year’s playoff script /s
If anyone’s curious, here’s the full series stats from the 2003 First Round Series - https://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/2003-nba-eastern-conference-first-round-magic-vs-pistons.html
This was Ben Wallace’s first season as an All-Star, he averaged 11.1 points per game and a whopping 17.9 rebounds per game in the series alongside 3.1 steals and 3.3 blocks. This was Tayshaun Prince’s rookie year season so he was not a full time starter yet, that happened the next season.
Tracy McGrady averaged 31.7PTS/6.7REB/4.7AST on 45/34/77 shooting but it was not enough. Drew Golden was the second leading scorer averaging 14PTS/12.7REB