What usually happens when the Celtics have a 3-0 lead in a playoff series?
The Celtics enter Monday’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers with a chance to sweep the Eastern Conference semifinal series. It will be the 13th time that the Celtics have jumped out to a 3-0 lead in a best of seven series. Five of those series resulted in sweeps, seven were wrapped up in five games, and one other was extended to a sixth game.
On four occasions, the Bill Russell-era Celtics had a 3-0 lead in the playoffs, but only swept one of them, against the Lakers to win the 1958-59 title. The other three series were won in five games.
From 1979 to 1986, the Larry Bird-era Celtics took a 3-0 lead on six different series, sweeping three and winning the other in five games.
The most recent incarnation of the Big Three won the first three games of a series three times. In 2009-10 they defeated the Heat in the first round in five games and the Magic in the conference finals in six games. In 2010-11 they swept the Knicks in the first round.
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