Losing Games 1 & 3 Are A Big Deal For Every Team But The Heat

Thursday night, the Miami Heat host the San Antonio Spurs in Game 4 of the 2014 NBA Finals. The Spurs took a 2-1 series lead, after a commanding 111-92 Game 3 victory. During the first half of Game 3, San Antonio scored 71 points, while shooting 75.8 percent from the field.

Historically, the team that takes Game 3 of the NBA Finals, when tied 1-1, goes on to win the title 83 percent of the time.

However, being down in a playoff round, and then coming back to win, is nothing new for the Heat. During the Big Three era, Miami is 5-0 when losing Game 1.

In last season's Finals (involved the same two teams), going into Game 4, the series had played out exactly the same as this time around, with the Spurs taking Games 1 and 3 and the Heat winning Game 2.

In 2013, the Heat would end up grabbing Games 4, 6 and 7, to win a second straight NBA championship.