Did These Sports Teams Choke or Not?
The Oklahoma City Thunder choked away a 3-1 series lead against the Golden State Warriors in this year's Western Conference Finals—or did they?
From the year 2000 on, there have been plenty of shocking turnaround games in sports. But naturally, the other side of every egregious choke is a heroic comeback. The outcomes are all a combination of one team's prowess and the other's failure.
Most of the following 12 outcomes are widely recognized as epic sports chokes, but where they really?
A choke happens when the losing team is more than 50 percent at fault. A comeback is vice versa, obviously, and in rare occasions, there's a push.
Did the New York Yankees really lose the 2004 American League Championship Series more than the Boston Red Sox won it? Choke, not or push? Read on to find out.
Be warned: What follows are subjective, unscientific conclusions.
Chicago Cubs, 2003 NLCS
1 of 12
The 2003 Chicago Cubs won 88 games and got within five outs of a World Series appearance, but it all went wrong in just just one half-inning.
The Cubs led the Florida Marlins three games to two heading into Game 6 of the National League Championship Series at Wrigley Field, aka the scene of the "Bartman incident."
The Cubs were up 3-0 with one out in the eighth inning when Marlins second baseman Luis Castillo hit a foul ball near the wall in shallow left. Cubs outfielder Moises Alou went up to snag the ball along with several Cubs fans.
Alou did not make the catch, and many Cubs faithful would later blame one fan, Steve Bartman, for their failure to win the entire series.
And yet, the Bartman play would not have even been the third out of that inning, and Cubs shortstop Alex Gonzalez later made an error on a potential double-play ball. Cubs starter Mark Prior was yanked in the middle of an eight-run eighth for the Marlins, and five of those eight runs were unearned because of the Gonzalez error.
Verdict: Choke (and definitely not Bartman's fault)
New York Giants, 2010 Week 15
2 of 12
In December 2010, the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the New York Giants 38-31 in a thriller at the New Meadowlands. Trailing 24-3 at halftime, the Eagles scored an incredible 28 points in the game's final seven minutes.
The final play was the deciding factor. Tied at 31 with just seconds remaining, the Giants punted into the open arms of Eagles returner DeSean Jackson, who bobbled the ball but recovered and ran it back 65 yards for the game-winning score.
On one hand, the ball never should have ended up in his hands. Jackson said, "I was thinking to myself like 'They're not going to kick it to me,'" per ESPN.com.
Then again, Jackson won that game for his team. In 2013, NFL.com (via NJ.com's Eliot Shorr-Parks) named it the "Greatest Play of All Time." It's hard to saddle the Giants with an unequivocal choke label when a play of that caliber was involved.
Verdict: Not
San Antonio Spurs, 2013 NBA Finals
3 of 12The San Antonio Spurs led the Miami Heat 3-2 in the 2013 NBA Finals, and Game 6 should have sealed the deal.
The Spurs led by 10 to start the fourth quarter, by five with 28 seconds remaining and by three with five seconds left. Heat center Chris Bosh grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed three by LeBron James and got the ball to Ray Allen in the corner—nothing but net. The Heat won in overtime and took Game 7 for the title.
The Spurs certainly didn't help themselves. Many called this a choke job, and had justifiable reasons for doing so. Kawhi Leonard missed a key free throw, and Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich made some questionable substitutions. The Spurs ended the overtime by missing four straight shots and committing three turnovers.
And yet, without that incredible Ray Allen three ball, the Spurs still win.
The Ringer's Bill Simmons, then of Grantland, wrote, "Ray Allen saved Miami's season and swung the title. There's never been a greater NBA shot."
Verdict: Push
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
New York Yankees, 2004 ALCS
4 of 12
The New York Yankees jumped out to a 3-0 series lead on the Boston Red Sox in the 2004 American League Championship Series. At the time, no MLB team had ever come back from such a deficit.
The Yankees led 4-3 in the ninth inning of Game 4 with the greatest closer of all time on the mound. And yet, Mariano Rivera uncharacteristically blew the save, and David Ortiz later smashed a 12th-inning home run off Paul Quantrill to win the game and extend the series.
The Red Sox won the next three—including a 10-3 drubbing in Game 7—to cap off the greatest comeback in MLB history, the first time a team had overcome an 0-3 hole to win a postseason series.
There's an argument to be made the 2004 ALCS was more of a comeback story than a tale of epic choking. The Red Sox authored many heroic moments and took that series, perhaps even more than the Yanks gave it away.
Even so, to give up a 3-0 series lead for the first time in MLB history? That's gotta be a choke.
Verdict: Choke
AC Milan, 2005 Champions League Final
5 of 12
AC Milan led Liverpool 3-0 at halftime of the 2005 Champions League final.
In the second half, Liverpool scored three goals in the span of six minutes. After extra time, the game went to penalties. Milan missed its first two shots and made its second two, but Liverpool keeper Jerzy Dudek wasn't fooled by Andriy Shevchenko's up-the-middle shot, and Liverpool took the penalties, 3-2.
The collapse was particularly stunning given the defensive prowess of AC Milan. Reflecting on the game in March, former Milan midfielder Kaka told Radio Cope (via Alex Davis of the Mirror), "Honestly, years later I still can't understand how we managed to lose that game. We had the best defenders in the world in that team."
Credit Liverpool's refusal to give up, but how, indeed, did the Milan defense manage to squander the lead?
In October, former Milan defender Cafu revealed in a FourFourTwo Q&A (via ESPN FC) that his team celebrated victory at halftime.
Verdict: Choke
Portland Trail Blazers, 2000 Western Conference Finals
6 of 12
The Portland Trail Blazers led the Los Angeles Lakers by 13 points heading into the fourth quarter of Game 7 of the 2000 Western Conference Finals.
Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal scored nine points in the frame, including two on a now-famous lob from teammate Kobe Bryant. As a team, the Lakers outscored the Blazers 31-13 in the fourth and won the game 89-84.
Yet, there was (and still is) controversy regarding the officiating. Disgraced ex-NBA referee Tim Donaghy pointed to alleged unsavoriness in his unpublished book Blowing the Whistle. One excerpt read (via Tommy Craggs of Deadspin), "It certainly didn't hurt the Lakers that they got to shoot 37 free throws compared to a paltry 16 for the Trail Blazers."
And still, as Dave Deckard of Blazer's Edge pointed out, "Portland choked jumper after jumper, shooting 22 percent for the period. A previously-handcuffed Shaquille O'Neal came alive, dunking and waving fingers. [Brian] Shaw and Kobe Bryant took it to the Blazers."
Maybe the Lakers won more than the Blazers lost, but the Blazers also allowed the largest Game 7 comeback in NBA history. So assuming you don't believe in conspiracy theories...
Verdict: Choke
Toronto Maple Leafs, 2013 First Round
7 of 12In 2013, the Toronto Maple Leafs led their first-round playoff series against the Boston Bruins 3-1. And despite the fact that they lost Games 5 and 6, they also led Game 7, 4-1, in the third period.
The Bruins scored three goals—including two empty-netters in the final two minutes—to force overtime and eventually took the game 5-4. So what happened?
Perhaps the Leafs assumed victory too early, or perhaps it was more that the Bruins never gave up. Going back and watching the highlights, it's hard to tell if the Leafs lost or the Bruins won.
Allan Muir of SI.com wrote, "The Leafs were the better team in the series, spending more time in control of the play than the Bruins. But in the end, they couldn't match Boston's experience, the palpable calm the Bruins exuded as they reeled the most important game of the season back in, then landed it."
Verdict: Push
Texas Rangers, 2011 World Series
8 of 12
Many remember the 2011 World Series for the unlikely heroics of St. Louis Cardinals third baseman David Freese. But do people remember how close the Texas Rangers came to winning Game 6—only to let victory elude them twice?
The Rangers led the series 3-2. One strike away from victory in the ninth, Rangers closer Neftali Feliz gave up a two-run triple to Freese.
Later, in the bottom of the 10th, again with two strikes and two outs, Lance Berkman smacked a single to tie the game for the Cards. And in the 11th, Freese came through again, this time with a walk-off homer.
Yes, Freese's performance was incredible, but to come within a strike of winning the World Series twice and squandering both opportunities?
As Jean-Jacques Taylor of ESPN.com wrote, "There is gagging. There is choking. And then there is what the Rangers did against the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 6 of the World Series."
The Cards won Game 7 at home, 6-2.
Verdict: Choke
New England Patriots, Super Bowl XLII
9 of 12
The 2007 New England Patriots went 16-0 in the regular season and dispatched the Jacksonville Jaguars and San Diego Chargers en route to the Super Bowl.
There, the 18-0 Pats met the New York Giants, a team that went 10-6 in the regular season and entered Super Bowl XLII as 12-point underdogs.
Down 14-10 with time ticking away in the fourth, the Giants mounted a comeback drive that included David Tyree's famous 33-yard helmet catch and a 25-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress with 35 seconds remaining. The Patriots were unable to match the magic in the 29 seconds they had left, and the Giants won 17-14.
By their own admission, the Pats didn't have the best game. Then-center Dan Koppen said, "Us as a line, we played our worst game of the year. We played like s--t that game," per Seth Wickersham of ESPN.com.
Yet, a bad game does not equal a choke. Minus one freak helmet catch, the Patriots would have likely achieved a perfect 19-0 season.
Verdict: Not
University of Northern Iowa, 2016 NCAA Tournament
10 of 12
Last March, Texas A&M trailed the University of Northern Iowa by 12 points with 44.3 seconds left in their second-round NCAA tournament matchup.
A&M played stellar defense, forcing three turnovers in the final 30 seconds, and senior Danuel House came through big in the clutch. A&M went on to win 92-88 in double overtime.
Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post wrote, "What's truly amazing is not that Northern Iowa made an unparalleled series of panicked, boneheaded mistakes. It's that Northern Iowa could make those exact panicked, boneheaded mistakes in precisely the same sequence and still not have blown the lead."
Indeed, Texas A&M played brilliantly to close the game, but brilliance alone isn't enough to erase a 12-point deficit in less than a minute. The Aggies needed help from luck, fate and definitely some choking on the part of their opponent.
Verdict: Choke
Boston Bruins, 2010 Eastern Conference Semifinals
11 of 12
The Boston Bruins held a commanding 3-0 series lead against the Philadelphia Flyers during the 2010 Eastern Conference Semifinals, but they ultimately lost the series 4-3.
Game 7 was particularly brutal. The Bruins jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period, but the Flyers clawed their way back. With nine minutes remaining in the third, the Bruins were called for too many men on the ice. With just over seven minutes left, Simon Gagne scored the game-winner on a power play for the Flyers.
The Bruins were just the third team in NHL history to squander a 3-0 series lead.
Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe wrote, "Watching the Bruins blow a series on a too-many-men penalty is like watching the 2010 Red Sox lose a one-game playoff on a homer hit by a guy named Bucky."
Verdict: Choke
Oklahoma City Thunder, 2016 Western Conference Finals
12 of 12
The Oklahoma City Thunder took three games from the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 Western Conference Finals. They rolled the defending champions by 20-plus points in Games 3 and 4 to take a commanding 3-1 series lead.
They also went on to drop Games 5, 6 and 7 to lose the series in heartbreaking fashion.
It's easy to say, from the surface, the Thunder choked. Then again, Golden State guard Klay Thompson made an NBA-playoff-record 11 threes while Stephen Curry added six more in Game 6. It would be hard for any team to stop such historic shooting greatness. The Splash Brothers added another 13 threes in Game 7.
Rodger Sherman of SB Nation pointed out all the effective things the Thunder did: blocked shots, forced turnovers, got to the free-throw line. But, he wrote, "When the going got tough, Golden State bailed itself out by drilling increasingly difficult shots. Their shooting is a force of nature, and it does not appear to be stoppable."
Verdict: Not
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
