Boston Celtics Pull Off Historic Comeback Against James, Cavaliers

The Boston Celtics fell behind 73-54 during Sunday's Game 3 in Cleveland following a Tristan Thompson made free throw with 9:11 remaining in the third quarter.

Trailing by 21 and facing a potentially insurmountable 3-0 series deficit, the Celtics did something no other team had previously to a LeBron James-led team—they won. Entering the contest, teams featuring LeBron sported a clean 49-0 record in the postseason when leading by at least 20 points any point in the contest, per the Elias Sports Bureau (via ESPN.com).

Avery Bradley, who finished the night with 20 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals, knocked down the game-winning three-point shot with only 0.1 seconds remaining. Prior to Sunday's game-winner, Bradley had only connected on one other game-winning shot with less than one second remaining in regulation or overtime.

Boston's 111-108 victory moved them within a game of Cleveland and keeps the franchise's hopes alive despite losing star point guard Isaiah Thomas for the remainder of the postseason. It seems unlikely the Celtics will advance beyond the Eastern Conference Finals, but they've displayed that they won't go down without a fight.

LeBron entered the contest with eight straight 30-plus-point performances but had that streak snapped Sunday, falling one short of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's nine straight in 1970, per ESPN. He finished the night with just 11 points (4-of-13 from the field) while committing six turnovers. If the Celtics have any hope at winning the series, they will likely need to hold LeBron to similarly disappointing stat lines in future tilts. 

The club's next opportunity to do so arrives Tuesday evening in a pivotal Game 4 matchup at Cleveland.