Parallels between '04 Sox, '23 C's impossible to ignore

With the Boston Celtics a win away from becoming the first team in NBA history to come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a best-of-seven series, it’s hard not to think about another Boston team who pulled off that unprecedented feat 19 years ago.

Yes, those 2004 Red Sox were down 3-0 to the Yankees in that year’s American League Championship Series. And in a memorable four-game sequence, they came back to shock the world. No MLB team came back from 3-0 before that, and it hasn’t happened again since ’04.

When the Celtics won Game 6 in Miami on Derrick White’s tap-in at the buzzer on Saturday night, one of the most famous members of the 2004 Red Sox was on-site and in disbelief.

“My buddy I play golf with, he was like, 'You’ve got to go, because you’re one of the only people who knows what this is like,'” Johnny Damon said Sunday morning in an interview with MLB.com. “What a crazy finish.”

Damon, wearing his 2004 World Series ring as he took in Game 6, knows what these finishes are like when a team is on the verge of elimination.

“What we did, it’s the greatest comeback ever, until, maybe, another Boston team does it,” Damon said.

Four NHL teams have come back from 3-0. But in MLB, it is just the Red Sox. And in the NBA, the Celtics are one victory from being the first team in 151 tries to pull it off.

• The best comeback attempts from 3-0 holes in playoffs

While the Celtics still need to win Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals in Boston on Monday night, there have already been some parallels to the ’04 Sox.

Game 3: Blowouts
Not only did the Red Sox lose Game 3 to fall into that daunting 3-0 deficit, but they got crushed in doing so, suffering a 19-8 loss at Fenway Park. Dan Shaughnessy, the long-time columnist for The Boston Globe, wrote that the Red Sox would go down as a “pack of frauds” if they got swept by the Yankees. At that time, the Red Sox hadn’t won a World Series in 86 years. The Yankees had won 26 in that same span.

As for these Celtics, they blew double-digit leads in Boston to lose Games 1 and 2. And in Game 3, they were embarrassed, losing 128-102. At the postgame press conference, players and coach Joe Mazzulla were asked if the team quit or threw in the towel. Perhaps those words inspired the Celtics, much like Kevin Millar has long stated that Shaughnessy’s “pack of frauds” rhetoric fired up his band of "Idiots."

Game 4: ‘Don’t let us win tonight’
In case you didn’t think anyone believed when the Red Sox were down 3-0 in the hours leading up to Game 4, cameras were perfectly stationed near Millar during batting practice. He was captured on video telling anyone who would listen -- including Shaughnessy -- “Don’t let us win tonight.”

However, the Sox were down, 4-3, in the bottom of the ninth, with Mariano Rivera -- arguably the best closer in history -- on the mound. Millar opened the ninth with a walk. Dave Roberts ran for him and stole second. Bill Mueller ripped an RBI single to tie it up. And in the 12th inning, David Ortiz mashed a walk-off, two-run shot off Paul Quantrill.

The Celtics mimicked the Red Sox in the day or so leading up to Game 4. Marcus Smart said, “Don’t let us win one.” Jaylen Brown said something similar. Millar had to be looking on with pride.

But then the Heat went up by nine points early in the second half, and the Celtics looked to be in trouble. The Heat didn’t even have Mariano Rivera. Backed by Jayson Tatum’s 33 points and 11 rebounds, Boston roared back for a 116-99 win.

“Don’t let us win another one,” Brown warned the Heat.

Game 5: Setting up a happy flight for one team
The way Damon remembers it, the momentum really shifted after Game 5, when Big Papi blooped an RBI single in the bottom of the 14th for another walk-off hit.

“We were still stressing after Game 4,” Damon admitted.

The Celtics didn’t have to go through the drama in Game 5 that the Red Sox endured, controlling the game from the jump and beating the Heat, 110-97. The Celtics had never been so happy to get on an airplane back to Miami. Just like the Red Sox felt about returning to New York 19 years ago.

Game 6: White-knuckle wins
There was no instant replay in baseball in 2004, but the Red Sox were fortunate that the umpire crew huddled to overturn two crucial calls that went in their favor to make a 4-2 win possible. The first was a drive by Mark Bellhorn down the line in left that hit a fan in the left-field seats who was wearing a black coat. Originally, it was called a double. But after the umpires huddled to discuss it, it went as a three-run homer -- the key hit in the victory.

The real madness took place in the eighth, when Alex Rodriguez hit a tapper down the first-base line that Bronson Arroyo fielded. When he tried to tag out A-Rod, the ball wound up down the right-field line. Initially, Derek Jeter scored all the way from first, and A-Rod stood on second. But it was obvious to all those who saw the play up close that Rodriguez illegally slapped the ball with his left hand out of Arroyo’s glove. After a conference, A-Rod was called out for interference. Jeter was moved all the way back to first.

And here were the Celtics in the waning moments of Game 6. Down by a point as they inbounded the ball with three seconds left, Smart hoisted up a three-pointer that went in and out. In a heads-up move, White crashed the boards and the tap-in was released from his right hand with 0.2 seconds left. In real time, nobody had any idea if he got the shot off in time. After an instant replay review, White was awarded the buzzer-beater and the Celtics were set for another happy flight back to Boston.

Game 7: Finishing the job(?)
If the Celtics take the floor as confidently as Damon remembers the Red Sox taking the field for their Game 7 19 years ago, they should be in good shape. And unlike the Sox, who played that game at Yankee Stadium, the Celtics will be at home with the crowd on their side.

Damon, who slumped throughout the entire ALCS, picked a fine time to break out, bashing two homers -- including a grand slam -- as the Sox scorched the Yankees, 10-3, to pull off history.

“Game 7, fortunately, I came to life. It was a rough series, but things happen for a reason and we kept on cruising,” said Damon. “There’s still a Game 7, but the Celtics seem to be in a good spot.”