NBA PLAYOFFS : Comeback Victory Ranks Among Best

What is the greatest comeback in Southern California sports history?

Many would point to the USC-Notre Dame football game in 1974, when the Trojans rallied from a 24-0 deficit to win, 55-24.

Or old-timers might say the USC-Notre Dame game in 1931, when the Trojans, trailing 14-0 after three quarters, came back to win, 16-14, at South Bend, Ind., to end a long Notre Dame unbeaten streak. A crowd of 300,000 turned out for a victory parade down Broadway after the Trojans returned home.

Some people might recall the 1973 College World Series semifinal between USC and Minnesota, when the Trojans scored eight runs in the ninth inning to win, 8-7, on their way to a national baseball title.

Hockey fans probably would say the Miracle on Manchester in 1982, when the Kings, trailing the Edmonton Oilers, 5-0, after two periods, rallied with five goals in the third, the final one with five seconds left in regulation, and ended up with a 6-5 overtime playoff victory.

Now, there’s another candidate: The Lakers coming back from a 29-point deficit to beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 97-95, Sunday--and on the road, no less.

The Associated Press report led this way: “In one of the greatest comebacks in NBA history . . . “

Because official records on National Basketball Assn. comebacks are not kept, it is difficult to determine exactly where this one ranks. But if it’s not the greatest comeback in NBA playoff history, it’s right up there.

It’s at least the Lakers’ greatest in the playoffs.

The previous best, coincidentally, also came at Seattle, on April 27, 1980, in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals. The Lakers trailed by 21 with 6:36 left in the third quarter and won, 98-93, at Hec Edmundson Pavilion. That victory gave the Lakers a 3-1 series lead. They went on to win the series, and then beat Philadelphia 76ers for the NBA championship.

In Sunday’s game, the Lakers trailed by 20 points at the end of the first quarter. No other team in NBA playoff history has trailed by that many after one quarter and won.

Coming closest were the San Francisco Warriors in 1967, when they trailed the St. Louis Hawks by 18 after one quarter of a playoff game and then won, 112-107.

In a 1975 playoff game, Golden State trailed the Chicago Bulls by 17 after one quarter and won, 111-109.

Harvey Pollack, who has been a statistician in Philadelphia since the NBA’s beginning in 1946, had to go back to the league’s second season to recall the biggest playoff comeback in his memory.

Pollack said it was Game 2 of the 1948 championship series and the Baltimore Bullets rallied from way back to beat the Philadelphia Warriors, 66-63. Pollack said he couldn’t remember the Bullets’ biggest deficit, but the NBA record book shows the Bullets trailed by 21 at halftime.

Laker General Manager Jerry West, who watched Sunday’s game at home, said: “I can’t remember a comeback like this one, at least not a playoff game on the road. It was remarkable.”

Asked to name another great Laker comeback, West mentioned a regular-season game against the Philadelphia 76ers during the Lakers’ 33-game winning streak in 1971-72.

According to a report of that game, the Lakers trailed the 76ers by 17 with eight minutes left in the third quarter and won, 131-116, for victory No. 16 in the streak. West scored 32 points, and Jim McMillian had 41.

West said Sunday’s comeback was considerably more impressive.

“From my perspective, this comeback was amazing because we did it against Seattle, a good team that is very athletic and very well coached,” West said.

“It’s strange the emotional things that go on in an athlete’s mind. We played so darn well, struggling back while staying up emotionally.”

Did West ever give up?

“No,” he said. “Doug Krikorian (Herald Examiner columnist) called me when we were down by 29 and I told him, ‘This game is not over by a long way.’ ”

He was right about that.

ANATOMY OF A COMEBACK The SuperSonics were leading, 54-27, after Derrick McKey made two free throws with 5:35 left in second quarter when the Lakers began a 16-0 run:

Time Play 5:20 Thompson tips in Green miss, 54-29 4:59 Thompson dunks and is fouled but misses free throw, 54-31 3:38 Scott makes fast-break layup, 54-33 TIME OUT SEATTLE 2:44 Johnson sinks two free throws, 54-35 2:05 Worthy makes 19-footer, 54-37 1:25 Green follows a Johnson missed three-point attempt, 54-39 TIME OUT SEATTLE :55 Worthy makes eight-footer, 54-41 :04 Worthy drives for layup, 54-43