Game seven

A game seven is the final game of a best of seven series. This game can occur in the postseasons for Major League Baseball (League Championship Series and World Series), the National Basketball Association (all rounds of the NBA Playoffs), and the National Hockey League (all rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs).

The game is traditionally played at the site of team holding the home advantage across the series.

Because of the final nature of this game, where the losing team is done for the season, game sevens add an element of drama to their sports. Since this is the final game of the series, the winning team advances in the playoffs or wins the championship.

Aside from North American sports leagues, game sevens are also a fixture in many other sports around the world, mostly in baseball, basketball, ice hockey leagues. Most codes of football do not employ a best-of-seven series (or any best-of-x series in general), hence game sevens are not played in those leagues.

The game seven is comparable to a final or to a single game in a single-elimination tournament or to a one-game playoff.

Examples

Chinese Professional Baseball League

Taiwan Series that were decided on a game seven:

Year	Winning team	Losing team	Score	Site	Notes
1991	Uni-President Lions	Wei Chuan Dragons	13–5	Taipei City
1998	Wei Chuan Dragons	Sinon Bulls	5–2	Taichung City	Capacity audience.
2000	Uni-President Lions	Sinon Bulls	4–1	Taichung City	Capacity audience. Lo Min-ching homered the fifth time and then the sixth in the series.
2001	Brother Elephants	Uni-President Lions	7–5	Tainan City	Capacity audience. Yofu Tetsu saved the Elephants.
2004	Sinon Bulls	Uni-President Lions	8–6	Tainan City	Capacity audience. Chang Chia-hao hit the winning triple in the ninth inning.
2007	Uni-President Lions	La New Bears	4–2	Kaohsiung County	Capacity audience. Nelson Figueroa became the first player taking 3 starting wins in CPBL playoff history.
2008	Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions	Brother Elephants	4–0	Tainan City	Capacity audience. Luther Hackman closed the game.
2009	Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions	Brother Elephants	5–2	Tainan City	Capacity audience. Lions wins 3 streak champions.

Major League Baseball

In the MLB postseason, Game 7 can occur in the League Championship Series and the World Series (the divisional series are best of five). In the World Series, there have only been 36 Game Sevens (40 if you include the four that occurred when the World Series was best of nine).

World Series that were decided on a game seven:

Year	Winning team	Losing team	Score	Site	Notes
1909	Pittsburgh Pirates	Detroit Tigers	8–0	Bennett Park, Detroit, Michigan
1924	Washington Senators	New York Giants	4–3 F/12	Griffith Stadium, Washington, D.C.
1925	Pittsburgh Pirates	Washington Senators	9–7	Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
1926	St. Louis Cardinals	New York Yankees	3–2	Yankee Stadium, New York City, New York
1934	St. Louis Cardinals	Detroit Tigers	11–0	Navin Field, Detroit, Michigan
1940	Cincinnati Reds	Detroit Tigers	2–1	Crosley Field, Cincinnati, Ohio
1945	Detroit Tigers	Chicago Cubs	9–3	Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois	See also: Curse of the Billy Goat
1946	St. Louis Cardinals	Boston Red Sox	4–3	Sportsman's Park III, St. Louis, Missouri
1947	New York Yankees	Brooklyn Dodgers	5–2	Yankee Stadium, New York City, New York
1955	Brooklyn Dodgers	New York Yankees	2–0	Yankee Stadium, New York City, New York	Dodgers' only championship in Brooklyn. Also, the home team won all games of the series, except for Game 7.
1956	New York Yankees	Brooklyn Dodgers	9–0	Ebbets Field, New York City, New York	Jackie Robinson's final Major League game. Also, the home team won all games of the series, except for Game 7.
1957	Milwaukee Braves	New York Yankees	5–0	Yankee Stadium, New York City, New York
1958	New York Yankees	Milwaukee Braves	6–2	County Stadium, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
1960	Pittsburgh Pirates	New York Yankees	10–9	Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Bill Mazeroski hit the walk-off home run to win the Pirates the championship.
1962	New York Yankees	San Francisco Giants	1–0	Candlestick Park, San Francisco, California
1964	St. Louis Cardinals	New York Yankees	7–5	Busch Stadium I, St. Louis, Missouri	The Yankees' last World Series appearance until 1976.
1965	Los Angeles Dodgers	Minnesota Twins	2–0	Metropolitan Stadium, Bloomington, Minnesota	The home team won all games of the series, except for Game 7.
1967	St. Louis Cardinals	Boston Red Sox	7–2	Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts
1968	Detroit Tigers	St. Louis Cardinals	4–1	Busch Stadium II, St. Louis, Missouri
1971	Pittsburgh Pirates	Baltimore Orioles	2–1	Memorial Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland	The home team won all games of the series, except for Game 7.
1972	Oakland Athletics	Cincinnati Reds	3–2	Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio
1973	Oakland Athletics	New York Mets	5–2	Oakland- Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California
1975	Cincinnati Reds	Boston Red Sox	4–3	Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts
1979	Pittsburgh Pirates	Baltimore Orioles	4–1	Memorial Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland	Last World Series Game 7 won by the road team
1982	St. Louis Cardinals	Milwaukee Brewers	6–3	Busch Stadium II, St. Louis, Missouri
1985	Kansas City Royals	St. Louis Cardinals	11–0	Royals Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri	World Series held entirely in the state of Missouri.
1986	New York Mets	Boston Red Sox	8–5	Shea Stadium, New York City, New York	See also: Curse of the Bambino
1987	Minnesota Twins	St. Louis Cardinals	4–2	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota	The home team won all games of the series.
1991	Minnesota Twins	Atlanta Braves	1–0 F/10	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota	The home team won all games of the series.
1997	Florida Marlins	Cleveland Indians	3–2 F/11	Pro Player Stadium, Lake Lucerne, Florida	Florida becomes the first wild card team to win the World Series.
2001	Arizona Diamondbacks	New York Yankees	3–2	Bank One Ballpark, Phoenix, Arizona	Arizona becomes the fastest expansion team to win the World Series. Also, the home team won all games of the series.
2002	Anaheim Angels	San Francisco Giants	4–1	Edison International Field, Anaheim, California	Both World Series teams were wild card entrants into the playoffs.
2011	St. Louis Cardinals	Texas Rangers	6–2	Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri

National Hockey League

In the NHL playoffs, Game 7 can occur in all playoff series. In the Stanley Cup Finals, the NHL gained complete control of the Cup in 1926, and the league instituted the best-of-seven series starting in the 1938–39 season.

The game sevens where the Cup was awarded are:

Year	Winning team	Losing team	Score	Site	Notes
1942	Toronto Maple Leafs	Detroit Red Wings	3–1	Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario	Toronto came back down 0–3 in the series to win the Cup.
1945	Toronto Maple Leafs	Detroit Red Wings	2–1	Olympia Stadium, Detroit, Michigan	Detroit was down 0–3 in the series and rallied to force Game 7 before losing.
1950	Detroit Red Wings	New York Rangers	4–3 (2OT)	Olympia Stadium, Detroit, Michigan
1954	Detroit Red Wings	Montreal Canadiens	2–1 (OT)	Olympia Stadium, Detroit, Michigan
1955	Detroit Red Wings	Montreal Canadiens	3–1	Olympia Stadium, Detroit, Michigan	The home team won all games of the series. Also the Red Wings last Stanley Cup until 1997.
1964	Toronto Maple Leafs	Detroit Red Wings	4–0	Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario
1965	Montreal Canadiens	Chicago Blackhawks	4–0	Montreal Forum, Montreal, Quebec	The home team won all games of the series.
1971	Montreal Canadiens	Chicago Black Hawks	3–2	Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois	The home team won all games of the series, except for Game 7.
1987	Edmonton Oilers	Philadelphia Flyers	3–1	Northlands Coliseum, Edmonton, Alberta
1994	New York Rangers	Vancouver Canucks	3–2	Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York	Rangers first Stanley Cup since 1940. Also the last Stanley Cup Finals appearance by Canadian teams until 2004 Calgary.
2001	Colorado Avalanche	New Jersey Devils	3–1	Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado
2003	New Jersey Devils	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	3–0	Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, New Jersey	The home team won all games of the series.
2004	Tampa Bay Lightning	Calgary Flames	2–1	St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, Florida	This was the last hockey game before the lockout.
2006	Carolina Hurricanes	Edmonton Oilers	3–1	RBC Center, Raleigh, North Carolina	First Stanley Cup Final featuring two former World Hockey Association teams. Also, the Hurricanes made history when they won the championship in 2006, then had a losing record and didn't make it to the playoffs the following year. In the second year since the Hurricanes won the championship, they didn't make it to the playoffs again.
2009	Pittsburgh Penguins	Detroit Red Wings	2–1	Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan	The home team won all games of the series, except for Game 7.
2011	Boston Bruins	Vancouver Canucks	4–0	Rogers Arena, Vancouver, British Columbia	The home team won all games of the series, except for Game 7. Vancouver failed to be the 3rd Canadian city to win the championship a year after hosting an Olympics.

National Basketball Association

Main article: List of NBA game sevens

All playoff rounds in the NBA are now in a best-of-seven series format so all rounds can have game sevens. The NBA Finals has been consistently played in a best-of-seven series format since its inception.

The game sevens where the champions were awarded are:

Year	Winning team	Losing team	Score	Site	Notes
1951	Rochester Royals	New York Knicks	79–75	Edgerton Park Arena, Rochester, New York	New York forced a game 7 after trailing 0–3 in the series.
1952	Minneapolis Lakers	New York Knicks	82–65	Minneapolis Auditorium, Minneapolis, Minnesota
1954	Minneapolis Lakers	Syracuse Nationals	87–70	Minneapolis Auditorium, Minneapolis, Minnesota
1955	Syracuse Nationals	Fort Wayne Pistons	92–91	Onandoga War Memorial, Syracuse, New York
1957	Boston Celtics	St. Louis Hawks	125–123 (OT)	Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
1960	Boston Celtics	St. Louis Hawks	122–103	Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
1962	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers	110-107 (OT)	Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
1966	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers	95–93	Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
1969	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers	108–106	The Forum, Inglewood, California
1970	New York Knicks	Los Angeles Lakers	113–99	Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York	Notable for Willis Reed's return from injury.
1974	Boston Celtics	Milwaukee Bucks	102–87	MECCA Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
1978	Washington Bullets	Seattle SuperSonics	105–99	Kingdome, Seattle, Washington
1984	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers	111–102	Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
1988	Los Angeles Lakers	Detroit Pistons	108–105	The Forum, Inglewood, California
1994	Houston Rockets	New York Knicks	90–84	The Summit, Houston, Texas
2005	San Antonio Spurs	Detroit Pistons	81–74	SBC Center, San Antonio, Texas
2010	Los Angeles Lakers	Boston Celtics	83-79	Staples Center, Los Angeles, California	Fifth time that Boston and LA meet in a game seven. Kobe Bryant won his second consecutive Finals MVP award, scoring 10 of his game high 23 points in the fourth quarter, as well as grabbing 15 rebounds to clinch the victory for LA.

Comebacks

Only in four instances has a team been able to come back from being down 0–3 to win a series:

• The Toronto Maple Leafs vs. the Detroit Red Wings in the 1942 Stanley Cup Finals
• The New York Islanders vs. the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1975 Stanley Cup Quarterfinals
• The Boston Red Sox vs. the New York Yankees in the 2004 American League Championship Series
• The Philadelphia Flyers vs. the Boston Bruins in the 2010 Stanley Cup Eastern Conference Semifinals

Additionally, the following eight teams were able to force a seventh game in a series after being down 0–3, subsequently losing it:

• The New York Rangers vs. the Boston Bruins in the 1939 Stanley Cup Semifinals
• The Detroit Red Wings vs. the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1945 Stanley Cup Finals
• The New York Knicks vs. the Rochester Royals in the 1951 NBA Finals
• The New York Islanders vs. the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1975 Stanley Cup Semifinals
• The Denver Nuggets vs. the Utah Jazz in the 1994 NBA Western Conference Semifinals
• The Portland Trail Blazers vs. the Dallas Mavericks in the 2003 NBA Western Conference Quarterfinals
• The Chicago Blackhawks vs. the Vancouver Canucks in the 2011 Stanley Cup Western Conference Quarterfinals
• The Detroit Red Wings vs. the San Jose Sharks in the 2011 Stanley Cup Western Conference Semifinals