Coach Finch (Gabe Hernandez/NBAE/Getty Images)

The Vipers tend to bounce back after bad losses.

I define a bad loss as a game the Vipers should have won but didn’t.

This season:

December 27: 112-108 overtime loss at Texas. The Vipers had the lead with the shot clock off but rushed an inbounds pass, leading to a quick turnover and a game-tying bucket near the end of regulation. The Vipers followed that with a 10-game winning streak.

January 28: 138-119 loss at Iowa. After going down 75-62 at halftime, the Vipers roared back and led 91-90 with 4:10 to go in the third, but the comeback was for naught as the Vipers were outscored 48-28 over the final 16 minutes. The Vipers won at Iowa, 121-112 the next day and then beat Iowa at home a couple of days later.

February 2: 136-127 loss at home to Iowa. The Vipers were down 12-0 and 16-2, yet managed to come back to take a 79-78 lead and even keep the game tied at 83-83 midway through the third. The Energy followed with a 13-1 run and that was the end of that chapter. First and only time the Vipers have lost at home when scoring 120+ points (at least we got free tacos from Taco Palenque, right?). The Vipers followed that with a five-game winning streak (all on the road).

February 12: 105-99 loss at Austin. This is an example of the Vipers not bouncing back, as they fell 111-99 at home to Austin four days later. But after that, the Vipers did bounce back with four-straight wins (all on the road), including their only win at Texas.

March 4: 104-99 loss at Bakersfield. Followed with a 126-111 win the next night.

March 14: 98-91 home loss to Sioux Falls. Patrick Ewing Jr. or not, really wasn’t a game the Vipers should’ve lost. They won the next night, 106-97.

March 18: 107-95 loss to Austin. Again, the Vipers should not have been losing to the Toros at that point in the season. The Vipers won the next night, 118-103.

March 21: 116-94 loss to Idaho. This is the other example of no bounce back, as almost the exact same game unfolded on March 23, a 115-92 loss to the Stampede. The Vipers did respond with a win at Tulsa after that.

Playoffs:

April 8: 110-105 loss at Bakersfield. The Vipers held a sizable lead throughout this game, but the Jam came back in the final minutes and the Vipers had no answer… that night anyway. The Vipers won games two and three and then swept Reno in the semifinals.

Vipers record in the game following a bad loss: 9-2

The Vipers won multiple games in a row following a bad loss five times.

BACKS AGAINST THE WALL

The Vipers have never lost an elimination game, holding a 5-0 record in such contests.

2010:

1-0 in Quarterfinals

2-0 in Semifinals

2011:

2-0 in Quarterfinals

IT HAS HAPPENED BEFORE

The Vipers have come back from a 1-0 deficit twice, in the 2010 Semifinals and the 2011 Quarterfinals. The Vipers had Games 2 and 3 at home in both of those series.

Last year the Energy were in a similar situation to that they find themselves in now. They won Game 1 of the semifinals in Tulsa, but lost Games 2 and 3 at home to those eight-seeded 66ers.

BEST OF THREE

During the first nine seasons of the NBA Development League, the Finals was a best of three series in 2002 and 2003, and not against until 2008. The other four years had a one-game Championship. Only twice has the Finals gone three games, with Mobile upsetting Fayetteville on the road in 2003 Idaho beating Austin in 2008.

UPSET ALERT

The lower seed has not won the Championship since 2006, when the Albuquerque Thunderbirds defeated the Fort Worth Flyers. It is interesting to note that the Asheville Altitude were the lower seed when they beat the Columbus Riverdragons in 2005, but the Altitude were the higher seed when they beat the Huntsville Flight in 2004. Asheville is not only the only team to ever repeat, but the only one to win two championships. The Vipers were the higher seed when they beat Tulsa last year, but are the lower seed, like Asheville was, looking to repeat this year.