America's Cup: Oracle Team USA's Win and 5 Other Great Sports Comebacks

Sept. 25, 2013— -- quicklist: 1text: Oracle Team USA defended the America's Cup today after clawing back from a 7-point deficit in what has been called one of the greatest comebacks in sports history.

Yacht horns sounded on San Francisco Bay to celebrate the team's remarkable victory against Emirates New Zealand -- something that seemed like a long shot one week ago.

While the defending champions seemed dangerously close to having to relinquish the oldest trophy in sports to the Kiwis, Oracle Team USA's skipper, James Spithill, credited his team's performance with helping them to clinch the win.

"On your own you're nothing but when you've got a team like this around you, they make you great," he tweeted after their stunning race to victory today.

The team was dealt a 2-point blow last week for illegally modifying boats during warmup regattas. In order to close the gap, they had to do what many thought was impossible -- win 11 races to keep the Auld Mug.

While Spithill and his teammates bask in their victory today, it's safe to say their feat will join these other five great sporting comebacks in the history books.

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quicklist: 2title: 1992 NBA Finals Game 6text: The Chicago Bulls, then the defending NBA champions, had their work cut out for them in the fourth quarter of the Game 6 championship game against the Oregon Trail Blazers, who had carved out a comfortable 15-point lead.

With the help of greats Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, the Bulls came from behind and won their second straight championship.

quicklist: 3title: 1995 NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals Game 1 text: He shoots! He scores! Reggie Miller scored a mind-blowing eight points in nine seconds to lead the Indiana Pacers over the New York Knicks.

quicklist: 4title: 2002 NFL Wild Card Playoffstext: The San Francisco 49ers were the comeback kids of the NFL postseason. The team turned a 38-14 deficit, with less than four minutes left in the third quarter, to score the game's final 25 points. Terrell Owens proved himself to be the MVP of the game with two touchdowns and a pair of 2-point conversions.

quicklist: 5title: 2004 ALCS Series – A Curse Is Liftedtext: It seemed like another cursed year for the Boston Red Sox when the team lost the first of three games against the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series. Fans witnessed the Red Sox perform what has been called one of baseball's greatest miracles. The team came back to win the next four games against the Yankees, earning them their place in the World Series.

quicklist: 6title: 2013 NHL Eastern Conference Quarterfinals text: The Boston Bruins fought with a vengeance against the mighty Toronto Maple Leafs during a tense Game 7 of the NHL Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. Faced with a 4-1 deficit in the third period, the Bruins scored three goals in less than 10 minutes and ultimately clinched it.

ESPN contributed to this report.