Why is it called a “sweep” when a team beats its opponent 4-0? NBA Playoffs

It’s the thing that no team wants to experience. Yet just what is a “sweep” in Sports and where does the term come from? Let’s take a look.

The meaning of the term “sweep”

As you probably know, most North American sports use the best-of-seven format to determine the victor when it comes to the playoff end of their yearly campaigns. Be it the NBA, MLB or the NHL - the NFL just has a straight knock out format - the principle is the same: win four games and you advance or become champion. Needless to say, if you manage to win four consecutive games without taking a loss, that’s both a serious affirmation of your team as the better of the two and an even more severe condemnation of the opponent as inferior. And when a series ends 4-0, the result is commonly referred to as a “sweep”.

Where does the term “sweep” come from?

Simply put, it stems from the figurative language of “cleaning out” or rather “to make a clean sweep” of something. Quite literally, when one sweeps a surface, the dust/dirt is moved in the direction that you sweep in. Between the momentum of your sweeping action and the whiskers of the broom, the dust goes where you want it to. That’s to say, it’s an action which is completely dominant in nature as it leaves the dust with no option but to be moved. Similarly, when it comes to sports, that’s essentially what one team does when they “sweep” the other. They “never missed a spot” and therefore fully cleaned the floor.

The first 4-0 sweep in the NBA occurred in the 1959 Finals, when the Boston Celtics thrashed the then Minneapolis Lakers to win their second title.

Will Timberwolves become latest victims of sweep?

The Celtics are also the most recent team to complete a series sweep, having secured a 4-0 Eastern Conference Finals win over the Indiana Pacers yesterday. However, that crushing victory may be emulated within 24 hours by the Dallas Mavericks, who are 3-0 up heading into Game 4 of their Western Conference Final against the Minnesota Timberwolves today. If the Mavericks do follow the Celtics in clinching a 4-0 triumph, it will be the first time in NBA history that both Conference Finals have witnessed series whitewashes in the same season.