Miami (AP) – Not this time. After being thwarted on the eve of the NBA Finals three more times in the previous five seasons, the Boston Celtics broke through.
Again the beasts of the East.
And now you have a chance for an NBA title.
Eastern Conference finals MVP Jason Tatum led by 26 points, Jaylan Brown and Marcus Smart added 24, and the Celtics beat the Miami Heat 100-96 Sunday night to win a place in the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors.
“It’s amazing,” Smart said. “We finally got over the hump.”
It was Boston’s first win in Game 7 on the home floor of another team since leading Milwaukee for the 1974 NBA title; technically the Celtics were the “road” team when they beat Toronto in Game 7 two years ago on the reboot bubble, but that was at Walt Disney World.
Tatum – wearing the purple-gold armband with the number 24 on his hand to Kobe Bryant from the Los Angeles Lakers Hall of Fame, his favorite player – had lost two eastern finals in his young career. Brown and Smart were part of the losses in the eastern finals of Boston in 2017, 2018 and 2020. And this elusive, frantic run in Miami in the last moments cast serious doubt on what seemed like a sure victory for the Celtics.
But they would endure. Jimmy Butler – again brilliant for Miami – missed what would have been a green trio with about 17 seconds left, and the Celtics never lagged behind.
To San Francisco.
“To overcome the hump with this group means everything,” Tatum said.
Butler, who drew Miami in Game 7 by scoring 47 points on Friday in Boston, led Heath with 35 points in what became their season finale. Bam Adebayo added 25 for the Heat, who were eliminated by 11 in less than 3 minutes before attempting a final rally.
The 9-0 series, limited to a 3-pointer by Max Strus with 51 seconds to go, resulted in heat in the 98-96 range. They did not approach. Boston will not be denied and is now 2-0 in Game 7 in these playoffs after expelling defending champion Milwaukee in the East semifinals.
“It’s just one of those really tough times,” said Heat coach Eric Spoelstra. “You can’t prepare for that … One of the worst feelings in the world is going to your locker room after a game like this.”
Kyle Lowry scored 15 for the Heat. Grant Williams finished 11th for the Celtics.
The idea of tying Boston to the finals would have been considered an unlikely proposal two or three months ago.
Ime Udoka’s first season as Celtics coach was not without great challenges. Boston started 2-5, lost to Milwaukee on Christmas to fall below .500 and was still burdened by a losing record in late January.
The Celtics were 25-25 in 50 games. No team has had such a record in 50 games and reached the NBA Finals in 1981, when the Houston Rockets started 22-28 and qualified for the title – where they lost to Boston.
Now the Celtics will be looking to do better with the Rockets. This Rockets team entered the playoffs at 40-42. This Celtics team came to life and is still roaring.
“Our focus is to get four more,” Udoka said.
They continued 26-6 in the regular season and had the incredible ability to go back. Boston is already 13-1 after losses in the last four months.
“A lot of people didn’t believe us on the road we took to get here,” Tatum said. “We have taken the most difficult path. It seemed. ”
Boston’s lead was 32-17 after a quarter – the biggest ever for a visiting team in 12 minutes of Game 7, four points greater than Golden State’s lead over the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1977 playoffs.
The tone was set and the leadership was never given up.
Miami finished the half with a score of 11-2, the explosion caused 3s by Strus and Butler, then was limited by four free throws by Lowry in the last 29 seconds. Butler reached 24 points at the break, and Miami was within 55-49 in the third.
Miami thought he was 56-54 when Strus hit corner 3 early in the third. But the Celtics responded 9-1, which was even worse – the NBA replay center in Secaucus, New Jersey decided that Strus had left the borders, his 3 came off the board during the game and 56-54 game became 65- 52.
“The Boston Celtics did what they came here for in this series,” Butler said.
The heat continued to return with claws until the end. They just couldn’t catch Boston.
“It’s heartbreaking when it ends like this,” Spoelstra said. “You certainly have to pay tribute to the organization of the Boston Celtics and their team and their coaching staff … We are shooting hats in front of them. They are a great basketball team. “
And now the Celtics are going to the finals.
“Today was the biggest test,” Brown said. “Not just for the year, but for our careers.”
They passed.
TYPE-INS
Celtics: Derrick White had to leave at the beginning of the fourth quarter because he was bleeding after his head was hit by Adebayo under a basket. … The Celtics became the first team to win three victories on the road over Miami in the same playoff series.
Heath: Butler was the second NBA player this season to play every second of a game. The other was George Kalaytsakis of Oklahoma City with a 50-point loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. … The sixth man of the year Tyler Hero returned from a three-game absence due to a groin injury, but was left without a result for seven minutes.
GAME 7 HISTORY
Boston improved to 26-9 in Game 7s. Miami fell to 6-5 in such games and lost for the first time in five games 7 at home under Spoelstra.
DOMESTIC DOGS
According to FanDuel Sportsbook, Miami was an outsider with 2.5 points, noting for the second time in the last 20 Game 7s – except for the bubble restart in 2020, when all games were at Walt Disney World – that the home team was not preferred. The other was Houston in the 2018 Western Conference finals; Injured Rockets were outsiders with 6.5 points and lost to Golden State 101-92.
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