Miami Heat advance to NBA Finals by routing the Boston Celtics
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Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat dunking the ball during the fourth quarter against the Boston Celtics in game seven of the Eastern Conference Finals at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.
PHOTO: AFP
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BOSTON – The Miami Heat suffered a gut-wrenching, last-second loss last Saturday on their third attempt to clinch the National Basketball Association (NBA) Eastern Conference title, tilting momentum in favour of the Boston Celtics.
But on Monday, the Heat, who had to take the play-in route to even reach the play-offs and then upset the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks to fuel their post-season run, found another gear in their seemingly never-ending fountain of resiliency.
Jimmy Butler scored 28 points, Caleb Martin added 26 and Miami became the second No. 8 seed – after the New York Knicks in 1999 – to reach the NBA Finals by posting a convincing 103-84 road victory over the Celtics in Game 7 to win 4-3.
Few would bet against the Heat now but they were wobbling after a 104-103 Game 6 setback that featured Boston’s Derrick White scoring on a put-back just as time expired, tying the best-of-seven series.
Yet even the raucous home-court atmosphere in Boston on Monday could not prevent the Heat from reaching the NBA Finals for the second time in four seasons.
“That could puncture a team’s spirit,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said, of the Game 6 loss.
“But instead, it drove us to more resolve to try to get the job done.
“Sometimes, you have to suffer for the things you really want. This group has shown fortitude when there are inevitable let-downs and failures, but had that perseverance to pick yourself up, that collective spirit to keep on forging ahead.”
Bam Adebayo recorded 12 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists as Miami finished the job. Teams who held a 3-0 series lead improved to 151-0 all-time in the NBA play-offs.
Jaylen Brown had 19 points and eight rebounds and White scored 18 points for second-seeded Boston, who were just the fourth team in NBA history to force a Game 7 after losing the first three games.
Jayson Tatum had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Celtics, but he sprained his left ankle during the game’s first possession and hobbled throughout the contest.
“That was tough because it kind of impacted me the rest of the night,” he said.
“It swelled up. It was frustrating that I was a shell of myself. It was tough to move. It was frustrating.”
The Heat will face Western Conference champions the Denver Nuggets in the NBA Finals. Game 1 is on Thursday in Denver.
“We stayed together as a group and as a team. We talked about going to get a tough one on the road and we did that,” said Butler, who averaged 24.7 points, 7.6 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 2.6 steals in the series. “But nobody’s satisfied. We haven’t done anything.
“We don’t play just to win the Eastern Conference. We play to win the whole thing.”
Meanwhile, the Celtics admitted that they struggled throughout the do-or-die game.
“I thought we played tight,” Boston guard Malcolm Brogdon said. “When you play that way, it makes you hesitant on both ends... I thought Miami played the opposite. I thought they played loose.”
Miami shot 48.8 per cent from the field, including 14 of 28 from three-point range. Boston connected on 39 per cent of their shots and were nine of 42 (21.4 per cent) from behind the arc.
“We shot 21 per cent from three,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said.
“But they gave it everything they had. That’s the most important thing to take from this. We failed, but it’s not because the guys didn’t have a sense of togetherness and character.”
Brown shot just eight for 23 from the floor, one for nine from long distance and committed eight turnovers.
“We failed. I failed,” he said. “We let the whole city down.”
REUTERS, AFP
