The Boston Celtics are in the NBA Finals and will face the Golden State Warriors there. In Game Seven, the 17-time champion won by 100:96 in the Miami Heat, but had to tremble to the last second despite his comfortable lead at times.
What an exciting story! He led the Celtics the entire season, but they had to shiver in the end. The Heat 11-0 over three minutes put the hosts in a position to lead with 16 seconds left, but dominant Jimmy Butler missed a rushing three at 96-98. Marcus Smart, who made some questionable decisions at a difficult time, hit free throws on the other side for the win.
The Celtics are playing their first NBA Finals since 2010, while Heat coach Eric Spoelstra’s first defeat was in a conference finals. The Celtics’ top scorer was Jason Tatum with 26 points (9/21 FG) and 10 rebounds, and Jaylen Brown and Smart each had 24 points. Grant Williams contributed 11 points and 6 boards to the win.
Miami, on the other hand, wasn’t enough for another gig by Butler (35, 13/24, 9 rebounds) because, aside from the star, only Pam Adebayo (25, 12/21, 11 rebounds) and Kyle Lowry (15, 4 rebounds) /12) Registered with double digits. A glimmer of hope was Victor Oladipo (9, 4/12), who worked defensively, but only shot a bit up front (1/7 three).
Boston started like a firefighter and surprised the hosts at a fast pace. Within minutes, the Celtics had 7 points in the transition and a double-digit lead while Miami was still searching for rhythm. Boston initially had better control of the Butlers Drives, but also left a lot on the ringside. However, the guests were already up 32:17 after twelve minutes, also thanks to the help of a good bank around Grant Williams and White, who had already racked up 12 points together.
The late heat makes the Celtics shiver again
Miami’s offense improved a bit with Hiro, but Smart immediately attacked him. But at the end of the day, Operation The Heat was a solo operation. In the first six minutes of the quarter, Butler scored 11 of 13 heat points and single-handedly ensured that playoffs were early in the bounty. The bullets only melted slowly because Boston struck better from the outside. Miami finished the quarter much better thanks to more free throws (11:2 runs), the Celtics were only 55:49 in the first half.
The guests didn’t look shocked, and instead Smart hit a few throws from the offending stream. Tatum and Brown tore holes and find the teammates open. In Miami, Adebayo was now more aggressive, but The Heat couldn’t make it to the line. However, since Lowry finally scored two field goals and the Heat finished the quarter-finals better, the hosts were still 75:82 behind before the final section.
Shortly thereafter, Butler could have tied for the first time three times, and the Heat instead missed nine straight throws. It was 8-0 in the Celtics for about five minutes before Victor Oladipo scored. But Boston always has an answer, most notably through Tatum and Smart. However, the heat fell to -5 a minute ago. Brown conceded an offensive foul, and cut Strauss short from distance. Boston lost again, but Butler hurriedly took all three – and missed. Instead, Smart explained everything from the line, and the triple Strus didn’t find its destination.
The Heat’s season is over as Boston pursues its 18th title. The first game of the Finals takes place against the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco at 3 AM GST (Live dazen) Held Friday night. The full schedule for the NBA Finals can be found here.
The most important stats
Miami Heat (1) vs Boston Celtics (2) 96:100 (BOXSCORE), Series: 3-4
- Both teams started at a high pace, presumably knowing that they are both struggling at Halfield. Boston scored 13 transition points in the first quarter, equaling a franchise record. But during the remainder of the season, only 7 points were added.
- The fact that Miami was undefeated in the first half was because of Butler. The striker scored 18 points (5/5 FG, 7/10 ft) and made so many fouls that Miami was quick to reward and capitalized on them massively. As a team, the Heat took 19 free throws, but also missed 7 of those, and other than that, not much went to the Heat, who scored only 3/13 from the three-point streak, and had only 3 assists in the first half with 16. Goals field. Share of all Heat players without Adebayo and Butler (together 13/21 at break): 17.6% (3/17 FG).
- Miami stayed cool from distance for nearly the entire season, only six out of 30 attempts to pass through the trap. However, the three transformers do not appear in the statistics. Max Strauss scored at the start of the third quarter, but was returned only a few minutes later, Very controversial. In the end, it was the three points that missed Miami.
- Jimmy Butler played the full 48 minutes, which was the last time Kevin Durant played in the series against the Milwaukee Bucks last year. Since 2010, only three players have gone alongside Butler full time: Dwight Howard (2x), LeBron James (2x) and Durant (3x). This was Butler’s sixth run (the other times for Chicago in the 2013 playoffs; Tibbs says hello).
Heat vs Celtics: Thoughts about the game
Eric Spoelstra (Heat coach coach): “It breaks your heart. That streak felt like five seasons. We have to applaud the Boston Celtics.
… about the potential winner of the Butler game: “I love Jimmy for that. It was the right decision.”
Jaylen Brown (Celtics) on Al Horford: “No one deserves it like him. I’m glad I can help him with that.”
… about throwing a butler: “When I took the shot, I was like, ‘What the hell is this?’ “But he didn’t go in, we got the rebound and that was for me.”
Star of the game: Jason Tatum
It certainly wasn’t a perfect match for Tatum, who missed 12 of his 21 shots, including some seemingly easy layers, but the Celtics star still had two important shots in the fourth quarter which provided a relief. In addition, with only 2 spins and also with 6 assists. She received the Larry Bird Most Valuable Player Award at the Eastern Conference Finals.
Game failure: PJ Tucker
Did he play? Nothing ever came from the previous Bamberger in this game, so Tucker was on the bench for nearly the entirety of the second half. His 17-minute proof of work: 0 points (0/3 FG), 4 rebounds and 2 turns. Coach Spoilstra later said Tucker was injured. But what the striker was missing, Spo didn’t want to discuss further.
game scene
The Celtics won this match thanks to their good start. This scene is an example, where Al Horford immediately blocked Max Strus’ attempt to dunk and Smart. Another pass from Brown and Grant Williams was an easy pass. Two of the 13 breakout points were for the Celtics in the first twelve minutes.
Heat vs. Celtics: Series at a Glance
| Game | Date | time | Homepage | far | result |
| 1 | May 18 | 2.30 am | Miami Heat | Boston Celtics | 118: 107 |
| 2 | May 20 | 2.30 am | Miami Heat | Boston Celtics | 102: 127 |
| 3 | May 22 | 2.30 am | Boston Celtics | Miami Heat | 103: 109 |
| 4 | May 24 | 2.30 am | Boston Celtics | Miami Heat | 102: 82 |
| 5 | 26 May | 2.30 am | Miami Heat | Boston Celtics | 80:93 |
| 6 | May 28 | 2.30 am | Boston Celtics | Miami Heat | 103: 111 |
| 7 | May 30 | 2.30 am | Miami Heat | Boston Celtics | 96: 100 |