2023-05-30 04:33:19
The Miami Heat are moving on to the NBA Finals after holding off the Boston Celtics historic comeback bid in Game 7 from TD Garden. Jimmy Butler led the Heat with 28 points and was named Eastern Conference Finals MVP following the 103-84 close out win.
Tatum turns ankle to start Game 7
After Derrick White’s last second stunner to win Game 6, the question coming into Monday’s game was how the Heat would respond on the road after a gut wrenching defeat at home?
Although Boston had taken the momentum back in the series by winning three straight they came back to a TD Garden is which they had been drastically underwhelming during the post season. They had played 10 home games before Game 7, and they were 5-5 in games in front of their home crowd.
The Garden was a mad house in the 30 minutes leading up to tip off to Game 7. Boston hadn’t seen that sort of atmosphere since the days of Larry Bird, but they were silenced early right after tip off after Jayson Tatum twisted his ankle of the first possession of the game, and would not look himself in any part of the Game 7 loss.
A star is born
Miami started the game just 2/11but withstood the early blow from Boston and took the lead with an 18-6 run to end the first quarter as Boston scored a season low 15 points in the first quarter.
Jimmy Butler found his rhythm early on, but it was Caleb Martin, who may have been the best Heat player in the series, that got Miami going from the start. Martin’s hot start and the Celtics putrid shooting from downtown allowed Miami to jump out to a ten point lead in the second quarter, and the Heat would keep that cushion for most of the game.
After shooting 7/35 from three point range in Game 6, the Celtics started the game missing their first 11 triple tries, but they did not shy away from the long ball despite their shooting struggles. They ended the night 9/42 to on a night in which they scored just 84 points.
Butler’s MVP performance
The lead stretched to 17 in the first half and the visitors went into half with an 11 point lead, as Tatum and Jaylen Brown both struggled to shine in the deciding game from Boston. Tatum ended the night with just 14 points as his ankle hindered him from ever finding his flow on the offensive end. Brown had 19 points, but went 8/23 and turned the ball over 8 times.
It was Derrick White who had to make a solo surge in the third quarter, scoring eight straight points to but the lead to single digits for one of the few times on the night. He finished the night with 18 points, but he was never going to be the saving grace with Boston’s star duo suffering an off night at the worst possible moment.
While the stars struggled for the Celtics, Butler shined, posting 28, 7 and 6, but he had plenty of company in Game 7. White’s personal third quarter run was broken up by a couple of big buckets by Caleb Martin who had 14 in the first half and scored 9 of his 12 second half points in the third quarter. Bam Adebayo chipped in 12, 10 and 7 assists while Gabe Vincent had another 10 points.
Heat vs. Nuggets Game 1: Thursday Night
As hard as Boston tried to cut into the double digit lead in the third, Miami kept their cushion and to take a 10 point lead into the fourth quarter. Martin and Butler went on a 7-0 run to start the final quarter to stretch the lead to 17 and the Celtics comeback train ran out of steam.
After the Game 6 loss in Miami, the Heat were eerily calm and Monday’s game shows you exactly why. Eric Spoelstra had his team ready for Game 7 despite the heart breaking loss. The Heat are the just the second eight seed to make the Finals and now they will take that scrapy mentality to Denver for Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night.
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