The Celtics are the second most successful team in the NBA, almost on the same level as the Lakers, although they have only won one ring in the last 35 years. Now they are one step away from making history not because of a new title, but because of a legendary comeback. They started by losing 0-3 in the Eastern Conference final against the Miami Heat and have managed to draw a three-way tie after winning this Saturday in Miami (102-103) at the buzzer, in a dramatic and cruel ending for Heat fans.
If they win the seventh and final game of the series on Monday in Boston, they will become the first team to achieve such a comeback after 150 attempts. Never has a seven-game tie been turned around after an initial 3-0. The Celtics play at home and have the moral injection of having won a game that was about to escape them. A Derrick White rebound turned into a tap-off in the last tenth of a second gave them victory after a desperate three-pointer that had gone out of the ring. Earlier, three free throws by Jimmy Butler had put Miami ahead.
The Celtics have a more complete team, with more wardrobe and more sought-after stars. It was a surprise that Miami had gotten so far ahead of the series. Those of Boston have had to push to the maximum, especially in defense, to recover the disadvantage. The sixth game, this Saturday in Miami, was the great opportunity for the locals, but they let it slip away.
Jimmy Butler is the star of the Miami Heats. Thanks to him the team has reached the final of the Eastern Conference after some prodigious matches. This Saturday the pass to the NBA final was played. He had promised a victory. However, for much of the game he has been blocked. Closely watched by the Celtics, he has finished the first three quarters with a 2-of-15 shooting series. Bad day to have a bad day.
The player has recovered in the last quarter and has shown what he is capable of. Hand in hand with him, Miami has managed to overcome a difference of more than 10 points in the last quarter. The locals are ahead 102-101 with just three seconds left after three free throws made by Butler in a moment of maximum pressure. It seemed that the comeback was from Miami, but the classification got out of hand when they began to savor it.
The whole game has been played with the face of a dog. There has been no easy basket. Each possession, each shot, each drive to the basket, each rebound had to be sweated. The Celtics have been ahead for almost the entire game, but they haven’t really pulled away until there were less than four minutes left in the third quarter and they’ve gone 65-78. At the end of the third quarter it was 72-79, quite an achievement for Miami with the game it was playing.
In the last quarter, the Celtics have extended the advantage until Butler has woken up. He has put the team ahead, but it has not been enough. The Miami Heat have made impressive comebacks in other games this postseason, most notably against the Milwaukee Bucks, but this time it has eluded them.
For the Celtics, Jayson Tatum has added 31 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists. This time he has had Jaylen Brown as an effective squire, with 26 points and 10 rebounds. Marcus Smart has completed the scoring hat trick with 21 points. The entire team has faltered on defense, but Al Horford has taken over the zone and has caused continuous failures by Miami players under the basket.
This time Horford has won the game over Adebayo, as blurred as Butler in the scoring facet. He has finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds. Butler has finished as the top scorer with 24 points, plus 11 rebounds and 8 assists, although with the points concentrated in the last quarter. During a large part of the game, those who have kept the Miami men alive have been Caleb Martin (21 points and 15 rebounds), Gabe Vincent (15 points) and Duncan Robinson (13 points). Robinson, who had been very successful from beyond the line of three, lost his aim at the key moment and missed two triples that seemed comfortable.
Game 7 is played this Monday in Boston. The Celtics already won the Sixers in the conference semifinal in Game 7 at home with an exhibition by Tatum. So you’ve already traveled a path similar to the one you now have ahead of you. In the final, the Denver Nuggets of Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray, champions of the Western Conference, await, who will arrive much more rested, since they dispatched the Lakers on the fast track.
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