Heat Close Out Celtics to Advance to NBA Finals

Jimmy Butler scored 28 points and Caleb Martin had 26 with 10 rebounds as the Miami Heat beat the Celtics in Boston 103-84 on May 29th to win the Eastern Conference championship and advance to the NBA Finals. The Heat had opened a 3-0 lead in the series, but Boston had clawed back to tie it at 3, forcing a Game 7 in Boston. But this one was all Miami, and the Celtics last lead was 11-10 in the first quarter before Max Strus hit a three pointer 3:28 left to give the Heat a 13-11 lead. Miami held the lead for the rest of the game.

Miami held Boston to just 15 points in the first quarter and 18 in the fourth. The Heat had the edge in three pointers, hitting at 50% (14 for 28). Boston was just 9 for 42 (21.4%). Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 19 points, and Derrick White had 18. Jayson Tatum scored 14 points and had 11 rebounds, but noticeably limped throughout the game after turning his ankle at the beginning of the game.

Miami is just the 2nd #8 seed to advance to the NBA Finals. The other #8 to make it this far is 1998-99 New York Knicks. New York lost in the Finals to the San Antonio Spurs in five games. The Heat will play the Western Conference Champion Denver Nuggets in the Finals beginning June 1st at Denver. The Nuggets were the #1 seed in the West. The Nuggets won both meetings with the heat during the regular season.