Despite the Miami Heat holding a 3-0 series lead after winning the initial three games of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Boston Celtics rallied back dramatically to force a Game 7. Using a game-winning putback from Derrick White at the buzzer, the Celtics won Game 6, 104-103. The winner of Monday’s matchup at TD Garden determines who moves on to face the Denver Nuggets in the NBA Finals.
In 0.2 seconds, White aggressively crashed the offensive glass after inbounding a side out-of-bounds pass to Marcus Smart. With Smart’s tough drifting 3 rimming out, White’s pursuit of the offensive boards went uncontested with two Heat defenders being deployed on Jayson Tatum before the pass, resulting in a game-winning putback.
“I mean, I was passing it in. [Gave] Vincent was on me, and he kind of was up top denying JT [Jayson Tatum], so I couldn’t get him the ball, and they did a good job of denying JB [Jaylen Brown], too,” White said. “[Marcus] Smart flashed, hit him, and there really was nobody on me, so I just spaced to the corner, and when he shot it just tried to crash.
“Ball came to me, I made the shot,” White said.
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The Heat risk being on the wrong side of history’s most prolific NBA playoff series comeback. There have been 150 other instances of a team taking a 3-0 series lead in league history, none of those teams managed to lose the series.
“Faith. Love. Togetherness. Physicality. Belief. Hope.” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “All those things combined. It starts with the locker room. Those guys had a choice to make and they chose to believe in each other.”
The outcome was close to being a genuinely disappointing loss for the Celtics, given they had held a lead as large as 13 points with 3:27 remaining in the third quarter after Brown converted on a pair of free throws. The Heat trimmed the deficit down to seven entering the final period, then took an 83-82 lead after Jimmy Butler cleaned up a missed layup by Duncan Robinson — putting Miami ahead for the first time since the 6:50 mark of the first quarter.
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The Heat’s playoff hero — Butler — has faltered as the Eastern Conference Finals have progressed. He recorded 24 points, 11 rebounds, and 8 assists, but he did so while shooting 5-21 from the floor but just 3-17 on 2-point field goals. He did finish 2-4 from 3-point range and 12-14 on free throws to help somewhat salvage his performance, but for a player whose game is so predicated on making plays in the paint, his lack of efficiency was deflating.
“Everything that happened tonight, if I don’t go 5-for-21 and turn the ball over and all of this good stuff, it’s a different story, I’ve got on a different hat up here, and we’re getting ready to go to the Finals,” Butler said.
“I just missed shots. I’ve just got to make them,” Butler explained. “Continually hit the open guy. Stay aggressive. Continue to lead the way for our guys. They definitely follow my lead; I will say that. They follow Bam’s lead as well, but especially me. So if I’m level-headed through the good and through the bad, they will be, as well.”
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The Heat as a team was abysmal inside the 3-point line, shooting just a combined 19-63 on 2-point field goals. With Miami relying on so many spot-up-reliant players, the top players have to be aggressive and successfully score consistently. Butler had a rough game, but so did Bam Adebayo, who scored 11 points on 4-16 shooting overall. Kyle Lowry was mostly a non-factor, scoring 8 points in 18 minutes of action. They were still just a few tenths of a second away from winning.
“Make a (expletive) shot. For me, man, keep shooting the shots I’m shooting,” Adebayo said. “I’ve got confidence in myself like no other. So for me, man, feels like a lid is on the rim, but I’ve got to figure out how I can make that basketball go in.”
A significant differentiator for the Heat was their 14-30 shooting from deep, while the Celtics finished just 7-35. Managing to outscore Boston by a 21-point margin in perimeter shooting and committing only five turnovers on the night proved crucial in keeping Miami in the mix. However, the Celtics’ re-focus defensively continued to set the tone.
Even with the Celtics’ poor shooting, Tatum finished with a game-high 31 points and added 12 rebounds and five assists. He missed all eight 3-point attempts but went 8-14 on 2s and was a perfect 15-15 from the line. Brown and Smart combined for 47 points; Brown scored 26, and Smart totaled 21. Brown recorded a double-double by adding 10 rebounds.
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It wasn’t necessarily contributions on offense that Boston feels being the driving force behind its rallying effort in this game or even in the series. The Celtics’ dedication to returning to being a defensive-minded team is a theme communicated by even their superstars: Tatum and Brown.
“Defense. I think — damn, we only made seven threes. Yeah, it was defense that kept us in the game, that allowed us to stay in the game,” Tatum said. “We’ve kind of changed that around to win these last three games, and our defensive identity has been the reason why. It’s a hell of a win — 44 percent from the field, 20 percent from three, and still find a way to win? I’ll take it every day of the week.”
“Defense, defense, defense. Our defense kept us in games, and defense is why there’s going to be a Game 7,” Brown said. “We held them, the first three games I think they were averaging above 115. Last three games it’s been around 100. I think defense is the key. Defense has made the biggest difference.”
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Even despite the Celtics’ improved defensive execution, the Heat still had very favorable chances in pivotal moments that just didn’t come to fruition. Duncan Robinson was left wide open numerous times in clutch time but missed a pair of 3s. His first miss at the 1:24 mark would have tied it up had he converted, then his second attempt would have given the Heat a 2-point lead with 21.2 seconds remaining in regulation. Butler nearly overcame this for Miami by going 3-3 on a trip to the free throw line, giving the Heat a 103-102 lead with 3.0 seconds left.
“I mean, I tell them, there ain’t nothing you can do about it now. All you can do is move on,” Butler said.
“Didn’t go our way. Part of it. It hasn’t been our — going our way a lot this year. So this is nothing new. We have got to go on the road and do something special. But we’ve got a special group, so why not it be us?”
With such a miraculous ending to Game 6 fueling a victory, the Celtics now have a more than realistic view of another NBA Finals appearance. It went from improbable after trailing 3-0 in the series to now, the Heat facing the daunting task of overcoming three consecutive losses by having to play a Game 7 on the road with the stakes being as high as it gets in their miraculous journey as the 8th seed.
“I’ve never been so excited to go back to Boston in my life,” Tatum said. “And I cannot wait to see all the fans on Monday.”
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