Heat hoping to turn Game 6 pain into Game 7 triumph in Boston: ‘We are never to be denied’
What would have been one of the most memorable wins in Miami Heat history turned into one of the most painful losses in franchise history in one second, and now the Heat is one defeat away from falling on the wrong side of NBA history.
With the Heat ahead by one point and on the verge of punching its ticket to the NBA Finals, Celtics guard Derrick White jumped and grabbed an offensive rebound after Marcus Smart’s three-pointer rimmed out with one second left. Before White’s sneakers landed back on the court, he softly tipped it in just before the final buzzer to lift the Celtics to a miraculous 104-103 victory in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals on Saturday night at Kaseya Center to force a win-or-go-home Game 7.
“I’m as shocked by that play as anyone,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “That’s the only place it could have bounced to hurt us.”
“Hell of a bounce,” Heat guard Gabe Vincent added.
The eighth-seeded Heat appeared to be in full control of the East finals with a 3-0 series lead just one week ago, but the second-seeded Celtics have won three straight to become just the fourth team in NBA history to tie a series 3-3 after losing the first three games. The Celtics are the first team to do it and host Game 7.
The Heat needs to win Game 7 on Monday in Boston (8:30 p.m., TNT) to get to the NBA Finals and avoid becoming the first team in NBA history to lose a best-of-7 series after winning the first three games.
The challenge for Heat coaches and players will be bouncing back mentally and physically from one of the worst losses of their basketball careers in time for one of the most important games of their basketball careers.
“We are not going to let up,” Heat star Jimmy Butler said. “I’m not going to let anybody quit. I’m not going to let our guys quit. I don’t give a damn what happens. We’re going to go in there and we’re going to win.”
Spoelstra also made sure to project confidence during his postgame press conference in a moment that self-doubt could have begun creeping in for the Heat.
“This is one hell of a series,” Spoelstra said. “At this time right now, I don’t know how we are going to get this done, but we are going up there and getting it done. And that’s what the next 48 hours is about.”
The odds seem to be stacked against the Heat, though. Not only do the Celtics hold all the momentum after three straight wins, but history and the sportsbooks are also pointing to a Celtics win on Monday.
Entering this year’s playoffs, home teams have gone on to win Game 7 of a best-of-7 series 75.9 percent of the time (110-35). And as of Sunday morning, the Celtics are listed as eight-point favorites over the Heat by most sportsbooks for Game 7.
“This is what we’ve been going through all year,” Heat forward Duncan Robinson said. “Challenges, adversity. This is just another version of it. Just a lot more people are watching now. But this is nothing new to us.”
Robinson is right — the Heat has already faced plenty of adversity and challenges this season. Close games, injuries, the play-in tournament and reaching this point as the No. 8 playoff seed are at the top of that list.
The Heat finished this regular season with the second-most clutch games (one that has a margin of five points or fewer inside the final five minutes of the fourth quarter) in the NBA with 54. Miami also tied the single-season NBA record for the most wins by five points or less with 24 such victories this regular season.
Then there were injury issues, as the Heat closed the regular season with the second-most missed games in the NBA (289) due to injury, according to Spotrac. That problem has continued this postseason after Miami lost guards Tyler Herro (hand surgery) and Victor Oladipo (knee surgery) to injuries early in the playoffs.
After a wild regular season that went straight into the play-in tournament and then right into the playoffs, the Heat is only the second No. 8 seed in NBA history to advance to the conference finals.
“It’s just been crazy,” Spoelstra said. “That’s why when we say for the national media that didn’t follow us, and we didn’t expect you to follow us, when we say we did it the hard way, there were some bone-crushing losses where we did the right things, and then last-second shots just for the wins against us. And the competitive spirit of this group, we are never to be denied. Even after games like that, we would always come back the next game and find a way to get a win. That’s what we have to do right now.”
The lessons from those experiences give the Heat hope that it will be able to get past the anguish of Saturday’s last-second loss. White joined Michael Jordan as the only two players in NBA history to make a game-winning buzzer-beater when facing elimination and his team trailing prior to the shot.
“Guys spoke up,” Robinson said of the scene in the Heat’s locker room following the Game 6 defeat. “We’re not treating this like the series is over. We can’t afford to have that mindset. It’s a great opportunity to get one in seven.”
While remarkable, considering the Heat was once ahead 3-0 in the series, it’s fitting that the East finals come down to Game 7.
Last year’s East finals matchup between these two teams also went the full seven games before the Celtics escaped Game 7 in Miami with a 100-96 win.
The lasting memory from last year’s Game 7 came in the final seconds, when Butler grabbed a defensive rebound with an opportunity to tie or give the Heat the lead. Instead of going for the tie, Butler opted for a pull-up three-pointer that bounced off the front of the rim with 16.6 seconds to play and ended Miami’s hopes of making the NBA Finals.
“You’re going to get the same test until you pass it, I swear,” Butler said. “We were in this same position last year. We can do it. I know that we will do it. We’ve got to go on the road and win in a very, very, very tough environment. But we are capable of it. So let’s get busy.”
The Heat and Celtics have faced each other 32 times since the start of the 2019-20 season, including the regular season and playoffs, and have split those matchups 16-16.
That tie will be broken and this year’s East finals will be decided on Monday, as the Denver Nuggets wait to find out which team they will play in the NBA Finals.
“We have got to go on the road and do something special,” Butler said. “But we’ve got a special group, so why not it be us?”
This story was originally published May 28, 2023 at 11:07 AM.
