The Miami Heat are NBA Finals bound, eliminate Celtics with 103-84 win

For the 2nd time in 4 seasons, Miami will be represented in the NBA Finals.

The Miami Heat have pulled it off. It wasn’t easy, it got ugly, but they have FINALLY eliminated the Boston Celtics in 7 games, on route to another NBA Finals berth. The second Finals trip in four seasons for Miami, the team wins in blowout fashion inside a hostile TD Garden 103-84 and slam the door on Boston’s 0-3 comeback hopes. Jimmy Butler responded very well from a rough game 6 with 28 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals on 12/28 shooting.

With how rough the team has looked in the last few games, including an absolute heart breaker in game 6 at home, it was tough to judge exactly how Miami was going to recover. The team shocked the world tonight, including myself, and showed great resilience to pull this off even with all the momentum and confidence in the Celtics favor.

Jimmy Butler hit the NBA world with a guarantee at the end of last season in the press conference that the Heat would be back in this position and get the job done.

Well, a full calendar year later, Butler and the Heat eliminate the Celtics in the ECF in 7 games on THEIR home court just like they did to us last season.

Caleb Martin showed out yet again, with a huge 26 point and 10 rebound performance. He did it on extreme efficiency, going 11/16 from the field.

Bam Adebayo pitched in a near triple double performance, showcasing his versatility again with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists.

The Miami Heat came out with an early double digit lead and they never looked back. The team dominated especially in the second half, as they got the lead to over 20 at multiple points.

Miami shot 49% as a team, going an impressive 42/86 from the field. Boston only shot 39%. The 3 point buckets were the same story, with Miami having the advantage with 50% shooting in that department to go against Boston’s rough 21%. The Heat also had 26 assists as a team compared to the Celtics 18.

Butler and Martin led the way offensively, but it was a true team effort on the defensive end. Coach Erik Spoelstra opted to go zone right out of the gate, and it worked out.

Spo also made some adjustments to the rotation, inserting Haywood Highsmith as the back up big over the likes of both Kevin Love and Cody Zeller. Highsmith made an immediate impact, getting in the passing lanes, getting some steals and playing some tough defense on Boston’s stars.

It was another quiet shooting night for Adebayo, but the impact went beyond the box score. Miami would not have won this game without his elite defensive abilities and presence. He did not allow any easy shots, and made a strong impact on that end; aggressive Bam is the best Bam. There are not many stars in this league that can have off nights offensively but not let that affect their defensive game plan and mindset on that end, but Adebayo is one of those guys.

This Miami Heat squad should go down as arguably the best 8th seed ever, but a championship would clearly solidify that statement.

The Heat have been able to take down the top 2 seeds overall in both conferences in the Milwaukee Bucks and Celtics, and took down the New York Knicks in round 2 who were also favorited.

Nothing this season has been easy. The regular season struggles, blowing the 0-3 lead to Boston, but somehow, some way, Miami is still here. They made it to the NBA Finals, and are officially a top 2 team in the league.

It just goes to show that regular season dominance and accolades may be nice, but nothing is like playoff basketball. No matter what seed a team is, there is always a chance to turn it on when it matters most, and that is what the Miami Heat have done.

The team can enjoy the celebration tonight, but get right back to it with a flight to Denver and game 1 of the Finals set to tip off on Thursday night against Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets.

Never underestimate the underdog… and the Heat are not satisfied with tonight’s moment.

Let’s continue this ride and make NBA history to be the first 8 seed to ever win it all.

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