The Miami Heat are marching on to the NBA Finals, where they will face the Denver Nuggets, after a 103-84 victory over the Boston Celtics in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals.
With the win, Miami avoids the dubious distinction of being the first team in NBA history to blow a 3-0 lead in a playoff series. Teams that go up 3-0 are now 151-0 all-time. It wasn’t easy. It didn’t look good after the way Game 6 was ripped from their hands with a miraculous Derrick White buzzer-beating tip-in. But Miami got it done.
“I think a lot of people can relate to this team,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Sometimes you have to suffer for the things you really want.”
Credit the Celtics for fighting back to force a Game 7. They are just the fourth of those 151 teams to even do that much after going down 3-0, but they couldn’t get over the hump as Jayson Tatum rolled his ankle early and clearly wasn’t right the whole night, Jaylen Brown (eight turnovers, 8-of-23 shooting) was awful, and Boston’s 3-point shooting (21%), yet again, was atrocious.
NEW YORK SPORTS THIS WEEK 