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 on Monday.
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," Eric 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.
Meanwhile, Miami looked like the team unfazed by the Game 7 pressure. They didn't force anything, but they were assertive. They shot the lights out (50% from 3), particularly Caleb Martin, who was brilliant all series and finished with 26 points on 11-of-16 shooting including 4 of 6 from deep.
Jimmy Butler, who guaranteed a Game 7 victory even after pretty much everyone had written Miami off in the wake of their three-game losing streak, was terrific with his typical controlled aggression, finishing with 28 points, including three 3-pointers, to go with seven rebounds, six assists and three steals against just one turnover.
Butler was named ECF MVP in a tight vote over Martin.
"We don't play just to win the Eastern Conference, we play to win the whole thing," Butler said, just in case you thought Miami was just happy to be in the Finals.
Want some Heat culture? Miami got 56 points from its undrafted players, the exact amount they averaged over the course of the series: Martin (26), Gabe Vincent (10), Duncan Robinson (10), Max Strus (8), Haywood Highsmith (2).
There's an instinct to continue think of these guys as afterthought grinders, but that is a big mistake at this point. By the time they all get their next contract we could very well be looking at north of a quarter billion in cumulative NBA money between these guys. Martin, Vincent and Strus are serious players, and Robinson is still one of the deadliest shooters in the league when he is confident and in rhythm.
You can bet Denver is taking these guys serious, and it looks like they'll have another player to deal with in Tyler Herro, who is reportedly ramping up his workload and could potentially return by Game 3 of the Finals.
Game 1 of the Finals is scheduled for Thursday in Denver.