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Miami Heat’s Bam Adebayo (13) throws a layup during the first half of an NBA conference postseason basketball game against the Boston Celtics on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020, in Lake Buena Vista, Florida ( AP Photo / Mark J. Terrill)
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida – Jimmy Butler thought he won the game for Miami with a triple at the end of regulation time.
He put the Heat back ahead in overtime, and then Bam Adebayo finished him off with the biggest block of his career.
Butler’s three-point play with 12 seconds left put Miami in the lead, Adebayo blocked Jayson Tatum’s dunk attempt in the dying seconds and the Heat rallied time and again to beat the Boston Celtics 117-114 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals on Tuesday. night.
Kemba Walker’s basket with 23.2 seconds left in overtime put Boston up by one, before Butler worked his way to the rim to score as Tatum fouled him. The Celtics went to Tatum on subsequent possession, only to see him get turned down by Adebayo.
And the Heat (13 in the first quarter, 14 in the fourth) struck first, ending Boston’s seven-game winning streak in Game 1.
Tatum scored 30 points for the Celtics, Marcus Smart had 26 points, Walker had 19 and Jaylen Brown added 17. Goran Dragic had 29 points, Jae Crowder scored 22, Jimmy Butler scored 20 and Adebayo had 18 for the Heat.
Miami’s Tyler Herro was one assist away from a triple-double, finishing with 12 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists.
Boston led 85-71 early in the quarter and held the lead for most of the final period, until Butler hit a 3-pointer from the right corner with 22 seconds left for Miami’s 106-105 lead.
The Celtics tied before the clock started again. Derrick Jones Jr. was called for an off-play foul while Miami defended the pass on the field, a decision in which the Heat argued in vain that they pushed him instead. Tatum went to the line, tied the game with a free throw, and Boston suddenly went from needing a touchdown to running out of time.
Miami wanted a walking call when Tatum received the ball with about 7 seconds left. His triple was short and they went to extra time.
Boston started fast by staying with a 24-11 lead, only to see Miami slow down the Celtics by going into a plethora of zones and making enough stops to allow their offense to begin to rebound. The Heat scored 37 points in a 10-minute span of the second quarter, and the teams entered at halftime with 55.
The Heat’s biggest lead of the second half came early in the third, 61-56, after Butler landed a short hook to land.
Then Boston got going again.
The Celtics outscored the Heat 27-10 at the final 8:17 of the third quarter, Smart scored 10 in that stretch to match Miami’s production for himself, and Boston’s lead was 83-71 going into the fourth. Miami shot 6 of 22 in the first quarter to get in trouble, then 6 of 20 in the third to get into more trouble.
TIPS
Heat: Miami has gotten into trouble early in all three of its Game 1s in these playoffs: it fell eight to Indiana early in the first round, was down 11 to Milwaukee in the first quarter of the second round and dropped 13 to Boston in the first quarter of Tuesday. . … Andre Iguodala, who played in zero conference finals games in his first 10 seasons, has now played in 22 since 2015.
Celtics: Boston’s record for consecutive wins in Game 1 is 11, from 1985 to 1987. The Celtics won eight in a row from 1959 to 1962.… Gordon Hayward (ankle) was inactive again, although the Celtics believe he can play in this series. … Brad Wanamaker had five steals for Boston.
MIAMI VS. BOSTON
Tuesday was the 141st all-time meeting between the Celtics and Heat. It also marked the 39th meeting of all time between the Boston Red Sox and the Miami Marlins, but it was the first time those four clubs met on the same date. The closest they came to colliding was in 2012, when the Heat beat the Celtics in Game 7 of the Eastern finals on June 9 and the Red Sox and Marlins opened a series two days later.
WELCOME, DEUCE
Tatum’s son, young Deuce, passed his quarantine and reunited with his father, and the rest of the Celtics, in the bubble on Tuesday. “Ultimately, it’s good for them to see their families,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. “I walked down the aisle with Deuce today, which was the highlight of my 70 days here. I think that’s really cool. “
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