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BAM ADEBAYO had a career-high 32 points and 14 rebounds, Tyler Herro came to life with 11 points in the fourth quarter and the Miami Heat booked their trip to the NBA Finals with a 125-113 victory in Game 6 over the Boston Celtics Sunday night. near Orlando.
Jimmy Butler added 22 points, Herro had 19 and Andre Iguodala scored a season-high 15 as the Heat advanced to the Finals for the first time since 2014. Duncan Robinson also scored 15 and Goran Dragic 13.
Adebayo, who led the team with an average of 21.8 points per game during the series, took the blame for Miami’s loss in Game 5 after being limited to 13 points. “I put that weight on my shoulders and was able to act,” he said. “At the end of the day, I left everything on the court and we ended up with a W.”
Jaylen Brown scored 26 points, Jayson Tatum had 24 with 11 assists, a career-high, and Marcus Smart and Kemba Walker each had 20 for the Celtics, who couldn’t recover from a 3-1 deficit at best. . -Seven finals of the Eastern Conference.
“It was a fun run,” said Walker, who joined Boston this offseason as their prized free agent acquisition. “Difficult pill to swallow, but we struggled a lot. That’s all you can ask for. “
Miami goes on to face the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 1 of the Finals on Wednesday (Thursday Manila time).
“We will have a very healthy respect for our next opponent,” said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, who won championships in 2012 and 2013 when Lakers star LeBron James played for Miami. “We know who we’re up against.”
The Heat erased a six-point deficit in the fourth when Butler made 1 of 2 free-kicks before Herro nailed a 3-pointer and added another bucket to tie the score at 96 with 7:40 left. Miami led 104-102 with 5:31 left when Daniel Theis fouled for Boston, Adebayo was 1 of 2 down the line.
That free throw started a 13-0 run to put the game away from the Heat. Herro gave Miami the first double-digit lead of the game at 112-102 with 3:31 to go, and the score was 116-102 before the Celtics broke a nearly four-minute scoring drought. Boston didn’t get closer than 12 down the stretch.
“Miami deserves a lot of credit,” said Celtics coach Brad Stevens. “They are super physical, super tough and very smart. I think they are the best team in the East and they deserve to represent the East, the way they have played.
A 7-0 run for the Celtics late in the third quarter tied the score at 86. Dragic’s basket with 26 seconds left gave Miami an 88-86 lead going into the fourth.
Tatum had 12 points in the second quarter after a scoreless first in which the Celtics trailed as many as nine. Their layup with 1:56 to play gave Boston a 56-55 lead, but the Heat went ahead on Adebayo’s layup with 42.6 seconds remaining and led 62-60 at the break.
“I believe in our group, I know we can still win four more,” Butler said. “We are not satisfied, we are not complacent. We know we have a great team to face ”. – Reuters
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