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Miami Heat’s Tyler Herro (14) and Miami Heat’s Andre Iguodala (28) celebrate during the second half of an NBA conference postseason basketball game against the Boston Celtics on Sunday, Sept. 27, 2020 in Lake Buena. Vista, Florida (AP Photo / Mark J. Terrill) lyrics
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida – It was exactly one year ago Sunday that Jimmy Butler walked into the Miami Heat’s practice gym, sat on a makeshift stage and said he wanted to be a part of the team’s next title race.
You will have that opportunity.
The Heat will go to the NBA Finals, surprising many, perhaps, but not themselves. Bam Adebayo scored 32 points and grabbed a season-high 14 rebounds, Butler scored 22 points and the Heat won the Eastern Conference final for the sixth time by beating the Boston Celtics 125-113 on Sunday night.
“This group, more than anything, loves to compete,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said during the trophy celebration.
The Heat won the series 4-2, and now they will see LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers for the title. Game 1 of that series is Wednesday night.
Tyler Herro scored 19 points, Duncan Robinson and Andre Iguodala each had 15 and Goran Dragic added 13 for the Heat.
Jaylen Brown scored 26 points, Jayson Tatum had 24 and 11 assists, a career high, and Marcus Smart and Kemba Walker each scored 20 points for Boston, which fell in the East final for the third time in the past four seasons.
Miami was down by six early in the quarter before regaining control. A 6-0 flurry – Herro had the last five of those points, needing just 31 seconds to do so – tied at 96. Boston took the lead twice more, with Adebayo responding both times, first with a dunk, then a go. – Three-point play ahead with 6:16 left.
He hit the ground in celebration.
It’s like they know what is coming. They were never left behind again. Herro had a pair of baskets in a 9-0 flurry that put the Heat up 10, Adebayo found Butler for a layup and a 116-102 lead that everyone on the Heat bench was on their feet.
The Heat are the only NBA franchise with six Finals appearances in the past 15 years. They are looking for their fourth title, and this opportunity was not easy.
The Heat were 5-for-5 from 3-point range in the first quarter, but otherwise struggled again from beyond the arc in the first half. They were 6 of 14 from deep in the first 24 minutes, Boston was 11 of 23 before the break and the Heat took a 62-60 lead at halftime.
And the margin was two entering the room.
Iguodala’s fourth 3-pointer, in as many attempts, with 4:20 left in the third, put the Heat up eight, before Brown scored five points on a 10-2 streak at Boston to tie it. Dragic had a layup from the lead on Miami’s last shot of the quarter and went 88-86 Heat with 12 minutes remaining.
The Celtics scored 10 of the first 12 points of the quarter, surviving a scare there too when Brown suffered a nasty knockdown after scoring in transition. Brown thought Butler knocked him out on the legs, no foul was called, and after Celtics medical staff checked his left knee, Brown stayed inside.
TIPS
Celtics: Tatum took 15 shots in the first half, the first time in his 270-game career that he did so. He had taken 14 four other times. … Tatum’s four best total assist games of his career have hit the bubble.
Heat: The Heat are now guaranteed no less than $ 4,399,686 for their playoff participation, and that number would rise to $ 5,791,041 if they win the title. … Udonis Haslem is the only player on the six Heat teams that have reached the final.
WALKER VS. HOT
Walker has been to the playoffs three times and his team has been eliminated by Miami in those three appearances, under three different nicknames. Charlotte were still the Bobcats when the Heat swept them in the 2014 first round, the Heat rallied to beat the Charlotte Hornets in seven games in the 2016 first round, and now this win over the Celtics.
CROSS-SPORT SUPPORT
The Celtics and Heat were getting some support from afar before Game 6. Celtics coach Brad Stevens was glad to hear the video of New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick saying goodbye to his post-game press conference. I play Sunday saying “good luck to Brad and the Celtics tonight. We’ll be pulling them. ”And at the end of the Miami Marlins regular season, outfielder Lewis Brinson wore a Butler jersey (featuring the popular Heat ‘Vice’ theme) underneath his game jersey.
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