Celtics advance to NBA Finals with Game 7 win over Heat

BOSTON – The Boston Celtics are heading to the NBA Finals. The Celtics are moving on after beating the Heat, 100-96, in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals Sunday night in Miami.

The Celtics will now face the Golden State Warriors for an NBA title. Game 1 is set for Thursday night in San Francisco.

While the Celtics enjoyed their series victory on Sunday, head coach Ime Udoka was quick to say that they still have a lot of work to do this postseason.

"We don't celebrate Eastern Conference Championship in this organization. We don't hang those banners," Udoka told WBZ-TV's Dan Roche in Miami. "We're here for bigger and better things."

Still, a conference title is quite the accomplishment for a team that was 18-21 on Jan. 6. The Celtics figured things out and turned into one of the best teams in the NBA during the second half of the regular season, and they're now four wins away from claiming the franchise's 18th banner.

"We know we are out to win a championship," Jayson Tatum said after Sunday's win. "But to get over this hump, and in the fashion that we did it – we took the toughest route possible. To win a Game 7 to go to the championship on the road, it's special."

As for Sunday night, Game 7 was a lot closer than the Celtics would have wanted, especially late in the game. They nearly let it slip away as they milked the clock late in the fourth quarter. 

"We do all of that on purpose to make it interesting. Just kidding, but that's us," Jaylen Brown joked after the win. "We've been responding all year, all season to adversity. Today was the biggest test, not only of the year but our careers. To mentally come into a Game 7 away, after losing on our home court, we got it done."    

Brown, Tatum and company are now heading to their first NBA Finals. Tatum led the way for Boston with 26 points while Brown had 24. Marcus Smart also had 24, and though he missed a ton of shots at the end of the game, he hit two free throws with 11.4 seconds left to seal the win for the Celtics.

"All the things we went on early in the season allowed us to come here in Game 7 and do what we did," Smart said after the win. "Our road record is better than our home record and that just shows the resiliency we have. This group of guys, coaching staff, whole org, they trusted us and allowed us to figure it out. They trusted us and it's made us stronger in the long run."

Jimmy Butler led all scorers with 35 points in Game 7, but missed a potential go-ahead three in the final seconds for Miami.

The Boston defense was strong all evening, but was really feeling at the start of the game. Al Horford rejected Max Strus at the rim, and that block turned into some easy transition points for Grant Williams to put the Celtics on top 22-9.

Boston got 11 of its first 22 points on the fast break.

The Heat woke up shortly after that Boston hoop and went on an 8-0 run. Tatum blew a 3-on-1 opportunity, which turned into an easy bucket for Butler, and Gabe Vincent knocked down a three as he was fouled by Horford. After Vincent hit his free throw, Miami turned a Brown miss into another Butler layup to cut it to 24-17.

The Celtics answered, with Derrick White and Tatum knocking down threes and Brown hitting a floater, as Boston closed the quarter on an 8-0 run of their own. The Celtics had 13 fast break points in the quarter to tie their season-high. It was close to a perfect start for Boston, and the Celtics led 32-17 after the first 12 minutes.

The Celtics kept sending Butler to the line early in the second quarter and the Heat cut the lead to single digits when Bam Adebayo put in his own miss to make it 41-32. But Tatum made a nice driving layup and Smart hit a 9-foot floater off a great feed by Tatum (who faked a three at the top of the key) to push the lead to 13 and force a Miami timeout. The Celtics led by as many as 17 in the second quarter.

But the Boston offense went stale late, and the defense let Butler walk into an open three after a Tatum miss to make it a 53-44 game with 1:26 in the half. The Celtics missed their four of their last five shots of the quarter while the Heat started to hit their free throws, and Miami closed the half on an 11-2 run to cut Boston's lead to just six, 55-49. 

After Miami cut it to a two-point game (at least at the time) early in the third, the Celtics rattled off a 7-0 run. Smart capped it off by draining a tough three to finish an ugly, shaky possession by the Celtics to give them a 63-54 edge. They even caught a break as a Strus three from early in the quarter was taken off the board retroactively after it was determined he stepped out of bounds before hitting the shot.

Smart drained another three off a nice feed by Brown, who drew four Miami defenders with a drive to the hoop, to give the Celtics a 72-58 lead with 6:46 left in the frame.

But the Heat just wouldn't go away. They scored the next seven points, capped off by a Victor Oladipo three after Tatum missed a put-back, to cut Boston's lead back to seven, 72-65. The Celtics outscored the Heat 27-26 in the quarter, but their seven-point lead heading into the fourth didn't feel safe the way Miami played in the third.

A Butler layup after a Rob Williams turnover made it a one-possession game, 82-79, early in the fourth quarter. But Tatum hit a pair off free throws, and then made a gorgeous feed to Grant Williams for an easy layup for his sixth assists of the night, to build Boston's lead back up to seven, 86-79.

The Celtics defense locked down and forced Miami to miss nine straight shots, and Boston rattled off an 8-0 run. The Celtics went up 90-79 when Smart put in a floater with 6:36 on the clock. Tatum hit a tough fade out of an inbound at the shot clock to put Boston back on top by 10, 95-85, with 4:28 to play.

Miami made it really interesting in the final minutes. Kyle Lowry made a driving layup with just over a minute left, part of an 8-0 Heat run, to make it a 98-93 game. 

Brown was then whistled for an offensive foul on a drive into Adebayo, and Boston's challenge was unsuccessful. Miami had the ball down five with 52.4 seconds left, and Strus hit a three to make it a 98-96 game with 44.4 seconds left.

Smart missed on the other end, but Butler missed a potential go-ahead three with 16.6 seconds left.

Al Horford pulled down the rebound, and Smart hit two free throws with 11.4 seconds left to seal the win for Boston. This will be Horford's first trip to the NBA Finals in his 15-year career.

"It's been a lot of hard work," said Horford. "I've been part of a lot of great teams with a lot of great teammates. This is a great group; I've seen JB and Tatum take steps, seen Smart grow. To me, it's special to be with them and help them be part of this. I'm grateful to be in this position."

The Celtics won three games in Miami during the series to earn their first trip to the NBA Finals since 2010. Tatum was named MVP of the series, which is now named the Larry Bird Eastern Conference Finals MVP trophy.

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