BSJ ECF Game 6 Report: Celtics 104, Heat 103 - Miracle series comeback still possible thanks to miraculous buzzer beater

MIAMI -- Everything you need to know about the Celtics Eastern Conference Finals Game 6 xxxx  the Miami Heat, with BSJ insight and analysis

IN A NUTSHELL

Jaylen Brown came out hot in the first quarter, all from 2, to help give Boston an early 8-point lead. They gave some of that back at the end as they continued to let Caleb Martin torch them. Jayson Tatum had 16 in the second quarter as he relentlessly attacked, but again, Martin and Gabe Vincent kept Miami alive, and a late run cut an 11-point Boston lead down to 4 at the half. The third quarter was a slog, full of fouls, but a late run by Boston gave them a lead that would grow to 13 before settling at 7 into the fourth. Boston led by 10 with about 5:00 to go and 9 with 3:04 to go but the offense stalled and Jimmy Butler woke up to give Miami a lead with :03 to go, but Derrick White’s putback beat the buzzer and forced a Game 7. 

Box Score

HEADLINES

Wow: Let’s just start with that. The Celtics were on the verge of dropping ANOTHER game in excruciating fashion. They were outscored by 10 in 3:01, and had :03 to make a play. The Marcus Smart shot actually looked like it had a chance to fall, but White’s putback was released just in time. The Kaseya Center went from rocking to shocked in a blink. 

“I was passing it in,” White said. “Vincent was on me, and he kind of was up top denying JT, so I couldn't get him the ball, and they did a good job of denying JB, too and Smart flashed, hit him, and there really was nobody on me, so I just spaced to the corner, and when he shot it just tried to crash. Ball came to me, I made the shot.”

White joins Michael Jordan as the only players to hit buzzer beaters to avoid elimination while their teams were trailing at the time of the shot. Basically, only White and Jordan have beaten the buzzer to save their teams’ seasons. 

Winning without shooting: White and Smart were the only two guys to hit 3-pointers in the game for Boston. Literally no one else made one. That is always a recipe for disaster. 

“Just figure it out. Just make plays. Each guy on that team just made plays down the stretch,” Joe Mazzulla said. “Obviously, you have to have some luck on your side. They missed some open shots. We missed some open shots. But you've just got to stay in the fight and make the next best play you can, and I thought each guy on the team did that.”

Avoiding disaster: Like Game 7 last year, Boston was pretty fortunate to escape this building with a W in Game 6. The glass-half-full take on this is they found a way to do the little things to win. The glass-half-empty take is they once again failed to take advantage of a late lead and it nearly cost them again. They played slow basketball again, they missed shots, and they turned the ball over. How they managed to do that again and win … again … is beyond me. 

On the verge of history: You know the number by now … teams are 0-150 after going down 3-0. Boston can become the first ever if they win at home Monday night. They are the only team to have a shot at it with a home Game 7. 

“Wooo. It's going to be like the Fourth of July. Fireworks, going crazy,” Smart said. “So we're excited and we're ready. We understand they're going to come out and they're going to be ready. It's going to be a great game and we're really looking forward to it.”

TURNING POINT

Obviously the putback is the literal turning point of the game, but I’m going to go back to the 1:28 mark where Duncan Robinson had a WIDE OPEN 3-pointer with Miami down 3. He missed, which is shocking considering how many shots they’d made. Brown then made a free throw to make it a 4-point game. Robinson then missed another wide-open look, though I thought it was a poor decision to shoot that one. If he had made either, I’d be writing Boston’s obituary tonight. 

FOUR UP 

Derrick White: He hit some big shots, including the biggest one of the season, but he also had a team-high 6 assists. 

“Listen, I'll tell you one thing, man, if you don’t know who DWhite is, you know who he is now,” Smart said. “I mean, that dude has been phenomenal for us this whole, whole year. You know, just playing the way that we knew he could play when we picked him up. And it's been refreshing for us, and it's been a joy to watch and a joy to be on the court with him.” 

He scored 8 of his 11 in the fourth.

Marcus Smart: He carried the team offensively, scoring 12 of his 21 in the second half. His and-1 late in the fourth felt like it could have been the game-sealing play if Boston could have gotten some stops. 

Jayson Tatum: Obviously not the best overall shooting night and his first half was much better than his second, but he finished with 31 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 assists. He got to the line 15 times. He had a tough fourth quarter, and I’m not trying to minimize that, but he grabbed 2 offensive rebounds in that fourth that helped keep Boston alive.

Jaylen Brown: Brown started hot and then cooled off, partly because he started fouling a lot. 

“I feel like I lost focus a little bit at a point during the game,” he said. “When I came out of halftime, I wanted to make sure I regained my focus. Got in foul trouble but just stayed in the mind frame that I needed to, to help my team, and I helped us pull out a win.

He also got two big offensive rebounds in the fourth, so he did things to help even when the shot wasn’t fallling. He finished with 26 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 assists. 

ONE DOWN

Grant Williams: He didn’t hit any of his shots. He needs to hit at least one of them, even though he only took 4.

TOP PLAYS

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- This was Miami’s best shot

Butler played 46 minutes, and he was not good for most of them. He found his way to a 24-point night thanks to some late grifting. Bam Adebayo played 45 and he only finished with 11. 

Other than Martin, who is the biggest winner of these playoffs no matter what, The Heat either struggled from the field or cooled off at the end. To now go back to Boston and have to win there? 

I don’t know. 

“At this time right now, I don't know how we are going to get this done, but we are going up there and get it done,” Spoelstra said. “There's been nothing easy about this season for our group, and so we just have to do it the hard way. That's just the way it's got to be for our group.

“We wish we would tip this thing off, right now. Right now, let's tip this thing off and let's play another 48 minutes. But we'll wait 48 hours and do this thing in Boston.”

It’s a positive attitude from the coach, and Miami players are following suit, but they seem cooked. 

Next up: Game 7 is Monday night at 8:30 on TNT.