Final: Heat 111, Celtics 103 - Celtics can't seal deal, Heat win Game 6

The Celtics might have been on the cusp of a trip to the NBA Finals, but Jimmy Butler and the Heat had other plans on Friday night. 

Despite surging back and holding a three-point lead with 4:43 left in regulation, the Celtics were unable to seal the deal and punch their ticket to a showdown with the Warriors — with Butler (47 points) and Miami executing down the stretch to steal a 111-103 victory in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals. 

With Miami’s victory in enemy territory, the C’s will head back down to FTX Arena for a decisive Game 7 on Sunday night. 

It was a struggle for most of the night for the Celtics, who only led for a combined 96 seconds through the first three quarters against a stingy Miami club. 

But thanks to a second-half surge from Derrick White (22 points), the Celtics appeared to be on the cusp of landing a knockout blow against Miami — only for Butler to sink a few clutch buckets down the stretch (and Miami to cash in on a bevy of free-throw attempts) to put this one away for the visitors. 

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ROUND 3, GAME 6 
(1) Miami Heat vs. (2) Boston Celtics
TD Garden
8:30 PM - ESPN (Really 8:45) 

PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS

Boston: Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, Robert Williams

Miami: Kyle Lowry, Max Strus, Jimmy Butler, PJ Tucker, Bam Adebayo

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

- Smart and Williams are officially available to play. 

If Boston wins, Game 1 of the NBA Finals would be June 2, so the message is simply: play through today, get a few days rest, get as close to full strength as possible.

- Tyler Herro is out. Kyle Lowry, Max Strus, PJ Tucker, and Gabe Vincent are all available.

Same as last game. 

"These are not easy conversations or decisions," Erik Spoelstra said of Herro. "He's definitely made progress, but he's not quite ready, you know, to step into this kind of intensity of a game. ... As badly as he wants to get out there, you know, this is the most responsible decision for us."

- Boston is favored by 8.5

Wow… that's quite the line. Basically another blowout being anticipated by Vegas. 

TWO THINGS TO WATCH FOR

1. Miami’s hot start: It boils down to this for me -- Miami has one quarter of real fight left in them, but if they build a lead, then they can ride that wave for the whole game. If Boston comes out and takes the fight from them right away and builds one of those huge early leads, we’ll see the wheels fall off. 

I think everyone is looking at this the same way. Few people think Miami has anything left to take this series, so Boston just has to be careful not to give it to them. 

2. Just hit singles: Let’s channel the former coach here because Brad Stevens used to talk about hitting singles all the time rather than going for the home run plays. That means no early 3-pointers trying to build a 20 point lead in five minutes. It means not forcing things and trying to do too much and turning the ball over. It means not over-helping in an effort to make the big defensive play. 

Just do what you do, which is an Ime Udoka favorite phrase. Ball movement, player movement, help appropriately so you can be in good rebounding position, and just wear the Heat down. Grind them into submission. 

"Take a look at last game, our first half with the 10 turnovers, giving up offensive rebounds and playing in the crowd," Udoka said. "It's pretty simple: if we do that, we struggle at times offensively. When we get it down to five turnovers in the second half, the ball is moving, it's night and day offensively. Guys understand that. ... Understand it's going to be a long game, continue to wear teams down like we did Game 4 with Brooklyn and Game 7 with Milwaukee."

That's it. Just those two things will get this job done. Take Miami’s early punch and just play Celtics basketball and we’ll be done here. The third thing to watch for will be the trophy ceremony. 

A LITTLE MORE

I talked to NBA analyst, 13 year veteran, and NBA champion Antonio Daniels about the Celtics, how far they’ve come, Ime Udoka speaking their language, Jayson Tatum’s leadership, and a lot more in the latest Locked On Celtics podcast.

GAME THREAD

Stick around for more comments below as the game goes on. Feel free to add your two cents in the comments.