Final: Celtics 100, Heat 96 - Celtics win Game 7 punch ticket to NBA Finals for 22nd time

The Boston Celtics are going back to the NBA Finals. 

After flirting with disaster following a momentum-shifting Game 6 loss at TD Garden (and tempting fate once again in the closing seconds of this one), the Celtics sealed the deal against the Heat on Sunday night – holding on for an eventual 100-96 win in Game 7.

With the win, the C’s will play for Banner 18 against the Golden State Warriors, with Game 1 set for Thursday night in San Francisco. 

Despite another impressive showing from Jimmy Butler (35 points), Boston’s stout defense limited the Heat outside of transition buckets — with Al Horford locking things down in the paint. 

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown led the way with 26 and 24 points, respectively. 

Boston might have held the lead for almost all of the night, but things got dicey in the fourth quarter, with Miami cutting Boston’s lead to just three just 64 seconds into the final frame of regulation. 

A shooting slump from Miami (0-for-9) allowed Boston to extend the lead back into double digits, but another spirited Heat surge (11-0) run made it a two-point game when it looked like the C’s were ready to waltz into a W.

But after Butler missed a potential kill-shot with a 3-point heave, the C’s managed to ice the victory and win their first Game 7 on the road since the 1974 NBA Finals against Milwaukee. 

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ROUND 3, GAME 7 
(1) Miami Heat vs. (2) Boston Celtics
FTX Arena
8:30 PM - ESPN 

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 available with no restrictions

Both are a full go and will start.

- Tyler Herro is in. 

He missed the last two games with a groin strain.

"Right now it's all hands on deck. He passed his testing with the trainers," Erik Spoelstra said. "He's really been working diligently the last few days. Each day he's made significant improvement, and he was able to do shootaround this morning but more importantly he was able to do things in the training room and pass those tests to be available."

- The Celtics went without a shootaround today

They usually have a morning shootaround, and they have all playoffs long. But the team canceled this morning's session. 

"Fresh legs, energy, juice," Ime Udoka said. "The series is what it is. There's no surprises from either side, and we want energy. It was optional, but a lot of the guys going and get shots, anyways. Get out of the monotony of doing the same thing and keeping our legs and fresh energy for tonight."

- Boston is favored by 3

Vegas clearly isn’t swayed by Butler’s outlier performance. The Heat vastly outperformed their shot quality in Game 6.

GOING A LITTLE DEEPER

- Do it for Al Horford

The Celtics need to look around their locker room and recognize not only the opportunity they have in front of them this evening in Miami, but the responsibility. 

Teams are built on a foundation of family, where the majority of these 15 guys spend the majority of their year together. They work countless hours not just on the basketball we see, but on charitable responsibilities of a team and all the minutia around the organization. Between all this and the travel together on buses and planes, this really does become a brotherhood to these guys. 

So forget the fans for a minute. Forget the media. Forget the owners. These guys need to look around the room and understand that they have a responsibility to their teammates -- and one teammate in particular. 

Al Horford. 

…Read More

THREE THINGS TO WATCH FOR

- Better start

For the love of all things holy will you guys just come out with the right intensity for once in this series? There's no way we want to see this quote again from Udoka. 

“We got off to a slow start. Butler was aggressive. We didn't match his intensity.”

This is one game for a trip to the Finals. If you can’t get up and play your absolute best for this one, then you don’t deserve to go. 

- Tatum and Brown taking the shots that are there

They have the ability to knock down jumpers, so if Miami is letting them step into some open ones, just take them. There will be plenty of chances to drive over the course of the game, don’t be afraid to drain a couple of 15 footers to put them on their heels. 

So many of Boston’s turnovers come from over-dribbling and trying to get past two or three defenders who are loaded against one of Boston’s stars. Stop jumping into the wood chipper and then being shocked that you’re getting eaten up alive. You’re not Steve Buscemi in Fargo. 

- Butler’s right knee

There was a point early in Game 6 where Butler could have gone up on the fast break but it didn’t look like he had any lift in his knee. But as the game went on, and the Heat kept holding onto the lead, he rose above the pain and discomfort. 

So it’s up to Boston to put this thing away early and get back to the normal series cadence of monster quarters that lead to blowouts. 

Jump on them early, hit the makeable shots, and build that lead an Butler’s knee will start screaming as he slumps his shoulders looking at a 20 point deficit on the scoreboard. 

Don’t give him any life at all. 

A LITTLE MORE    

If you’re interested in watching, here’s my post-Game 6 podcast.

GAME THREAD

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