The Celtics are the second-winningest team in the NBA, almost on the same level as the Lakers, although they have only won one ring in the last 35 years. Now they are one step away from making history not for a new title, but for a legendary comeback. They started losing 0-3 the final of the Eastern Conference against the Miami Heat and have managed to match three after winning this Saturday in Miami (102-103) on the horn, in a dramatic and cruel end for the followers of the Heat.
If they win the seventh and final game of the series in Boston on Monday, they will become the first team to make such a comeback after 150 attempts. Never has a seven-legged tie been turned around after an initial 3-0. The Celtics play at home and have the morale boost of having won a game that has been about to slip away. A rebound from Derrick White turned into a palm in the last tenth of a second has given them the victory after a triple to the desperate that had left the hoop. Earlier, three free throws by Jimmy Butler had put Miami ahead.
The Celtics have a more complete team, with more wardrobe background and more sought-after stars. It was a surprise that Miami had gotten ahead that way in the series. Boston have had to push hard, especially on defense, to recover the disadvantage. The sixth game, this Saturday in Miami, was the great occasion for the locals, but they have let it escape.
Jimmy Butler is the star of the Miami Heats. Thanks to him the team has reached the final of the Eastern Conference after some portentous games. This Saturday the pass to the NBA finals was played. He had promised a victory. However, for much of the match he has been blocked. Watched high above by the Celtics has finished the first three quarters with a series of 2 baskets in 15 attempts. Bad day to have a bad day.
The player has recovered in the last quarter and has shown what he is capable of. From his hand, Miami has managed to overcome in the last quarter a difference of more than 10 points. The hosts have led 102-101 with only three seconds on the clock after three free throws made by Butler in a moment of maximum pressure. It seemed that the comeback was Miami, but the classification has gotten out of hand when they began to savor it.
The whole game was played dog-faced. There has been no easy basket. Every possession, every shot, every tackle on the basket, every rebound had to be sweated. The Celtics have been ahead almost the entire game, but without finishing off until there were less than four minutes left in the third quarter and have led 65-78. At the end of the third quarter it was 72-79, an achievement for Miami with the game it was deploying.
In the fourth quarter, the Celtics extended the lead until Butler woke up. It has put the team ahead, but it has not been enough. The Miami Heat have made portentous comebacks in other games of this postseason, especially against the Milwaukee Bucks, but this time they have escaped them.
For the Celtics, Jayson Tatum has added 31 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists. This time he has had Jaylen Brown as an effective squire, with 26 points and 10 rebounds. Marcus Smart completed the scoring hat with 21 points. The whole team has struggled on defense, but Al Horford has owned the zone and has caused continuous failures of Miami players under the hoop.
This time Horford has won the game to Adebayo, as blurred as Butler in the scoring facet. He finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds. Butler has finished as the top scorer with 24 points, plus 11 rebounds and 8 assists, although with the points concentrated in the last quarter. For much of the game those who have kept Miami alive have been Caleb Martin (21 points and 15 rebounds), Gabe Vincent (15 points) and Duncan Robinson (13 points). Robinson, who had been very successful from beyond the three-point line, lost his aim at the key moment and missed two three-pointers that looked comfortable.
Game seven is played Monday in Boston. The Celtics already won in the conference semifinal against the Sixers in the seventh game at home with an exhibition of Tatum. So they have already traveled a path similar to the one they now have ahead. In the finals await the Denver Nuggets of Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray, champions of the Western Conference, who will arrive much more rested, since they dispatched the Lakers on the fast track.
You can follow EL PAÍS Deportes on Facebook and Twitter, or sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter.
