I can’t believe what I witnessed in that game. The Boston Celtics survived elimination AGAIN as they forced Game 7 against the Heat with a 104-103 win on the back of a Derrick White BUZZER BEATER!
This might very well be the game (and series for that matter) of the decade.
The Boston Celtics are on the verge of rewriting history as they have just forced an unprecedented home Game 7 against the Miami Heat by winning Game 6 104-103 through a clutch Derrick White pushback buzzer beater, tying the series 3-3. And, to be honest, I think the C’s are about to make history!
By just saying that Derrick White’s buzzer beater was clutch or incredible is underplaying how insane him making that shot really is. I don’t want to jump ahead of the entire game completely, but there was literally a tenth of a second left in the Celtics season and White came out of nowhere to RKO the Heat into oblivion to send the series back to Boston for Game 7. I’m still stunned just thinking about the moment!
Still, taking a step back to the very start of the game, I’ve got to say that we say the very best and the very worst from both teams last night.
Starting off with the Celtics, they had one of the greatest FG shooting performances I’ve ever seen from a Celtics team as the C’s shot over 70% from inside the arc (aka: 2-point shots) in the 1st half, shot over 63% from inside the arc for the entire game, five players scored double-digit points, and five players all shot at least 40% or greater from the floor (no including 3-point shots).
Along with an utterly dominate defensive performance from every single player, Jayson Tatum (31 PTS, 12 REB, 5 AST, 1 STL, 2 BLKs), Jaylen Brown (26 PTS, 10 REB, 3 AST, 2 STLs), Marcus Smart (21 PTS, 4 REB, 1 AST, 4-11 3-point shooting), and Derrick White (11 PTS, 4 REB, 6 AST, 1 STL, 3 BLKs, 3-7 3-point shooting) were probably the most impactful players during the Celtics scoring runs as they were consistently hitting layups, jump shots, fade aways, pull-up shots, etc. after the Heat would miss at the other end (more on that in a bit).
It’s the main reason why they lead the vast majority of this game, took multiple double-digit leads, scored 12 Fast Break points to the Heat’s 4 despite having seven more turnovers (Celtics: 12 TOs, Heat: 5), scored ten more points in the paint than Miami (Celtics: 42, Heat: 32), and had a 10-point lead with 2-minutes left in the game (also, more on that in a bit).
Brown, Smart, and White were easily the best Celtics players on the court throughout the entire game as unlike the rest of the team, including Tatum, they consistently hit clutch shots and free throws in the big moments, played sensational defense under extremely difficult circumstances (like when the C’s played nearly the entire 3rd quarter in the penalty), and didn’t cower away from taking responsibility when the Heat came storming back.
In regard to the Celtics very worst, what was that performance from the 3-point line?
The Celtics shot a season-low (yes, including the 82 regular season games) 20% from beyond the arc and only made 7-35 3-pointers, while the likes of Tatum (0-8 3-point shooting), Brown (0-4 3-point shooting), Horford (0-2 3-point shooting), and Grant Williams (1 PT, 3 REB, 1 AST, 0-4 3-point shooting) all shot a grand total of 0% from the 3-point line.
Thank the Basketball Gods that these guys all played significantly better in other areas of their, respective games, (i.e.: Tatum, Brown in scoring; Willams and Horford in defending), but the C’s are SUPER LUCKY this game turned out the way it did as that 3-point performance was horrible. Oh, and what in God’s name were the Celtics doing in the final two minutes of that game?
They had a 10-point lead with just two minutes on the clock and they not only allowed the Heat to go on a 10-4 run to close out the game, but they also fouled Butler twice to give him four free throws!
Al Horford better be sending an entire truckload of Christmas presents to White’s house this year as White literally saved that guy’s legacy as he’s the one who fouled Butler behind the 3-point line with just 3 seconds on the clock.
It worked out in the end, but damn!
As for what the Heat did well in this game, they were LETHAL from the 3-point line. And I mean LETHAL!
The only reason this game was as close and long as it ended up being comes down to the fact the Heat’s role players made 14-30 (46.7%) 3’s, while Caleb Martin (21 PTS, 15 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 1 BLK), Gabe Vincent (15 PTS, 4 REB, 0 AST, 1 BLK), Max Stus (10 PTS, 1 REB, 3 AST), and Duncan Robinson (13 PTS, 1 REB, 2 AST) all combined for 59 of the Heat’s 103 total points.
That’s 57% of the scoring coming from guys who either were undrafted, unwanted, or simply role players their entire careers…until now.
And, the Heat were resilient to the very end. It would have been really easy for these role players to hang their heads and give up on the game once the Celtics started rolling and their own star players looking like last week’s garbage, but they didn’t. The Heat culture of fighting, determination, and relentlessness kept these players strong, and they nearly closed out this series to move on to their 2nd NBA Finals appearance in the last 4 years.
But, as I said, the main reason why the Heat lost this game was due to Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo forgetting to show up for the first 46 minutes of the game.
Butler and Adebayo combined for a grand total of 9 made FGs and 37 FG attempts, both players had just 28 points prior to the final 2 minutes (it ended up being 35 points between the pair, but that’s still just 34% of the Heat’s game total), and both guys missed three free throw attempts. That’s HORRIBLE for a “Big-2” superstar tandem.
Butler and Adebayo looked super passive and even scared against the Celtics for a vast a majority of the game as the length, size, and tenacity of the C’s defense of late has really impacted Butler and Adebayo’s shooting. And especially Butler as another one of his “guarantees” went unanswered.
Nevertheless, as for the final play itself, Butler was able to get hot in the final two minutes and made three MASSIVE free throws that put the Heat ahead 103-102. On the ensuring inbound, Derrick White threw a quick pass to Marcus Smart who then threw up a really good, off-balance fade away shot that rimmed around and out…right into the hands of the net-crashing Derrick White.
And, with 0.1 seconds left on the clock, White quickly putback the ball and won the game for the Celtics with no time to spare. I’m not doing the play justice as it was one of the most incredible, clutch, stress-inducing, and amazing (if you’re a Celtics fan) endings ever!
I’m still not going to take back anything I’ve said after Game 3 quite yet (except to apologize to this team, and Jaylen Brown in particular, for questioning their/his work ethic, pride, and motivation), but Game 7 is going to be the most important game played in Boston since…well…Game 6 of the 2022 NBA Finals.
Sorry Heat fans, but LET’S GO CELTICS!!!!!
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