Jimmy Butler converted a late three point play in overtime, and Bam Adebayo then blocked a tying dunk attempt by Jayson Tatum as the Miami Heat rallied to defeat the Boston Celtics 117-114 in game one of the Eastern Conference Finals at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida Tuesday night. The series is the first ever ECF without a one or two seed playing.
Boston came out on fire hitting five of their first seven shots and quickly jumping out to an 8-0 lead. Marcus Smart later connected on his third three-pointer of the first quarter, and the Celtics extended the lead to 26-13. Miami had their lowest point total in a quarter in the playoffs, as Boston shot 50% and led 26-18 at the end of the opening 12 minutes. The lead was 12 for the Celts early in the second, but Miami would then also get hot and go on a 17-4 run to take their first lead of the night 39-38 when Butler floated one in from the lane with six minutes to go. The Heat would lead by as many as six and would hit 6-9 from behind the three-point arc in the period. Jaylen Brown would tie things up at the half at 55-55 with a three-pointer with 10 seconds to go. The teams combined to hit 17 three-pointers over the first 24 minutes.
Miami took a five point lead early on in the third quarter, before a Smart three-pointer on a fast break capped off a 9-0 Boston spurt to put them back ahead by four. Five straight points from the Heat pushed them ahead once again, but it was short lived as Smart converted a three point play shortly after. The Celtics then used a 13-2 run to close the period, helped by six points from Jayson Tatum on a technical foul shot and two foul shots on one possession, and then a three-pointer next time down. The green led 83-71 headed for the fourth.
Boston took the largest lead of the night at 14 when Kemba Walker hit a jumper to start the final quarter of regulation. Miami however would keep chipping away. On three different occasions they would get within four points, and later on back to back possessions they cut it to three. A big play late by the Celtics when Tatum missed a three-pointer, and Brown got an offensive rebound that would then be followed up by a Walker shot in the lane over Jae Crowder to make it 105-100 with 1:09 left. Tyler Herro immediately responded with a three-pointer seven seconds later, and on the next Boston possession Walker was blocked by Crowder as the shot clock was winding down with 39 seconds remaining. Butler gave Miami the lead with a three-pointer from the corner with 22 seconds showing on the clock at 106-105. Derrick Jones Jr. made a mistake and committed a foul after a timeout before the ball was inbounded by the Celtics, leading to a Tatum free throw attempt that was good to tie it. Tatum missed a three-point attempt that would of won the game in the final few seconds.
In overtime Boston would score the first four points on two free throws from Tatum and a jumper from Walker. Miami though would score the next seven consecutively on two free throws from Goran Dragic, a three-pointer from Crowder, and a fast break dunk from Bam Adebayo to make it 113-110 Heat. Brown would tip in a three point miss from Grant Williams for Boston with 1:42 to go to cut it to one. After some empty possessions both ways, Walker would put the Celtics back in the lead with a step back jumper with 23.6 seconds left. Butler once again gave the Heat the lead on a drive through the lane over Tatum for a three point play with just 12 seconds remaining. Tatum would attempt to tie it in the closing seconds when he drove down the lane for a dunk attempt, but was blocked by Adebayo at the rim and Adebayo was fouled and hit one of two from the line. Tatum would get one more attempt to tie it on a long homerun pass by Smart, as Tatum would catch it and stumble to the floor but got back up and got a decent look at a three that bounced off the rim and out as the buzzer sounded.
Tatum led all scorers with 30 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, three steals, and two blocks in the Boston loss. Smart finished with 26 points (6-13 three-pointers). Walker had 19 points and six assists, and Brown also contributed 17 points and five rebounds. Dragic led Miami in the win with 29 points, seven rebounds, and four assists. Also in double figures was Crowder with 22, Butler with 20, Adebayo with 18, and Herro with 12. The teams ended up combining to connect on 31-78 (39.7%) from behind the arc. The Heat are now 9-1 in this years playoffs. Game two is Thursday night at 7 p.m.
