Bam Adebayo had a game high 32 points Sunday night, and the Miami Heat used a big fourth quarter run to knock off the Boston Celtics 125-113 in game six of the Eastern Conference Finals at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. Miami wins the series 4-2 and advance to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2014.
Boston held the lead just once in the first quarter, as Miami scored the the first six points. Marcus Smart hit a three-pointer to give the Celtics a 15-14 lead, but the Heat pushed the lead to as many as nine and led 33-27 after 12 minutes. The teams went back and forth in the final two minutes of the first half, swapping one point leads but Miami would regain the final one and led 62-60 at the break.
Miami started an 8-2 run just over the midway point of the third quarter, helped by a pair of three-pointers from veteran Andre Iguodola to build an 82-74 advantage with 4:20 to go in the period. Smart would tie it with a steal and dunk with 46 seconds remaining to cap off a 12-4 spurt for Boston making it 86-86. The Heat would lead 88-86 headed for the fourth quarter. A Smart jumper, two free throws from Jayson Tatum, and a Jaylen Brown basket gave the Celtics their biggest lead of the night 96-90 with 9:15 left to play. It was pretty much all Miami though from that point. Adebayo completed a three point play with 6:16 showing on the clock to give the Heat the lead for good 101-100. A pair of Duncan Robinson three-pointers and six points down the stretch from rookie guard Tyler Herro helped put the game and series away, as they would eventually take the biggest lead of the night of 15 points.
Brown led Boston in the loss with 26 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Tatum had 24 points, seven rebounds, 11 assists, and two steals. Smart and Kemba Walker chipped in 20 points a piece, while Gordon Hayward also got into double figures with 12 points. The Celtics finish the 2019-20 season with a final record of 63-34. Adebayo added 14 rebounds and five assists for a double double in the Miami win. Jimmy Butler had 22 points and eight assists. Also scoring in double figures for the Heat was Herro with 19, Robinson and Iguodola with 15 a piece, and Goran Dragic with 13 points. The Heat shot 56% from the floor, and nearly 50% from three-point land in the victory. Miami now gets set to face the Los Angeles Lakers in game one of the Finals which starts Wednesday night. The five seed from the East in the Heat and the top Western seed Lakers have been the hottest in the bubble since the playoffs started both at 12-3. LA has an overall record of 71-27, while Miami is 59-37. LeBron James now gets a chance to face his former coach Eric Spoelstra. James won back to back titles with the Heat in 2012 and 2013, before rejoining the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014 and winning a title for them in 2016. LeBron joined his current team in 2018, and will try to help the Lakers organization tie the Celtics in world championships with 17 and their first since 2010.
