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In three of the past four seasons, the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat have met in the Eastern Conference Finals. There have been blowouts, and there have been close calls. Bam Adebayo's block on Jayson Tatum in 2020; Jimmy Butler missing the go-ahead three last season; and now, Derrick White's putback to send us to Game 7. My friend told me after the game that he saw that it was just the second buzzer beater in NBA history for a team facing elimination. The other was Michael Jordan over Craig Ehlo, a shot so iconic that it was the closing play featured in one of the most iconic ads of all-time – the Gatorade "Be Like Mike" ad.

These two teams have been so evenly matched over these four seasons, it just feels like this Game 7 is where we were destined to be. I remember feeling like the C's were robbed of a Game 7 they deserved in 2020. Adebayo's block in Game 1 and Tyler Herro's incredible 17-point fourth quarter in Game 4 helped catapult Miami to the NBA Finals in six games that season. They were even closer tonight.

As I spoke with my friend after the game, we broke down so many plays and moments from this game. But at the end of it, however incredible the events that transpired were to get us here, it feels like we got to the right place. Yes, Duncan Robinson missed two wide-open threes in the final two minutes. He also made one from 27' – his foot on the outer edge of the Miami logo – with Al Horford's hand in his face with 8:43 left. Yes, Jayson Tatum missed all eight of his three pointers, and that is, while not unprecedented, certainly rare. He also went 15-for-15 from the free-throw line. Again, not unprecedented – he went 17-for-17 at the line in Game 4 of the 2021 first round vs. Brooklyn – but certainly rare. If Robinson misses the more difficult three but makes one of the two wide open ones, you'd say, "yeah, OK." If Tatum hits one of his threes but misses a few free throws, you'd say the same.

Sometimes, these games are ugly. At the end of Game 4 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals, the Lakers were down two, and both Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal missed shots before the ball found Robert Horry, who then drained a buzzer beater. The play is the very definition of ugly:

We could go all night with these sorts of comparisons. If I told you Jimmy Butler shot 5-for-21, you'd say the Heat lost. If I told you the Celtics shot 7-for-35 from three, you'd say the Celtics lost. If Boston doesn't challenge the foul call on Al Horford, Butler would have only had two free throws, because that's how they called it on the floor. But the challenge also put more time on the clock, and Boston needed every tick on it for the final play to happen like it did. Sometimes, the way these games unfold just doesn't make much sense. But Boston found a way, and that's what we have been asking for from this Celtics team for a long time: just find a way. Win ugly. And they did. That's a beautiful thing. And now we get the sweetest phrase in the English language: "Game Seven."

Patience and Poise

When TNT came back from a time out break late in the fourth quarter, they showed the Celtics huddle, and Joe Mazzulla was imploring his team to play with "patience and poise." That's exactly what they did on the final play. After watching Jimmy Butler score Miami's final 10 points to give them the lead with three seconds left, I was devastated. Perhaps I was being a tad dramatic, but I fell to my knees in my living room when it was announced he'd get three free throws. The strength drained out of my body. If this Celtics team had rolled over and died in that moment, nobody would have been surprised. But they didn't. Let's watch the replay again:

My favorite part of the replay is the final angle, which you can see in slow motion in this Twitter video that won't embed for some reason. Probably because Twitter sucks now.

Watching the replay, a number of savvy things Boston did stand out. Let's count through them:

1. Marcus Smart makes the right read. After Max Strus does a great job of denying Tatum the ball, Derrick White had two options: a) pass to Jaylen Brown, who had Bam Adebayo draped all over him, or b) pass to Marcus Smart. After setting a pick, Smart wisely read what was happening, and flashed out to three-point line, giving White an easy decision on the pass.
2. Smart shoots it right away. Look at this screen grab of Marcus as he catches the ball:

Marcus has nowhere to go. If he dribbles, he's completely screwed. Gabe Vincent, Adebayo, and Strus are all right there. If Marcus puts that ball on the floor, he might not even get a shot off. And there certainly wouldn't have been time for a rebound.

3. The Celtics crash the boards. At the point when Marcus shoots the ball, the only player in the neighborhood of the hoop is Caleb Martin:

That's Martin's rebound. Period. But he just stands there. Meanwhile, Al Horford, Tatum, and White all rush toward the hoop. Al doesn't quite get there. He's old. But the two people who jump and have the chance to get the rebound are Tatum and White – one on either side of the hoop:

Tatum and White did what you're taught to do – crash the boards. Follow the shot. Never assume a made basket. Strus, to his credit, did the same. And at least Martin was positioned properly at the start of the play. But go back and watch that replay, and watch Adebayo, Butler, and Vincent. They don't crash at all. Adebayo sort of boxes out Jaylen, but you have to know that with that little time left, you have to crash. If the rebound comes out to the free throw line where Adebayo is standing, the game is over anyway. But at least Bam did something. Butler and Vincent literally stop moving and just stand there. Butler in particular doesn't even try to stop Tatum, who comes from the three-point line and gets all the way to the rim, surprising Martin.

4. White gets rid of it quickly. White knew. He knew he had no time. He didn't try to get cute. It was just another rebound drill. Catch it and put it in. If you watch the slowed down version of the replay, you see that White doesn't even catch the ball cleanly. He catches it on the top of the ball, and it almost slips out of his hands, and with it, Boston's season. But he didn't let that stop him. He releases it just as soon as he catches it, and the rest is history.

The point here is not to criticize Miami here – life comes at you fast, especially on a broken play, which by the way was broken because they properly broke it up! The point is that Boston kept their patience and poise, even with the season draining away right in front of them.

A Note on Monday Night

You would always expect the Garden to be rocking for a Game 7. But for an 8:30 pm start on a day when no one has to work? My goodness. I think we are going to be in for an incredible performance from the crowd on Monday night. If I owned a bar on or near Causeway Street, I would be doing the dance of joy right now. There is drunk, and then there is "we have all day to drink before the most important game of the season" drunk. What a time to be alive.