Some basketball games go down to the last second. Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat came down to the last tenth of a second.
Derrick White tipped in a Marcus Smart miss with 0.1 seconds to give Boston a one-point win over Miami, after the Heat came back from down 98-88 in the final four minutes to take a late lead.
After the game, TNT’s Ernie Johnson asked Boston’s Jaylen Brown, “Do you believe what you just saw out there? Because I don’t.”
Brown slowly smiled and replied, “I don’t, but we here.”
Boston stifled Miami inside all night, blocking eight shots and holding Bam Adebayo to 4-16 shooting.
Jimmy Butler started 3-18, but he scored 13 points in the last four minutes, putting Miami ahead by making three clutch free throws with three seconds left.
It was his third three-point play of the stretch. Butler also sunk a three-pointer and got an and-one on a driving layup.
If the Heat had held on at the end, Boston would have been haunted by a decision to challenge the call after Al Horford fouled Butler. Not only was it an obvious foul, but when they looked at the replay, officials realized that Butler’s feet were behind the three-point line, so they awarded him three free throws.
On a night where Jayson Tatum shot 0-8 from three-point range and Boston as a team shot a season-low 7-35 from deep, the Celtics did it with their defense. They held the Heat to only 19 points in the third quarter, despite Miami going into the foul bonus with nine minutes to go.
Tatum finished with 31 points. Brown had 26, and Marcus Smart had 21 points and made four threes. But once again, Boston fell apart late. The Celtics fouled Butler multiple times and left Heat sharpshooter Duncan Robinson wide open for two late misses from three.
Boston has a chance to become the first NBA team to come back from a 3-0 deficit in the playoffs. The 2004 Boston Red Sox were the only baseball team to do it, and perhaps smelling history, former Red Sox center fielder Johnny Damon attended the game.
Game 7 happens Monday night in Boston. After seeing how the games in this series have ended, it’s hard to predict who will win — even with three seconds left.
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