3-3 big score, two miracles choose one, whether the Celtics become the first team in NBA history to complete a reversal of 0-3 behind in the series, or the Heat continue the black eight miracle, becoming the first team in NBA history to break through from the playoffs to reach the Finals, today the two teams gave us the answer.
At the North Shore Garden Arena, the Celtics sat home and grabbed the start, but in the middle of the first quarter, Butler and Martin combined to play an 18-6 offensive wave, directly helping the Heat enter the second quarter with a seven-point advantage.
Although the Green Army did not miss consecutive shots outside the three-point line in the second quarter, the Heat were more accurate on three-point shooting, and they scored six three-pointers in a single quarter, plus Butler's five consecutive points at the end of the quarter, and the Heat entered the second half with an 11-point advantage.
Swapping venues, the Heat bloomed inside and outside, the Celtics' offense still couldn't open the situation, and the Green Army's offensive state improved after the suspension adjustment, but the Heat has been with an advantage of about 10 points, firmly controlling the initiative on the court, coupled with Martin's whistle three-pointer, the Heat led by 10 points at the end of the third quarter.
At the end of the quarter, the Heat grabbed Martin's three-point conversion with Butler in the opening game, directly helping the Heat widen the point difference to 17 points, the Celtics called a timeout and achieved little success, but the Heat became more and more courageous, Lowry and Adebayo's mid-range shot direct point difference widened to more than 20 points, in the face of a huge point difference, the Celtics are still trapped in the beast, but the Heat did not give a chance, with 2 minutes left in the game, Mazura withdrew the main force and announced his surrender, and finally the Heat won 103-84 against the Celtics, Win the series 4-3 and advance to the finals.
After winning the previous three games in a row, the Celtics today look like they are back in the form of the first three games of the series, they gave up the mid-range, chose a large number of three-point shots, and made 42 three-pointers, accounting for more than 50% of the shots, but the team was not accurate in three-point shooting today, shooting only 9 of 42, and shooting as low as 21.4% from three-point range.
The slump beyond the three-point line also made the team look very frustrated, and the Celtics looked very weak throughout the game and were clearly less aggressive on the offensive end. Shuangtanhua doesn't say anything about anyone today, all of them are consuming with their own spirit. Tatum twisted his ankle at the start of the game today, and the ankle injury accompanied him throughout the game, resulting in him shooting just 4 of 13 and scoring 14 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists.
Jaylen Brown was also in a slump today, shooting just 8 of 23 and 1 of 9 from three-point range, with 19 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks. Brown became the main attacker today with Tatum playing with an injury, but his ball control skills did not seem to support him as a core player in a championship-level team, and Brown had eight turnovers throughout the game, a single-game high for his career.
The Celtics failed to perform miracles today, and the Heat continued their journey of miracles, a civilian team that has been looked down on along the way from the playoffs to the Eastern Conference finals, but they have broken doubts time and time again with their actions and the belief of the whole team, and now they have reached the Finals, regardless of the final result, they have proven themselves.
Today Martin continued his excellent performance in the playoffs, shooting 11 of 16, 4 of 6 three-pointers, and got 26 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists, this round of the series, Martin played phenomenal performance, averaging 35.6 minutes per game, able to cut 19.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists, shooting 60.2%! He proved his ability with his actions and stood up in the absence of a major general in the team.
And now the Heat team trusts Martin very much, during the critical stage of the game, teammates will take the initiative to hand the ball to Martin, let him carry the ball to attack, from a lost draft, to sign a middle-class contract, to become the core of the team on the East finals stage, Martin's career is exciting enough and legendary enough. In the Eastern Conference MVP selected at the end of the series, Martin received 4 votes, and Butler, who was elected Eastern Conference MVP, received 5 votes, Martin is only one vote away from the Eastern Conference MVP, which alone shows the recognition of Martin.
Regarding his career, Martin once lamented: "My career is a long process, I have been in the league for four years, but there are still people who don't know who I am, and we still have lost drafts in the locker room that people don't know, that's what drives us to play, silently make ourselves stronger, just to shine in the moment." "Now Martin and the Heat, these players, with their own actions, let the whole world know them.
Butler stepped up again today, shooting 12-of-28 from the field and 3-of-7 from three-pointers, with 28 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals. After most of the previous three games of inaction, Butler took the initiative to stand up and carry the team on his shoulders today, like the fourth quarter of the previous game, and he twisted his ankle again in the game today, but he still persevered in the game and played a high-quality performance, and the East Final MVP is well deserved.
Whether or not the Heat can win the championship in the end, Butler's performance in the playoffs this year is legendary enough, the first round of the black eight eliminated the Bucks, the second round in the hand-to-hand battle with the Knicks to help the team advance strongly, the East final facing the Celtics this group of heavenly heroes, he and the Heat and a group of talented teammates to win seven wins, throughout the playoffs, Butler averaged 28.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 2.1 steals per game, four basic statistics have improved compared to the regular season, completely for the playoffs are born players.
A player like Butler is full of resilience and unyielding spirit, and he is completely integrated with the culture of the Heat team. After joining the Heat in 2019, Butler led the Heat to three Eastern Conference finals and two finals in four years, and quietly, they became the kings of the East in recent years.