Late Tuesday Heat 117, Celtics 114, OT
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Jimmy Butler thought he won the game for Miami with a 3-pointer late in regulation.
He put the Heat ahead again in overtime – and then Bam Adebayo finished it off with the biggest block of his career.
Butler’s three-point play with 12 seconds left put Miami up for good, Adebayo blocked Jayson Tatum’s dunk attempt in the final seconds and the Heat rallied time and again to beat the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals on Tuesday.
Kemba Walker’s basket with 23.2 seconds left in overtime put Boston up by one, before Butler muscled his way to the rim for a score while getting fouled by Tatum. The Celtics went to Tatum on the ensuing possession, only to watch him get denied by Adebayo.
And the Heat – down by 13 in the first quarter, down by 14 in the fourth – struck first, ending Boston’s sevengame streak of Game 1 wins.
Tatum scored 30 points for the Celtics, Marcus Smart had 26 points, Walker had 19 and Jaylen Brown added 17. Goran Dragic had 29 points, Jae Crowder scored 22, Jimmy Butler scored 20 and Adebayo had 18 for the Heat.
Nuggets 104, Clippers 89
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Denver’s dynamic duo of Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic led another stunning turnaround as the Nuggets advanced to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2009.
Murray scored 40 points, Jokic had a triple-double by the third quarter and Denver again overcame a double-digit deficit to shock the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 7.
Denver became the first team in NBA history to rally from a 3-1 series deficit twice in the same postseason.
Even more history: The Nuggets are the third team in the U.S. major pro sports to rally from a pair of 3-1 deficits in the same playoffs, joining the 1985 Kansas City Royals and 2003 Minnesota Wild.
Denver will face LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers in the conference finals.