Heat win Game 1

Jimmy Butler’s three-point play with 12 seconds left put the Miami Heat up for good, Bam Adebayo blocked Jayson Tatum’s dunk attempt in the final seconds and the Heat rallied time and again to beat the Boston Celtics 117-114 in Game 1 of the NBA Eastern Conference finals on Tuesday night.

HEAT 117, CELTICS 114, OT

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Jayson Tatum thought he had a dunk to tie the game.

Bam Adebayo had other ideas — and in the biggest moment of his young NBA career, Miami’s All-Star big man more than rose to the occasion.

Jimmy Butler’s threepoint play with

12 seconds left put Miami ahead for good, Adebayo finished it off with a rejection of Tatum at the rim on the ensuing Boston possession, and the Heat struck first in the Eastern Conference finals with a 117-114 overtime win in Game 1 on Tuesday night.

“When you have great competition like this, you just have to make plays that you can’t even really explain,” Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra said. “And that was Bam tonight.”

The Heat were down by 13 in the opening minutes, down by 14 in the final quarter, and felt like a bad call took the lead from them in the final seconds. They found a way in overtime, improving to an NBA-best 9-1 so far in the playoffs.

Goran Dragic scored 29 points, Jae Crowder scored 22, Butler had 20 and Adebayo had 18. But even after a night when Butler made a go-ahead three-pointer late in regulation and had the go-ahead-for-good points again in overtime, he pointed at Adebayo for his favorite moment.

“Bam. That seals the game for us,” Butler said. “I love how he does any and everything that you ask him to do. I really do. You ask him to pass the ball, he does that. Score, he does that. Come up with a huge defensive stop, block, he does that. He’s a huge part to our winning. I’ve been saying it all year long and I’ll repeat it again.”

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.

“He made a great play,” Tatum said. “That’s all it is. Can’t do anything about it.”

Tatum scored 30 points for the Celtics, Marcus Smart had 26 points, Walker had 19 and Jaylen Brown added 17. The Celtics had been 156-1 since the shot-clock era started 65 years

ago — winners of 92 straight — when leading by 12 or more points going into the fourth quarter of a playoff game. They’re 156-2 now. “Got to make better decisions,” Walker said.

Celtics Coach Brad Stevens tipped his cap to Adebayo afterward.

“He is a tremendous defender,” Stevens said. “We’re going to have to figure out, again, better ways to attack, especially late. I thought we really moved it at times, then we did get stagnant.”

Miami’s Tyler Herro was one assist shy of a triple-double — finishing with 12 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists. He would have been the second-youngest player in the last 40 years to have a postseason triple-double, one day older than Magic Johnson was when he got his first.

Boston led 85-71 early in the fourth and kept the lead for almost all of the final period — until Butler connected on a three-pointer from the right corner with 22 seconds left for a 106-105 Miami edge.

The Celtics tied it before the clock even started again. Derrick Jones Jr. was called for an away-from-the-play foul while Miami defended the inbounds pass, a call where the Heat argued to no avail that he got shoved instead. Tatum went to the line, tied the game with the free throw, and Boston all of a sudden went from needing a score to being able to run out the clock.

Tatum’s three-point try at the end of regulation was short, and to overtime they went.

HEAT 117, CELTICS 114

MIAMI (117)

Butler 7-14 4-6 20, Crowder 7-11 3-5 22, Adebayo 5-12 8-11 18, Dragic 11-19 4-4 29, Robinson 2-7 0-0 6, Olynyk 1-3 2-2 4, Iguodala 1-3 0-0 3, Jones Jr. 0-1 0-0 0, Herro 5-10 0-0 12, Nunn 1-5 0-0 3. Totals 40-85 21-28 117.

BOSTON (114)

Brown 6-14 2-2 17, Tatum 10-24 6-6 30, Theis 2-3 0-0 4, Smart 9-18 2-3 26, Walker 6-19 6-7 19, Ojeleye 1-2 0-0 2, Williams 1-2 0-0 3, Williams III 1-1 0-0 2, Wanamaker 3-5 5-5 11. Totals 39-88 21-23 114.

Miami ............ 18 37 16 35 11 — 117 Boston ............ 26 29 28 23 8 — 114 3-Point Goals—Miami 16-36 (Crowder 5-9, Dragic 3-6, Butler 2-3, Herro 2-5, Robinson 2-7, Iguodala 1-2, Nunn 1-4), Boston 15-42 (Smart 6-13, Tatum 4-12, Brown 3-4, Williams 1-2, Walker 1-9). Fouled Out— Miami None, Boston 1 (Theis). Rebounds—Miami 41 (Herro 11), Boston 37 (Tatum 14). Assists—Miami 32 (Adebayo, Herro 9), Boston 24 (Walker, Wanamaker 6).

Total Fouls—Miami 23, Boston 25.

NUGGETS 104, CLIPPERS 89

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 104-89 in Game 7 on Tuesday night.

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.

The 7-foot Jokic had a monster game with 16 points, 13 assists and 22 rebounds.

In a familiar trend, the Nuggets found themselves down by 12 in the first half. They also trailed 61-54 with 10:50 let in the third when they caught fire. The Nuggets went on a 35-13 run to build up a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter.

Kawhi Leonard finished with 14 points on 6-of-22 shooting, while Paul George had 10 points on 4-of-16 shooting for the Clippers.

DENVER (104)

Grant 5-10 2-2 14, Millsap 2-6 0-0 6, Jokic 5-13 6-6 16, Harris 6-11 0-0 14, Murray 15-26 4-4 40, Bates-Diop 0-0 0-0 0, Craig 3-6 0-0 6, Dozier 0-0 0-0 0, Porter Jr. 0-2 2-2 2, Plumlee 0-0 1-2 1, Daniels 0-0 0-0 0, Morris 2-3 0-0 5. Totals 38-77 15-16 104.

LA CLIPPERS (89)

Leonard 6-22 0-0 14, Morris Sr. 2-9 2-2 7, Zubac 3-5 0-0 6, Beverley 4-7 2-2 11, George 4-16 0-1 10, Mann 0-0 0-0 0, Green 4-7 2-2 11, Harrell 7-10 6-9 20, Jackson 0-2 0-0 0, McGruder 0-0 0-0 0, Shamet 1-1 0-0 3, Williams 3-11 0-0 7. Totals 34-90 12-16 89.

Denver ................ 24 30 28 22 — 104 LA Clippers .......... 24 32 18 15 — 89 3-Point Goals—Denver 13-37 (Murray 6-13, Millsap 2-4, Grant 2-6, Harris 2-6, Porter Jr. 0-2, Jokic 0-4), LA Clippers 9-35 (Leonard 2-7, George 2-11, Beverley 1-2, Green 1-3, Williams 1-4, Morris Sr. 1-6). Fouled Out— None. Rebounds—Denver 53 (Jokic 22), LA Clippers 37 (Green, Leonard, Morris Sr. 6). Assists—Denver 22 (Jokic 13), LA Clippers 21 (Beverley, Leonard, Williams 6). Total Fouls—Denver 20, LA Clippers 20.

Adebayo