HEAT AT CELTICS

Monday, 8:30 p.m. (TNT)

Brown raved. “It was just an incredible play.”

“Ooh-whee. Oh, my God. That was incredible,” Tatum crowed. “I’m still like in disbelief. That s—- was crazy.”

“We knew the series wasn’t going to be easy. People act like we’re shocked that we’re in dogfight with the Boston Celtics,” Heat center Bam Adebayo countered. “But first to four [wins].”

As simple as Adebayo made the task sound - the Heat must now win on the road for the third time this series - it’s just the right motivation to carry his team. Anything more than this mantra should be shelved. Because enough with the guarantees, Miami.

Confidence comes naturally with this group; having survived a rocky regular season, a host of injuries and near-elimination in the play-in. But the results from the last three games suggest Miami hasn’t backed up its talk.

First, it was Butler after the loss in Game 5 making this prediction: “. . . knowing that we can and we will win this series. We’ll just have to close it out at home.”

Although Butler swished the three free throws that pulled Miami ahead with 3.0 seconds remaining, he looked out of sorts offensively all night. He played tentatively. He paused after dribbling into the defense. He hesitated when he got to the paint. He turned his back to the basket and passed out to teammates, chewing up precious seconds on the shot clock. To put it plainly, he was not “Playoff Jimmy.” In Game 6, Butler scored a team-high 24 points but missed 16 of his 21 attempts from the floor.

“I just missed shots. I’ve just got to make them. Continually hit the open guy. Stay aggressive. Continue to lead the way for our guys,” Butler said. “They definitely follow my lead; I will say that. They follow Bam’s lead as well, but especially me. So if I’m levelheaded through the good and through the bad, they will be, as well. So I’m going to smile. I’m going to go home and play some spades. I don’t care what nobody say. Everything going to be okay.”

Butler muted his big talk with a more chill vibe. That was okay, since Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra chose to pick up where his star had left off the previous game, and make a bold statement of his own.

“This is one hell of a series. At this time right now, I don’t know how we are going to get this done, but we are going up there and get it done,” Spoelstra said. “And that’s what the next 48 hours is about.”

Now, we buckle up for Game 7. All because of an unlikely man of the hour cast as his team’s champion. Not all heroes wear capes. Derrick White prefers a headband.