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Derrick White buzzer beater forces a Game 7, Heat lose 104-103
What just happened? Come again?
Derrick White’s buzzer-beating layup rewarded the Boston Celtics a 104-103 win over the Miami Heat, becoming the fourth team to force a Game 7 after trailing by 3-0 in NBA History.
Down 102-100, Jimmy Butler was fouled from corner on a 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds left.
Butler sunk all three free-throw attempts, giving Miami the 3-point lead, , though 0.9 seconds left were (unfairly?) put back on the clock after Joe Mazzulla’s timeout.
Regardless, all it needed was one stop.
But couldn’t get it.
The Heat forced a contested Marcus Smart 3-pointer that rimmed out, though Derrick White — the inbounder — charged from the left corner to put back the layup, getting it off with 0.1 seconds left.
Miami trailed 98-88 with 3:52 left before its monstrous comeback attempt, led by Jimmy Butler, who scored all but two of Miami’s final 15 points. Butler finished with 24 points on a very inefficient 5-of-21 shooting, but sunk 12 of his 14 free throws, in addition to 11 rebounds, eight assists and one steal.
Caleb Martin had 21 points and 15 rebounds in his first start these playoffs, knocking down seven of his 13 shots, including 4-of-8 from distance.
Collectively, the Heat shot 35.5 percent from the floor — 30.2 percent on 2s, including a dastardly 16-of-52 (30.8 percent) in the paint — despite going 14-of-30 from 3-point range.
Boston, meanwhile, only went 7-of-35 from deep, but shot 44.2 percent from the floor and was led by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, their star duo.
Tatum finished with 31 points, 11 rebounds and five assists while Brown tallied 26 points, 10 rebounds and two steals. Tatum shot 8-of-21 from the floor and missed all eight of his 3-point attempts, while Brown went 9-of-16 and 8-of-10 from the free-throw line.
Marcus Smart had 21 points on 7-of-15 shooting, including 4-of-11 from deep. Derrick White (11 points, six assists) and Robert Williams (10 points, seven rebounds) rounded out Boston’s double-digit scorers.
Here we are again: A Game 7 with the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. Except this time, it’s in Beantown.
The Celtics are 27-9 all-time in Game 7s, and that includes the 100-96 Game 7 road victory against the Heat last year. At home, they’re a resounding 22-5 and 8-2 over their last 10, which dates back to the 2007-08 season.
The Heat are 6-5 all-time in Game 7s, including 0-2 on the road — losing to Toronto in 2015-16 and Atlanta in 2008-09.
Let’s see if the Heat can correct history with a win Monday, or be a part of a far more daunting history with another loss.
Derrick White buzzer beater forces a Game 7, Heat lose 104-103
Here’s one for the ages, NBA states that adding .9 seconds to the clock was correct move. Al Horford fouls Jimmy Butler with 3.0 seconds remaining on the game clock.
NBA last two minute report released today - https://official.nba.com/l2m/L2MReport.html?gameId=0042200306
The problem with that is that there is video evidence that the foul occurs between the 2.8-2.7 mark, since the clock doesn’t fraction further than a tenth of a second you can round it up to 2.8.
I posted about this yesterday - https://twitter.com/johnhollinger/status/1662668821990371328/photo/1
What’s most insidious about this is that the call to add the excessive time back was made by the replay center not the refs officiating the game. So, to have them be the ones to determine if it was the right call is hog wash. NBA - “Oops, me make a mistake, no didn’t happen. Please don’t look at any video.”
Just one last comment about the buzzer beater. Strus did exactly what he was instructed to do. No way any responsibility for the tip-in falls on him. He did his job, helping keep the ball away from Tatum. Noone could have gotten back to White from that position.