If the rest of the Eastern Conference Finals goes like Game 1 – which there is every reason to suspect it will – hook up for a long, incredible streak. The Miami Heat overtook the Boston Celtics in Game 1 on Tuesday, 117-114 in overtime, and they were played across the pitch in times of decline.
To close the settlement, after Jimmy Butler hit a difficult 3-pointer on the corner to put the Heat up with 22 seconds to play, Miami’s Derrick Jones Jr. was whistled for a very questionable foul before the ball was inbound on Boston’s subsequent possession, which resulted in a free-throw technical for Boston, which Tatum did before losing a potential long 3-point winning game.
If Miami lost, that pre-inbound call would have been carefully scrutinized.
Butler and Bam Adebayo did not allow this to happen.
After Kemba Walker, who struggled off the pitch all night, slammed a jumper with a step back to give Boston a point ahead with just over 23 seconds left to play, Butler, once again, responded by muscular. against Tatum for an e-one from the other, completing the free throw for a Miami two-point lead with 12 seconds left.
On the next possession, Tatum, who had probably waited a little too long to make his move on the potential winning shot in the rules, beat Butler from dribbling and found an open lane on the edge. He took off, threw the ball back and seemed headed for a thunderous dunk. Then Adebayo did this …
Are you kidding me? Did you see how far Adebayo’s wrist bent over the final corner in that clip? Tatum was coming full force, and Adebayo simply stoned him. Look, I’ve been known to be a little hyperbolic from time to time (OK, many times), but this has to be one of the best blocks, given the circumstances, in NBA history. LeBron James’ famous chase block in the Finals and perhaps Tayshaun Prince’s chase block on Reggie Miller in the 2004 Eastern Conference Finals are the only best I can think outside of my head.
Even Magic Johnson couldn’t believe his eyes.
“Those are the habits and instincts he’s willing to get involved in. It could be a poster dunk,” Heat manager Erik Spoelstra said after the game, calling Adebayo’s potentially game-saving game a “big one.” rescue “, for Mark Medina of USA Today.
Via Mark Stein of the New York Times, citing ESPN’s stats and insights, Adebayo is the first player to block a potential draw or go-ahead dunk in the last minute of a playoff match since the advent of play-by-play in 1996-97.
