An agonizing double by Derrick White allowed Boston to force the seventh game of the Eastern final against Miami

And Derrick White’s death doublewith the backboard light coming on over his head as he fired the winning shot, allowed Boston Celtics prevail as a visitor by 104-103 against Miami Heat and achieve what a few days ago seemed impossible: force the seventh game of the Eastern final, after losing the first three games.

The Boston 9 appeared on the last play of an electrifying game to correct a three-point attempt by Marcus Smart that went around the rim, not without suspense, and add the two units his team needed to take the ticket to the NBA Finals out of the hands of the Heat, where the Denver Nuggets await, Western Conference champion.

Like much of the actions that took place in a frantic closing game, the play presented a good share of suspense. White was convinced that he had converted before the buzzer and did not hesitate to make the gestures to make that clear. Meanwhile, the judges, who had just made an important decision on the previous play in which Jimmy Butler had partially put Miami ahead, deliberated in the center of the playing field.

Finally, the resolution was good for boston, when the judges determined that the ball left White’s hands, in his attempt against Max Strus, before the clock reached zero. The Celtics thus obtained one more opportunity to continue in the playoff race and to break a historic curse for the teams that began a postseason playoff losing the first three games.

An electrifying closing

Boston was in the lead for much of the match, but with 7.55 remaining to finish the last quarter, Jimmy Butler appeared to correct a missed shot by Duncan Robinson and put Miami ahead, something that hadn’t happened since the first quarter, with an 83- 82.

Boston reacted quickly and recovered with wise interventions from Jaylen Brown. Thus, he went ahead 95-88, with 5 minutes to go. Then the Celtics stretched the advantage and took it to 10 units after some clever action by Marcus Smart, who hit a double and added one more point from the free throw line.

However, Miami was not willing to give up on an electrifying night With just under a minute to go, another big move by Butler left the Heat just one point behind Boston, which then pulled within 102-100 on Smart’s free kick.

The heart-stopping definition had a couple more chapters ahead. Jimmy Butler was about to make a 3-point attempt when he was intercepted by Horford. The tension went through the roof at the Kaseya Center when the officials called a foul and allowed the Heat forward to convert his three free kicks to put his team back in the lead.

There were barely 3 seconds left on the clock when Smart made what seemed to be the last attempt of the night. The ball did not enter, but there White appeared, opportunistically, to seal the victory agony of Boston.

The teams that reached a seventh game after coming back from 0-3

only in three opportunities produced the partial comeback which the Celtics made tonight, by forcing the seventh game of an NBA Playoffs eliminator after losing 3-0.

The first precedent occurred in the 1950-51 seasonwhen the New York Knicks reached the final against the Rochester Royals, but lost in the first three games.

It took 43 years for that scenario to repeat itself. In the 1993-94 season, It was the Denver Nuggets, finalists of this edition of the Playoffs, who started the West semifinals against the Utah Jazz with three losses and then matched it.

The last case took place in 2002-03 and it was the Portland Trail Blazers who leveled the first round series against the Dallas Mavericks.

Those three comebacks, anyway, there were no happy endings for the teams that rowed the series from behindbecause then they fell in the respective seventh games.

This Monday, Boston will try to destroy this trend, with an encouraging fact for its claims: unlike previous occasions, the decisive game will face it as a local at the TD Garden.

If he finally beats Miami, he will go down in history by breaking the record for 150 failed attempts in NBA history to turn from 0-3 postseason.

While, Denver Nuggets continue to wait a definition in the Eastern final to find out the rival he will face in search of his first champion ring.

ES

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