Basketball – NBA (play-offs): Boston snatches a Match 7 against Miami!

Published on May 28, 2023 at 8:09 a.m. – updated on May 28, 2023 at 8:41 a.m.

Aurélie Sacchelli

The Boston Celtics may have to erect a statue to Derrick White! Thanks to the buzzer basket of their 28-year-old guard in Game 6 on the Miami floor, they offered themselves a chance to qualify for the NBA Finals after being down 3-0. However, and this is undoubtedly the most famous statistic in the history of the NBA play-offs: never has a team trailing 3-0 in a series managed to qualify, and the scenario has already produced 150 times! Missing out on their first three games, with a disappointing star duo Jayson Tatum – Jaylen Brown and a maligned coach Joe Mazzulla, Boston managed to recover, winning first in Florida then at home to come back to 2-3 . However, Miami had a third match point, in its Kaseya Center lair and in front of 20,201 fans. And the Heat lost 103-104! With three seconds left to play and Floridians leading 103-102, Derrick White made the throw-in for Boston and found Marcus Smart going for a three-point shot. The ball bounced off the circle and White popped up to slot it into a little tap at the buzzer, ahead of an overwhelmed Max Struss in defense. And Boston has therefore snatched a Match 7 that could be historic! In any case, it is only the second time in the history of the play-offs that a player has managed a “buzzer-beater” while his team was behind and on the verge of elimination, the first being a certain Michael Jordan in 1989 against Cleveland.

Boston has almost always been ahead

Prior to that, Boston had been ahead on the scoreboard for much of the game. Miami only led in the first minutes (+3), then for twenty seconds eight minutes from the end thanks to a shot from Jimmy Butler (82-83), and finally three seconds from the final buzzer, when this same Butler had just returned his three free throws after a foul from Al Horford. Boston, who led 57-53 at halftime, had a maximum lead of thirteen points at the end of the third quarter, but the Heat came back little by little, before being crucified. Jayson Tatum regained his superstar status and finished with 31 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists, Jaylen Brown added 26 points and 10 rebounds and Marcus Smart 21 points. Opposite, Jimmy Butler finished with 24 points and Caleb Martin with 21 points and 15 rebounds. In these 2023 play-offs, Boston has already saved five match points (two against Philadelphia, three against Miami). The sixth awaits him Monday in his lair of the TD Garden, where the history of the NBA could be written. But Miami has already managed to win away twice in this series…

NBA – PLAY-OFFS / EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL
Saturday May 27, 2023
Miami Heat – Boston Celtics : 103-104 (3-3 in the series)