Miami had a great chance for the finals, because with three seconds left, Jimmy Butler drew a foul on a three-pointer and sent the Heat to a 103-102 lead with three accurate free throws. But then came a moment that will go down in history.
White was throwing out of the car to Marcus Smart, who hit a tough 3-pointer. The ball just bounced off the rim, but White took advantage of the fact that his defender went to help Smart, ran to the basket and managed to return the ball to the basket straight from the rebound. The referees checked that he got everything done in time and Boston could celebrate.
White became only the second player in history to hit the game-winning buzzer beater while his team faced elimination. The only one so far was Michael Jordan with his shot from 1989: that time he saved Chicago against Cleveland. “The ball just bounced to me, so I put it back in the basket. I’m very happy because it can decide the whole season. We just didn’t want to finish yet,” said White.
“Derrick came out of nowhere and saved us. It was an incredible action from him,” praised teammate Jaylen Brown, who scored 26 points. Jayson Tatum added 31 points and Marcus Smart 21 points for Boston. White finished with 11 points. Jimmy Butler had 24 points and Caleb Martin had 21 points for Miami.
Boston is only the fourth team in history to make it 3-3 from 0-3 in the series. In 1951 it was New York, in 1994 Denver and in 2003 Portland. But none of them won the decisive seventh game. But they all played on the road, while Boston will have home game advantage and can make history.
“There’s nothing better than game seven. We didn’t take our chance today, but we still have a chance to make it to the finals. And I know our players will do everything they can to get there,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We’re going to have to do something special out there, but we have a special team. We’ve done a lot of big things in the playoffs and we’re going to do it in Boston,” Jimmy Butler said.
| NBA Eastern Conference Finals Playoffs – Game 6 |
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| Miami – Boston 103:104, series status 3:3 |
