MIAMI — Jayson Tatum wore a purple and gold No. 24 armband in honor of his hero, Kobe Bryant, and by the end of the night had collected the trophy named after someone closer to the color uniform he was wearing – Larry Bird, new namesake of the Eastern Conference Finals MVP award.
Despite one of the ugliest stretches of basketball in the series in the fourth quarter, the Celtics barely crawled out of Miami with a 100-96 win, earning the franchise’s first trip to the NBA Finals since 2010.
Tatum finished with 26 hard-earned points to go along with 24 each from Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart. They needed every drop, barely offsetting a 35-point explosion by Jimmy Butler.
A chaotic third left the Celtics with a thin, vulnerable 82-75 lead, with Brown’s eight-point quarter barely keeping them ahead.
And the fourth didn’t start well for the C’s, courtesy of a Bam Adebayo lob dunk, followed by a Butler drive off a Rob Williams strip that cut the margin to three points. Ime Udoka called a quick timeout, and two possessions later Tatum boosted the lead to 84-79 with two free throws.
Brown was called for a charge following a brief 4-0 Celtics run – the result overturned by a Miami challenge – and the trouble continued when Butler threw the ball out of bounds off Smart after beating the Celtics guard to a loose ball rebound.
But Gabe Vincent missed badly, Al Horford converted off the break for an 88-79 lead, and despite a Tatum charge, the Celtics held on during a particularly sloppy stretch of basketball on both sides.
This slow-burning run extended to 8-0 for a 90-79 lead on a Smart drive. Oladipo scored, Tatum hit a deep three, and the Heat responded with four straight points, including a Butler power drive that cut the Celtics lead to 93-85.
Kyle Lowry’s jumper cut the Celtics lead to 98-93 with 1:00 left. Jaylen Brown was called for his second offensive foul of the night – a Celtics challenge was unsuccessful – and with 44 seconds left Max Strus buried a deep three that cut the margin to two points.
Butler missed from downtown, and with 11.4 seconds left Smart hit two free throws with the crowd howling for a 100-96 lead.
Strus missed, rimmed out another, and the Celtics rushed the floor in celebration.
Tatum answered from 15 feet, and with 4:12 left Brown, who had missed two pivotal free throws late in the Celtics’ Game 6 loss, hit 1 of 2 for a 96-85 lead.
Max Strus missed from deep, and Smart got to the line with a wild up-fake of Butler. Smart hit both for a 13-point lead. But Miami scored the next four points, including a Strus tip dunk.
Smart missed twice from deep on the next possession, but Oladipo returned the favor from the lane, and with 1:23 left Oladipo cut the score to 98-91.
Smart missed another 3-point attempt, and Lowry’s jumper cut the Celtics lead to 98-93.
Miami closed out the second quarter with a 15-5 run that cut the Celtics’ lead to 55-49 by halftime. The C’s, who led by as many as 17 points, shot 2-for-9 over the last 4:29, and once again had trouble with Butler, who led both sides with a 24-point first half.
White had been a huge help with a pair of 3-pointers, to go along with 15 points from Brown and another 13 from Tatum. But Butler was, per usual, making a strong bid to swing the game.
A Strus 3-pointer was overturned (he was out of bounds) early in the third, and the nullification hurt Miami, in light of the 9-1 Celtics run that followed for a 65-52 lead.
Butler, naturally, led the comeback, dishing to Victor Oladipo for a pull-up 3-pointer that cut the Celtics lead to seven points (72-65) with 5:16 left in the third. The Celtics finally created some space with a pair of rim finishes by Brown and Tatum, the latter for a 78-67 lead with 3:22 left in the quarter.
Lowry hit from downtown, Grant Williams converted a put-back, and Lowry came back with a three-point play that cut the margin to seven. Brown and Butler exchanged drives, Smart and Oladipo both missed badly from downtown, Smart was whistled for an offensive foul, and Tatum finished off the quarter by blocking Lowry.
