Celtics Lead Wire to Wire, Beat Heat in Game Seven to Advance to the NBA Finals
The 2022 Eastern Conference Finals featured high peaks and low valleys for both the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat, culminating in a game seven 100-96 win for the Celtics, who never trailed. This playoff series was as competitive and hard fought as it was unpredictable from game to game--and even quarter to quarter. The Celtics rode a 24-2 second half run to a road win in game five, but then Jimmy Butler scored 47 points in Miami's game six win on the road.
In game seven, Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 26 points on 9-21 field goal shooting. He also had 10 rebounds, six assists, and just two turnovers while playing nearly 46 minutes. Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart each added 24 points. Brown shot 8-15 from the field and had six rebounds and six assists. Smart shot 8-22 from the field with nine rebounds and five assists. Al Horford scored five points on 2-9 field goal shooting, but he snatched a game-high 14 rebounds, and he led the Celtics with a +10 plus/minus number. Tatum received the first annual Larry Bird Eastern Conference Finals
MVP. During the game, Tatum wore a purple and gold armband to honor Kobe Bryant, his favorite player, and Tatum mentioned Bryant upon accepting the MVP trophy.
Jimmy Butler scored a game-high 35 points on 13-24 field goal shooting. He had nine rebounds, one assist, and one turnover while playing all 48 minutes. Whether or not you are a Heat fan, you have to respect Butler's effort level, his unselfish leadership, and his no excuse mentality. There are many players who have won regular season MVPs whose playoff resumes pale in comparison to Butler's. Bam Adebayo contributed 25 points on 12-21 field goal shooting plus a team-high 11 rebounds. Kyle Lowry was Miami's only other double figure scorer (15 points, 4-12 field goal shooting). Victor Oladipo, who provided a spark at various points throughout this series, had nine points on 4-12 field goal shooting, but he also posted a game-best +16 plus/minus number in 33 minutes.
The NBA is often a first quarter league, and that proved to be the case in game seven. The Celtics jumped out to leads of 6-0, 9-1, 12-3, and 20-7 in the opening stanza. They were up 32-17 after the first 12 minutes. The Celtics forced six turnovers and shot 12-24 (.500) from the field while holding the Heat to 7-20 (.350) field goal shooting. Tatum topped the Celtics in points (eight), rebounds (six), and assists (three) even though he shot just 3-9 from the field. Butler and Adebayo led the Heat with six first quarter points apiece.
Butler erupted for 18 second quarter points on 5-5 field goal shooting as the Heat trimmed the margin to 55-49 by halftime. The teams played to a virtual standstill in the third quarter, so the Celtics led 82-75 with 12 minutes left in regulation. Both teams struggled to make shots in the fourth quarter, as the Celtics managed just 18 points on 5-16 (.312) field goal shooting while the Heat had 21 points on 10-27 (.370) field goal shooting. The Celtics inched their lead to 98-85 after Smart converted a pair of free throws with 3:35 remaining, but the Heat are a never say die team, and they reeled off nine straight points to claw to within 98-96 with just under 51 seconds left. Smart missed a layup with 22 seconds remaining, Butler grabbed the rebound, burst downcourt, and fired up a three pointer with 16.6 seconds left. ESPN's Jeff Van Gundy questioned Butler's shot selection--arguing that Butler should have driven to the hoop in transition versus Horford--but Butler is a big shot maker even though he is not a great three point shooter. As Van Gundy also said, you have to live with that kind of shot from your best player, provided that you are willing to die with that kind of shot.
After the game, Butler said, "My thought process was go for the win, which I did. Missed a shot. But I'm taking that shot. My teammates liked the shot that I took. So I'm living with it."
Van Gundy and Butler are both right: analytically, Butler's three point shot may not have been the highest percentage play, but in the real world you ride or die with the rhythm shots that your best player takes. The Heat would not have been in position to win this series without Butler, and he had earned the right to go for the win.
Smart closed out the scoring by making two free throws.
The Heat battled through injuries to post the best record in the Eastern Conference this season, and they had a shot to win game seven at home to advance to the NBA Finals for the second time in three seasons. If they are reasonably healthy next season then they will remain a top contender.
Redemption could be the theme for the Celtics' 2022 playoff run so far, as they have eliminated the teams that eliminated them in the last three postseasons: Milwaukee Bucks (2019), Miami Heat (2020), and Brooklyn Nets (2021). The Celtics won the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2010, after losing one round short of the NBA Finals in 2012, 2017, 2018, and 2020. The 2012 Celtics featured the last hurrah of the Kevin Garnett-Paul Pierce-Ray Allen trio, but Brown and Smart were on the 2017, 2018, and 2020 squads, while Tatum was a member of the 2018 and 2020 teams.
Labels: Bam Adebayo, Boston Celtics, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Jimmy Butler, Marcus Smart, Miami Heat
posted by David Friedman @ 4:07 AM
3 Comments:
I don't like these newfangled
participation trophies named after Bird and Magic. That said, Jimmy Butler should have won the ECF MVP like Jerry West back in the day when he won the Finals MVP in a losing cause. Butler's tenure with the Heat has demonstrated, in my view, that the Bulls, Wolves, and Sixers were organizations that didn't know what to do with him because of their own softheaded incompetence. Not his. He has been a firstrate gamer from the getgo. Finally, in Riley and Spoelstra, he has worthy mentors.
These aren't participation trophies. I don't see anything wrong with them. The winners of these awards aren't always going to be the best player on their respective teams, but we often forget how important the CF round is and only look at the Finals MVPs. Kobe was the best player at least once in the WCF during his 3-peat with Shaq, but nobody remembers that and just focuses on the Finals.
Butler has a case, but so does Tatum. Tatum was a no-show in 1 game, Butler was a no-show in 3 games. Butler's top games in the series probably better than Tatum's, but when you only show up in 4 of 7 games, yikes.
Part of Butler's problems on his previous teams was himself. His performances were nowhere like he's playing with Miami. Also, Toronto needed a lucky bounce at the buzzer in game 7 in 2019 to beat Philly, and then Toronto goes onto to win the Finals. Little details like that can our views completely sometimes, and the difference between a 2nd round exit and being champions. Miami would've been destroyed likely in 2020 by Milwaukee if Covid never hit. Milwaukee completely collapsed from a historically great to nothing in the bubble.
These awards are equivalent to the awards that MLB gives out to the AL and NL Championship Series MVPs. I would not assign the same weight to these new awards as I do to regular season MVPs or Finals MVPs, but I have no problem with the NBA creating new awards.
Regarding Butler, a case could be made that he was the best player in the Eastern Conference Finals, but I think that the stretch during which he averaged 9 ppg precluded him from winning the MVP on the losing team. Also, West won the Finals MVP in the first year that the award was given out, and a player from the losing team has never won the Finals MVP since that time.
I agree with the notion that Butler's previous teams underrated him and/or overrated the players who they kept instead of keeping him.
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