Miami Heat

Takeaways from the Miami Heat's season-ending loss to the Boston Celtics in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals despite Jimmy Butler's brilliance.

The Miami Heat were close to making it to the NBA Finals. Jimmy Butler had a good look to go up late, but couldn't get it to go, and you'll live with it.

Off of a stop and down two, the Miami Heat had a chance to tie it. Playing at home and with the momentum, it seemed, they would have a great chance to propel themselves to the NBA Finals. They would pull back close all game though, eventually taking a seven-point deficit into the fourth period.

The Boston Celtics are heading back to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2010 after beating the Miami Heat on the road 100-96 in Game 7 Sunday night.

Butler looked just as spry in the closing minutes of the game as he did at opening tip, and to put the cherry on top of this crazy sundae he's been dealing with a nagging knee injury as well. Butler played the full 48 minutes, and he put his all into his performance to try and will the Heat to a win. It's the exact type of performance you want out of your key players in a win-or-go-home contest, and the stars were out for Boston on the road. With the win Sunday night, Tatum now improves to a 4-1 record in Game 7s, while Brown is now at a 5-1 record in Game 7s. Miami went on a late run and cut the deficit to two points, but Boston managed to hang on for the win. The Boston Celtics are heading back to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2010 after beating the Miami Heat on the road 100-96 in Game 7 Sunday night.

Miami Heat captain Udonis Haslem explains the biggest misconception about Bam Adebayo's offensive game entering Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals.

“But that’s the will to win. But the outside shot and the jumpers, those things will develop and will come.” “Right now it’s all hands on deck,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said prior to Game 7 when asked about the team’s decision to clear Herro. “He passed his testing with the trainers. But the reality is Adebayo’s scoring and shot attempts are down in the playoffs. Then there’s the three-point shot that Adebayo has yet to incorporate into his offensive repertoire. “So one of the biggest misconceptions is that he can’t score. We just put a lot of responsibility on Bam. Often times when you got a guy like Bam who’s creating so many triggers and offensive plays for people, he’s just a roll to the rim guy. It’s not the physical part of it. A lot of guys that create triggers like Bam and get everybody involved, their only job is just to roll to the rim all the time. He’s trying to do the right things.” In Friday’s Game 6 win over the Boston Celtics at TD Garden, Adebayo finished with just six points on six shots and committed four turnovers. It’s not that he can’t score.

As the Heat digest their Game 7 loss to the Celtics, Miami coach Erik Spoelstra believes a momentum-changing overturned call in the third quarter will ...

"I think we had enough -- I think we do have enough. I learned that I have to be better, and I will be better. "Figure out a way to be consistent," Butler said. "My thought process was go for the win," Butler said. "I thought it would have been an incredible storyline for Jimmy to pull up and hit that 3," Spoelstra said. "It was a good, clean look, definitely better than anything we could have designed. We had a crack at it at the end. To Spoelstra's point, the Heat still had an opportunity to win the game in the waning seconds, even after being down by 7 points with just over a minute left. "That's the human side of it. Even as uneven as the game seemed, we had a crack at it. "I was in shock," Spoelstra said. They would look at it at the next foul or break and look at it and notice it, but it was probably 10 minutes of real time -- somebody check on that.

The Boston Celtics are heading back to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2010 after beating the Miami Heat on the road 100-96 in Game 7 Sunday night.

Butler looked just as spry in the closing minutes of the game as he did at opening tip, and to put the cherry on top of this crazy sundae he's been dealing with a nagging knee injury as well. Butler played the full 48 minutes, and he put his all into his performance to try and will the Heat to a win. It's the exact type of performance you want out of your key players in a win-or-go-home contest, and the stars were out for Boston on the road. With the win Sunday night, Tatum now improves to a 4-1 record in Game 7s, while Brown is now at a 5-1 record in Game 7s. Miami went on a late run and cut the deficit to two points, but Boston managed to hang on for the win. The Boston Celtics are heading back to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2010 after beating the Miami Heat on the road 100-96 in Game 7 Sunday night.

Boston will compete for an NBA-record 18 titles after the win.

The time is now, tonight's winner faces the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals.

It’s easy to place bets on DraftKings, click the link at the bottom to get started! The status of Herro will be the biggest question mark heading into the game, with Boston also listing Robert Williams and Marcus Smart as questionable as they have been for the last few games in which they ended up playing. Boston may be 5-0 after a loss this postseason, but the Heat showed their incredible resiliency on the road in Game 6 when just about everyone counted them out after ugly losses in Games 4 and 5.