Boston Celtics failed to reach the NBA Finals as they experienced a humiliating 103-84 defeat against the Miami Heat in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final.
The Celtics did not give out their best and their horrible shooting performance from beyond the arc ruined them throughout the game. The Miami Heat secured a remarkable win with outstanding performances from Jimmy Butler and Caleb Vincent, silencing the home crowd at TD Garden. The Miami Heat will lock horns with Denver Nuggets in the NBA Finals and the series starts on June 2, Thursday.
After 150 attempts, no team in the history of the NBA had ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win the series. But Miami turned that streak to 151-0 as they defeated the Celtics in a crucial game. Only three teams had ever come back from 3-0 down to force a Game 7, with the last one coming in the 2003 Western Conference first round. Already, that meant both teams made history. Miami made sure that history was in their favor.
The 2023 Celtics now join the 1951 New York Knicks, the 1994 Denver Nuggets, and the 2003 Portland Trail Blazers as teams who came back from that deficit to force a Game 7 but lose it.
Jaylen Brown confessed that he is putting part of the Celtics’ Game 7 loss on him. The Celtics battled back to tie their Eastern Conference Finals series against the Miami Heat at three, but could not win the deciding game. The Celtic’s shooting guard expressed that he did not do enough after Jayson Tatum hurt his ankle fairly early on in the game.
When my team needed me the most Jayson hurt his ankle in the first play of the game and you could see it like, swelling up, on him and he could not move out there. It was tough for him and my team turned to me to make plays and I came up short, I failed and it was tough. He repeatedly drove into a packed lane and was forced to pass at the last second. It was the biggest reason why he had eight turnovers while no one else had more than two for the Celtics.
The 26-year-old American only shot 8-of-23 for the field and finished with 19 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. He also shot one-of-nine from three-point range so he was not wrong in saying that it was a bad day at the office.
