The Boston Celtics on Saturday were one-tenth of a second away from elimination. The Miami Heat were one-tenth of a second from the NBA Finals. Derrick White owned that final moment.
White scored on a putback as time expired and the Celtics moved to the brink of the greatest comeback in NBA Playoffs history, holding off the Heat 104-103 to force a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference Finals.
“Derrick White, like a flash of lightning, just came out of nowhere and saved the day, man,” the Boston Celtics’ Jaylen Brown said. “An incredible play.”
Photo: AFP
White knew it was good. Referees reviewed it, but it did not take long to give the official word.
Elation for Boston. Devastation for Miami.
“Ball came to me,” White said. “I made the shot.”
Perhaps Boston will call it “The Shot.”
White became the second player in NBA history to hit a buzzer-beater with his team trailing and facing elimination. Michael Jordan’s “The Shot” for the Chicago Bulls against the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1989 being the other.
“I was just happy,” White said. “Season was on the line. We don’t want to go home.”
Jayson Tatum scored 31 points, Brown scored 26 and Marcus Smart added 21 for the Celtics, who became only the fourth NBA team to erase a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series and force a deciding game.
The others in that club — the 1951 New York Knicks in the NBA Finals, the 1994 Denver Nuggets in the second round and the 2003 Portland Trail Blazers in the first round — all lost Game 7, all on the road.
However, Boston is going home for its shot at history. Game 7 is tonight on the Celtics’ floor, a matchup that would decide who meets the Western Conference champion Denver Nuggets in a title series that is to start on Thursday.
“It’s a seven-game series,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “There’s nothing better than Game 7s.”
Jimmy Butler made three free throws with 3 seconds left — the foul was originally called with 2.1 seconds remaining. Referees put 0.9 seconds back on after reviewing the play to see if it was a three-point try that Al Horford fouled him on — for a one-point Heat lead. It capped a Miami rally from 10 points down with less than 4 minutes remaining.
The Celtics had White inbound the ball on the game’s final possession, and he passed to Smart — who missed a three-pointer — but White sprinted from the inbound spot to the rim, the ball fell into his hands and he got the layin away just before time ran out to extend Boston’s season.
There had been other buzzer-beaters from players whose teams were facing an elimination game, but before Saturday, only Jordan’s came with his team trailing.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla was asked what went through his mind at that moment.
“Nothing,” Mazzulla said. “Game 7.”
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