Heat loses Game 7 at home to the Boston Celtics

The Heat played its 100th game of the season on Sunday night.

Regrettably, there won’t be a 101st.

Overcoming a big early deficit, the Heat staged a dramatic late run and took its season to the brink of making a sixth NBA Finals in 12 years before ultimately succumbing 100-96 to the Boston Celtics at FTX Arena.

A late 11-0 Heat run pulled Miami to within 98-96, but Jimmy Butler missed a three-pointer with 16 seconds left, instead of attacking Al Horford off the dribble, and Marcus Smart hit two free throws to push the margin to four with 11 seconds to go.

Max Strus then missed two three-pointers, and that was it.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra liked Butler’s late three-point attempt. “That was the right look,” Spoelstra said. “I thought for sure it was going down.”

Butler said of that shot: “The thought process was go for the win. My teammates like the shot I took, so I’m living with it.”

Miami pushed hard after a slow start but never led, lost for the first time in five Game 7 home games of Spoelstra’s career, and dropped three home games in a playoff series for the first time in franchise history.

The Celtics, meanwhile, improved to 6-0 after a loss this postseason and advanced to the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors, beginning on Thursday night in San Francisco.

“It is one of the worst feelings in the world to address your locker room after a game like this,” Spoelstra said. “It is heart breaking when it ends like this.”

The Heat dug out of a 17-point early hole, trailed 55-49 at the half and 82-75 after three and then pulled to within three points less than two minutes into the fourth quarter.

But from that point, the Heat missed nine consecutive shots, while the Celtics pushed their lead to 11.

The Heat made another furious run before Butler’s late miss and Smart’s free throws allowed Boston to escape.

Butler – coming off a 47-point game for the ages – again was marvelous, scoring 24 of the Heat’s first 44 points and closing with 35 points (13 for 24 shooting) and 9 rebounds. He played every minute of the game.

“You can put him in that category of superstars,” Bam Adebayo said. “He’s one of the best two-way players in the game.”

Despite a very good postseason, Butler said: “I didn’t do my job. Stats don’t mean anything.”

Adebayo played valiantly and efficiently in Game 7, attacking offensively and supporting Butler with 25 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists.

But that wasn’t enough to overcome another poor-shooting night from three-point range (6 for 30), too many missed free throws (eight in 24 attempts) and leaky transition defense on a night that Boston scored 20 fast-break points.

And the very good work from Butler and Adebayo also wasn’t enough to overcome big nights from Jayson Tatum (26 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 blocks), Jaylen Brown (24 points, six assists) and Marcus Smart (24 points, 9 rebounds). Tatum was especially big late, with two long jumpers.

While several Celtics played very well, there wasn’t nearly enough from the Heat’s roster beyond Butler and Adebayo.

Kyle Lowry and Strus – who overcame dreadful fourth and fifth games to come up big in Game 6 – were outscored 48-23 by Boston’s starting backcourt of Smart and Brown.

Lowry (15 points, seven rebounds, three assists, two turnovers) played poorly for 2 1 /2 quarters – opening 0 for 5 with no first half assists – before hitting a three and converting a three-point play late in the third.

Lowry finished 4 for 12 from the field and 1 of 6 on threes and ended postseason with numbers unbecoming of a former All Star: 25 for 86 shooting from the field, including 13 for 54 on threes.

“I would never make an excuse about injuries,” Lowry said when asked how much his hamstring bothered him. “I wish I would have been able to play at a higher level. I didn’t. It just adds fuel. For me, it’s a wasted year. I didn’t win a championship.”

Meanwhile, Strus shot 3 for 10 on an 8-point night.

Strus had one three-pointer overturned in the third quarter, minutes after making it, when NBA officials in Secaucus, New Jersey ruled that he stepped out of bounds on the shot.

“The fact it happened three or four minutes later changes the context of a game,” Spoelstra said of the overturn. “You feel if it happens like that, it should happen immediately and you can adjust accordingly.”

P.J. Tucker went scoreless (0 for 3 from the field) and committed two turnovers in 17 minutes and didn’t play in the fourth quarter. There appeared to be a physical issue with Tucker in the second half, but Spoelstra didn’t want to specifically discuss it, praising “his will.”

Tyler Herro returned after missing three games with a groin injury, but entered later than usual (early in the second quarter) and was often a decoy, shooting only twice in seven scoreless minutes. Spoelstra didn’t play him in the second half.

“If it was during the season, no chance he [would have] played,” Spoelstra said.

The Heat missed the 21-point-a-game regular season Herro in this series.

Victor Oladipo shot 4 for 12 on a 9-point night.

In the first half, Butler and Adebayo were 13 for 21. Their teammates shot 4 for 17.

For the game, Butler and Adebayo shot 25 for 45, while their teammates were 12 for 43.

The Heat, the NBA’s best three-point shooting team during the regular season at 37.9 percent, was among the worst in the playoffs, shooting 31 percent from beyond the arc overall in postseason and 20 percent in Game 7.

And that was hurtful against a long, versatile Boston team that led the league in points permitted per 100 possessions during the regular season.

Early on in Sunday’s game, the Heat’s performance was as dreary as South Florida’s Memorial Day weekend weather.

Heat players couldn’t make threes (1 for 10 early), missed too many free throws, couldn’t keep up in transition and too often allowed Celtics players to blow by them.

Before the game, Celtics coach Ime Udoka implored his team to place with tempo, and Boston did exactly that, seizing on early Heat misses – many created by Boston’s defense – to score 13 early fast break points in building a 24-9 lead.

Al Horford laid the groundwork for four of those fast-break points by blocking a Tucker three and then blocking a Strus driving layup.

A Gabe Vincent four-point play (a three-pointer and free throw) spearheaded an 8-0 Heat spurt, but Boston then closed the quarter with an 8-0 run to build a 32-17 lead after one.

It was Boston’s largest lead after one quarter in the 37 seventh games in franchise history.

The Celtics built the lead to 17, but an 11-2 Heat run closed the Celtics’ lead to 55-49 at the half, with Butler shooting 8 for 11 in the first half.

The Heat’s three first half assists (compared with eight turnovers) were the fewest in franchise history in a playoff game.

Down 82-75 after three, the Heat drew to within three on an Adebayo dunk and a Butler layup, before Butler missed a three that would have tied it less than two minutes into the fourth.

That was the first of nine consecutive Heat misses, during which Boston stretched the lead to 90-79.

After Oladipo ended the drought with a basket, Tatum hit a difficult three to push the lead to 12.

And then the Heat’s late rally fell short.

Besides the uneven play offensively, the Heat also some made mindless errors. Lowry picked up a second foul 3:01 into the game, wrapping his arm around a Celtics player far from the basket. “Nonsensical,” ESPN’s Jeff Van Gundy called it.

Tucker was complaining to a referee, allowing Tatum – off an inbounds play – to get free for a wide open three. “Inexcusable,” Van Gundy called it.

In another sequence, Lowry unwisely gambled for a steal, allowing Brown to drive for a basket.

And after making 24 of 25 free throws in Game 6, the Heat made only 16 of 24.

Spoelstra went only eight deep, bypassing Caleb Martin, Duncan Robinson and Dewayne Dedmon, among others.

And so the Heat season ends after an 11-7 playoff run.

“It feels heartbreaking,” Spoelstra said. “We just wanted a crack at Golden State and just find out as competitors. I love this group… We’ll never know and that’s the part we’ll have to live with.”

This story was originally published May 29, 2022 11:16 PM.