The Miami Heat have completed the ‘8th Seed Rebellion’. Now he faces off against the Denver Nuggets for the championship.안전놀이터
The Heat defeated the home team Boston Celtics (2nd seed) 103-84 in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals of the 2023 NBA Playoffs held on the 30th.
The Heat, which won games 1-3 and lost games 4-6 in a row, took the final game and climbed to the top of the East with 4 wins and 3 losses. He also took revenge for the pain of losing 3-4 to the Celtics in the Eastern Finals last year. It is the first time in three years since Heat’s advance to the championship in 2020 (runner-up).
The Heat made their name as the second team in history to reach the championship after starting as the 8th seed, the bottom of the playoffs. In 1999, the New York Knicks advanced from the 8th seed in the East to the championship game for the first time in history, but lost 2-4 to the San Antonio Spurs (1st in the West) and did not win the championship trophy. The Heat will compete with the Nuggets led by Nikola Jokic from the 2nd of next month for the championship.
With a 76-66 lead, the Heat opened the scoring to 83-66 early in the fourth quarter with Caleb Martin’s 3-point shot and Jimmy Butler’s 4 points in a row. In fact, it was the moment that leaned towards the extra hit of the game.
Martin played with 26 points (10 rebounds), including four 3-pointers (six attempts). He boasted a high shooting success rate of 69%. Butler, the main scorer, scored 28 points (7 rebounds and 6 assists). The Heat dominated the Celtics (9 of 42) as they made 14 3-pointers (28 attempts).
The Celtics led the series to Game 7 by winning 3 straight after 3 losses for the 4th time in the history of the 4-out-of-7 playoffs. Local media raised the mood by comparing the Celtics to the 2004 MLB’s Boston Red Sox.
Nineteen years ago, the Red Sox achieved an unprecedented ‘reverse sweep’ in the American League Championship, winning four straight after losing three in a row to the New York Yankees. Driven by momentum, they overcame the St. Louis Cardinals, the national league champion, 4-0 in the World Series, and rose to the top in 86 years since 1918. The so-called ‘Bambino Curse’ (a jinx that the Red Sox did not win the World Series after trading Babe Ruth to the Yankees in 1920 by comparing Ruth’s nickname, the Bambino)’ was lifted.
This year, the Celtics, also home to Boston, had a chance to become the protagonists of a cataclysmic event, but the result was a failure. All of the teams, including the Celtics, who were behind with a draw and 3 losses in the past 7 NBA playoffs, all without exception suffered the bitter taste of defeat (0-151) in the series.
The Celtics, who had a dramatic victory in the 6th game with a buzzer beater 0.1 seconds before the end, continued to play helplessly in the 7th game, which did not meet the support of the home fans. Jayson Tatum (14 points, 11 rebounds), the leading star, failed to show his skills as he sprained his ankle during an attack under the goal at the beginning of the first quarter. Derek White (18 points) and Jaylen Brown (19 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists) also had a shooting success rate of around 40%.