Caleb Martin went off in game 7 to send Miami Heat to 2024 NBA finals against the Denver Nuggets led by former two-time MVP Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray.
After the Celtics erased a 3-0 hole that Heat put them in, they had an opportunity to come all the way back. The Heat though had been great on the road throughout this playoff run and the Celtics were pretty ordinary at home.
Game 7 was in Boston. Miami Heat was looking to be the second eighth seed to get to the finals while Boston Celtics had the opportunity to come roaring all the way back.
Tatum injured
The Celtics started with bad news as Jayson Tatum rolled his ankle in his first attempted jump shot. This impacted Tatum throughout the game.
It was miserable at home for Boston, Jimmy Butler stole the ball with scoreline reading 8-9 in favour of the Celtics and dunked turning defence to offense in a split second. An 18-6 run by Miami ended the first quarter.
Celtics were 0 of 10 from behind the arc in the first quarter. Heat was up a dozen with 30 points when another defense to offense play resulted in a Caleb Martin three pointer. Caleb Martin came up big time for the Heat.
Celtics were behind 15 points with 23 points on the board and Tatum out on a run dunked to reduce the lead. Tatum was wincing after dunking. The initial ankle roll was a factor throughout.
Playoff Jimmy Butler
Jimmy Butler sunk a three and the scoreline read 50-39 in favour of the Heat. The Heat were 8 of 16 from behind the arc while their opponents were just 4 of 21. It was poor three-point shooting from the Celtics.
Miami Heat were on 41 game win streak when leading by double digits at half time. Derrick White who was the only reason why the series was going after the remarkable put back buzzer beater scored a floater and now the scoreboard read 59-50 in favour of the Heat. Now the lead was in single digits.
Heat scored a three pointer and Tatum responded with a three of his own and the Celtics had 56 points to Heat’s 66. With the scoreboard reading 66 to 59 in Heat’s favour, a Jimmy Butler step back three put the Heat back up by 10 points again.
Caleb Martin scored a three to put Heat back up at with a 10-point lead with Miami having 74 points. Martin was spectacular and had 26 points in this game. Martin then scored a baseline jumper. Heat carried a 10-point lead in to the fourth quarter. The scoreboard read 76-66 for Heat.
Caleb Martin performance
Caleb Martin began the scoring on the fourth quarter with a three-pointer. Miami now had a 13-point lead. Few possessions later as time began to evaporate and the lead began to grow, Martin stole the ball and assisted a Bam Adebayo dunk.
Calen Martin was the second-best player in the series for Miami Heat. Bam struggled offensively but every time the Heat needed a big bucket, Caleb Martin delivered. It was not just catch and shoot, he created his own shots. He took some slack of Jimmy Butler.
Butler had 28 points in the game and Jaylene Brown had 8 turnovers. Brown’s 8 turnovers were the most by a Celtic player in a playoff game since Larry Bird in 1981. Bam Adebayo assisted Duncan Robinson lay-up increased the lead in 21 with Boston just having 73 points.
The Miami Heat went on the road into Boston and won game 7. They were a seven-point underdog to win the series. It was their nineth win as an outright underdog. The Heat in 2020 also won nine games as an underdog but lost to the finals to the Los Angeles Lakers led by Lebron James and Anthony Davis.
