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- Celtics – Heat Recap
- 2022 NBA Finals Preview: Celtics vs Warriors
Contributors
Santiago Leon – @sleon
Ryan Christa – @maddawgreport
Celtics 100 Heat 96
Eastern Conference finals MVP Jayson Tatum led the way with 26 points, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart each added 24 and the Celtics beat the Miami Heat 100-96 on Sunday night to earn a berth in the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors.
Butler, who willed Miami into Game 7 by scoring 47 points on Friday in Boston, led the Heat with 35 points in what became their season finale. Bam Adebayo added 25 for the Heat, who were down 11 with under 3 minutes to go before trying one last rally.
An 9-0 run, capped by a 3-pointer from Max Strus with 51 seconds left, got the Heat within 98-96. They got no closer. Boston would not be denied, and now is 2-0 in Game 7s in these playoffs after ousting defending champion Milwaukee in the East semis.
NBA Finals 2022
The 2022 NBA Finals featuring the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics is a dream matchup for basketball fans.
There will be a lot of star power on the court in this series. The environments at Chase Center in San Francisco and TD Garden in Boston should be incredible, too, as two of the league’s most passionate fan bases cheer on their team.
The Golden State Warriors — the betting favorites in the latest NBA Championship odds — will be their foil from the West, having finished off Luka Doncic and the upstart Dallas Mavericks in five games.
Celtics fell into a 3-2 hole to the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks only to win two in a row to earn a berth in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Two years in the wilderness followed, but the brilliance of Curry and Draymond Green was buoyed by the emergence of Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins — finally — finding his perfect role.
Warriors X-factor: Big or small?
The Warriors are not used to making trade-offs, but they’ve been forced to throughout this playoff run. Unlike the hallowed Death Lineup days, they haven’t been able to field groups that succeed broadly as both offensive and defensive units.
Celtics X-factor: Health
The series between the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics was as much about attrition as it was about skill. While Boston physically outlasted Miami, the Celtics didn’t get through unscathed, and health will be the major X-factor that determines their ability to compete at Golden State’s level.
Predictions
BOS-GSW
RC: GSW in six