The Miami Heat defeated the Boston Celtics in Game 6 Sunday night. They will advance to the NBA Finals to face the Los Angeles Lakers.
What We Know:
- The Celtics were fighting for their playoff lives on Sunday down 3-2 in the series. They managed to keep the score close for most of the game behind 90 combined points from Jayson Tatum, Kemba Walker, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart, even holding a 100-98 lead with six minutes left in the game.
- The Heat would finish the game on a 27-13 run and got stellar contributions from their bench. Tyler Herro scored 11 points in the fourth quarter and Andre Iguodala shot 4-4 on three-pointers. In the final minutes, Heat center Bam Adebayo was the one who took over the game. Adebayo put everything out there, showing off his drives, his jump shot, and his playmaking abilities. He finished the game with 32 points, 14 rebounds, and 5 assists. The Heat won 125-113 and closed out the series 4-2.
- A Lakers-Heat series was not expected at the beginning of the season, but this is sure to be an exciting finals. The Lakers are coming in as favorites because they have the two best players in the series with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, but the Heat have proven that they’re no joke by winning all but three games this postseason. Miami has already defeated the league-MVP in Giannis Antetokounmpo and has the defensive personnel and gameplan to make life hard for the Lakers. Miami coach Erik Spoelstra has dominated these playoffs with his use of zone defense dribble hand-off offense, and he trusts his bench and has gotten the most out of this roster. It will be interesting to see if the Heat have enough tricks up their sleeve to defeat the two-headed monster from LA.
- This year’s NBA Finals will be historically significant for many reasons. The main reason being that this will be the first finals played at a neutral site in October due to a global pandemic. Furthermore, this is the first time the two final teams missed the playoffs the previous year, with the Lakers and Heat both falling short of the postseason in 2019.
- The Lakers finished off the Denver Nuggets on Saturday, ending the series 4-1. LeBron James will advance to his 10th NBA Finals and his ninth over the past ten years. LeBron is only the fourth player in history to play in ten NBA Finals, joining Bill Russell, Sam Jones, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. If the Lakers win, LeBron will capture his fourth championship on his third team, and he has the opportunity to become the first player ever to win Finals MVP for three different teams.
- An additional wrinkle in this series is that LeBron James played for the Miami Heat from 2010 to 2014. He won two championships with the team and enjoyed his greatest success, but left on poor terms with team president Pat Riley. Riley revealed in 2018 that he and LeBron hadn’t spoken since they parted ways in 2014. It will be interesting to see how their beef plays out in this series.
- These are two of the best franchises in NBA history and it’s great to see them back in the finals. The Heat have won three championships over the last 15 years and have long been praised for their gritty, hardworking culture. Their front office and coaching staff are made up of winners and they have veteran and championship experience in the locker room with Udonis Haslem and Andre Iguodala, who will be playing in his sixth straight NBA Finals.
- The Lakers will be playing in their 32nd NBA Finals, the most in NBA history. Another championship this year would tie them with their rivals, the Boston Celtics, for the most titles in history. A championship this year would also be incredibly meaningful for Los Angeles because of the tragic loss of Kobe Bryant. Bryant is an LA icon and the team has honored him with their Black Mamba jerseys. Bryant played 20 seasons with the Lakers and won five championships, including their most recent title and finals berth in 2010.
Game 1 of the NBA Finals will be Wednesday, September 30.
