‘Will haunt him’: Butler’s one-man show comes to brutal end as Celtics book NBA Finals spot

Jimmy Butler couldn’t save the day this time around as the Boston Celtics booked their place in the NBA Finals on Monday (AEST) with a 100-96 win.

After forcing a Game 7 with a 47-point explosion in Boston, Butler once again starred for the Heat, but made a questionable decision with less than 20 seconds left that ultimately cruelled the most unlikely of Miami comebacks.

With the Heat having put together an 11-0 run to pull within two points, Butler, who played every second of the 48 minutes, decided to pull up for three on a fast break, with only Al Horford in front of him.

The attempt came up short. Marcus Smart was then fouled with the shot clock off, and the Boston guard made both free throws to ice the game.

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Having moved past the Brooklyn Nets, Milwaukee Bucks, and Miami Heat, Boston will now face the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals, beginning Friday.

A crucial stretch in the fourth quarter, where Miami missed nine straight field goals, was too much to overcome as a late Celtics wobble didn’t prove fatal.

Jayson Tatum finished with 26 points, while Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart had 24 points apiece as this iteration of the Celtics finally made it past the Conference Finals hump.

“To get over the hump with this group, it means everything,” Tatum said. “Not a lot of people believed in us, but it worked out.”

Tatum, who also had 10 rebounds and six assists, was named the Eastern Conference Most Valuable Player after what he called the biggest game of his career.

Butler had a game-high 35 points, Bam Adebayo added 25, but Kyle Lowry was the only other Heat player to reach double digits with 15 points.

The Celtics reached the NBA Finals for the first time since losing the 2010 title to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Celtics haven’t won the NBA crown since 2008.

The Warriors, in the NBA Finals for the sixth time in eight years, seek their fourth title in that span and the first since 2018.