Boston Celtics bounce back, outlast Miami Heat in Game 7 to win Eastern Conference title

MIAMI — Nothing about this Boston Celtics season has been easy. So, it stands to reason, making it to the NBA Finals wouldn't be, either.

But at the end of a grueling seven-game series in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat, that is exactly where the Celtics have returned to once again.

Behind a pair of terrific games from Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, Boston won its third game at FTX Arena in this series, escaping with a 100-96 victory over the Heat in front of a sellout crowd that was thrilled by the exploits of the home team right to the game's dying moments.

Ultimately, though, it wasn't enough to prevent Boston from taking revenge on Miami after the Heat won this matchup two years ago. And with the win, the Celtics advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time in 12 years, where they'll face the Golden State Warriors. The series will begin Thursday night at 9 ET on ABC at Chase Center in San Francisco.

Getting there, though, was excruciating — right down to nearly blowing a seven-point lead with a minute to play. But after Boston made one mistake after another in that final minute, including Brown being called for a charge, Marcus Smart flinging up a contested miss and Max Strus burying a 3-pointer to pull Miami to within two points with 44 seconds to go, Jimmy Butler — who had an otherworldly series, including an all-time great performance in Game 6 — pulled up for a 3-pointer on the break with a chance to take the lead with 17 seconds that every soul in this building not wearing green thought was going in.

But it didn't. And after Smart hit a couple of free throws with 11.4 seconds to go, Boston managed to just escape with its season still alive, and a trip to San Francisco and a date with the