White's buzzer-beater wins Game 6 for Celtics, forces Game 7 - ESPN

MIAMI — The Miami Heat were less than a second away from the NBA Finals.

But with a precious two tenths of a second remaining, Derrick White — who had served as the inbounds passer on the final possession for the Boston Celtics — managed to release a putback of a Marcus Smart missed jumper that fell through the net just as the buzzer sounded, giving the Celtics a heart-stopping 104-103 victory in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals.

The win sends this series back to Boston for Game 7 on Memorial Day night and moves the Celtics one win away from becoming the first team in NBA history to come back from a 3-0 series deficit

«Derrick White, like a flash of lightning, just came out of nowhere and saved the day, man,» teammate Jaylen Brown said.

«It was just an incredible play.»

It was an incredible series of moments — all of which were eerily similar to the way Game 7 of this same matchup on this same court played out almost exactly one year earlier.

Like in that game, Boston controlled the proceedings throughout. And, like in that game, the Celtics had a sizable lead — nine points, to be exact — when Jayson Tatum hit a couple free throws to make it 100-91 with 3 minutes, 4 seconds to go.

And, like in that game, Boston gave it all back.

«I don't know if poise is a great word to use with those last four minutes,» White would say later with a smile, «but we found a way to win.»

But only just. On a night when the Celtics both made fewer 3s (7) and shot a worse percentage (20 percent) than they had in any regular season or playoff game this season, it had also been a truly horrendous night for Butler. But then he scored the final 10 points of the game for the Heat over a two-minute stretch: hitting a 3-pointer, followed by