The Miami Heat will play the sixth final in its history, in search of its fourth title from Wednesday against the Los Angeles Lakers of LeBron James. On Sunday, the Heat ended up dominating the Boston Celtics (125-113) in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final (victory 4 wins to 2). The decision was made at the very end of the match. With nine minutes on the clock, Boston had just had its best period of the game. The Celtics, who had chased the score for almost three quarters, ended up taking the advantage and widening a six-point gap (96-90, 41st) on a stolen ball (4th in Miami’s 8 possessions) by Jaylen Brown to Tyler Herro.
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Miami was faltering, and the prospect of a Game 7 was nothing to write home about for the Heat. It was then that his young players put a huge boost. In six minutes, they sealed the fate of this series. Herro opened the hostilities with two consecutive baskets to put the two teams tied (96-96). The Bam Adebayo show then began. Already omnipresent, eager to make people forget Game 5 where he had designated himself as the main culprit of the defeat, the young interior took matters into his own hands during four consecutive possessions. Adebayo started by dunking with authority on Daniel Theis (42nd). He then got a basket plus foul (scoring the free throw), then served Jimmy Butler under the circle, having drawn two defenders to him. Bam Adebayo finally caused Theis’ sixth fault, forcing the German to go and sit permanently on the bench (104-102 in favor of Miami, 43rd).
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A 26-6 conceded in six fatal minutes in Boston
Moments later, the prowess of Duncan Robinson, three points, and Herro, halfway, widened the gap (112-102). Unable to procure open shots, when they seemed to have found the solution against the Miami zone earlier in the game, the Celtics were never able to return. They conceded a terrible 26-6 in less than six minutes and thirty seconds of play. And if ever they had kept a last hope of reversing the situation, Robinson (15 points, 6 rebounds) was responsible for extinguishing it behind the arc of a circle (119-104, 46th). Man of the match with 32 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists, Adebayo was pleased in the last minute with a small back dunk. With these performances, Jimmy Butler (22 points) and Goran Dragic (15) did not even need to achieve XXL performances to bring Miami to the final.
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Boston could of course have regrets about this match, in particular having lacked three-point address (32% to 15 out of 46), never having had a Gordon Hayward at his best level (12 points but above all many defensive errors) or to have been unable to take advantage of the good presence of the Celtics under the panels (13 offensive rebounds). But, Sunday, among the leaders, only Jaylen Brown (10 of 17 shooting and 26 points) survived, Jayson Tatum experienced new slumps in the shoot (9 of 26), just like Marcus Smart (8 of 22) or three-point Kemba Walker (3 out of 10).
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For the first time in history, the NBA Finals will pit two teams that had not participated in the play-offs the previous season. The Heat and the Lakers both finished in tenth place in their conference in 2018-19.
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Instead of the most visible opposition in NBA history at this level (12 clashes between Lakers and Celtics), the 2020 final will feature an unprecedented poster between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Miami Heat. It will also offer many topics for discussion, given the links between LeBron James and Miami, with whom he won his first two titles (2012 and 2013), but also between Pat Riley (the president of the Heat) and the Lakers. , which he coached for nine seasons (from 1981 to 1990) obtaining four rings of champion.
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