UNDERDOG STORY: Miami torches Celtics to clinch NBA Finals seat

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

 

The HEAT is on!

After a roller-coaster regular season and coming in as heavy underdogs in the Eastern Conference playoffs, the Miami Heat proved the doubters wrong and set up a showdown with the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2020 NBA Finals.

The collective and solid team basketball of Miami proved to be their edge in scoring an emphatic Game 6 win against the Boston Celtics, 125-113.

Miami also became the second-lowest seeded squad (fifth) after the 1994-95 Houston Rockets (sixth) to punch a ticket to the NBA finals.

Bam Adebayo was the star of the game after putting up a career-high 32 points and 14 rebounds, tormenting Boston in the paint.

Celtics head coach Brad Stevens had to shuffle between Daniel Theis and Grant Williams who were both manhandled by Miami’s star center.

Veteran Andre Iguodala had a solid impact for the Heat, draining all of his four attempts from rainbow country to finish with 15 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals.

Boston looked to leave Miami behind soon as the final frame started to quickly regain the lead, 96-90 off a 10-2 run that led to a coach Erik Spoelstra timeout.

After the timeout, the Heat were able to regain their composure and looked like a different team after erasing the Boston lead.

The Miami Heat would go on its own scoring avalanche and never looked back in the final 9 minutes of the game.

Adebayo operated in the post that created more opportunities for their shooters after drawing double teams and executed perfectly-timed kick-out passes to Duncan Robinson and Tyler Herro who finished the ball game with 15 and 19 points respectively.

Showing his ability to recognize open shooters, Adebayo then helped push the lead to double digits in the last 3 minutes of the game after feeding the cutting Jimmy Butler who chipped in with 22 points and 8 assists.

The Celtics had a valiant effort from their young stars in Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart who tried to answer every Miami scoring run but their door was shut completely closed after the two-minute mark ticked in the final regulation.

Will the Miami Heat continue their Cinderella story in this 2020 NBA finals? Or will LeBron James and Anthony Davis assert their dominance and let everybody know that they are the best 1-2 punch in the league today?