NBA 2022 Qualifiers – Jimmy Butler, Al Horford and the tense final seconds of game 7 between the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat

MIAMI – Erik Spoelstra’s eyes follow the shot as it leaves Jimmy Butlerof the hand. The arc looks good. It turned perfectly. Emotions well up in Miami Heat coach’s chest as he instinctively kicked his leg out in the final moments of game 7 of Sunday’s Eastern Conference finals inside the FTX Arena.

“I think for sure it will go down,” Spoelstra said. “I think it would be an incredible storyline if Jimmy pulls up and gets 3.”

“I was like, man, what the hell,” Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown speak.

“Oh,” said Celtics coach Ime Udoka, “he’s made big shots in all the series.”

“Not anymore,” thought Smart Marcuswho witnessed Butler shoot a clutch at him at the end of Game 6.

Butler posed as the ball approached the rim; Nearby thermal benches roll up for a collective leap. Butler played 47 minutes and 45 seconds in a 48-minute game, two days after he played 47 minutes in Boston. Maybe it was the fatigue, maybe the lingering pain in his knee, maybe the pressure, but the ball ended up hitting the front of the rim.

The plot that Spoelstra is dreaming about? The Heat – beaten, bruised and frankly characterless in a physical series – performed a magic trick even getting into Sunday’s contest. Looking back fairly on the past two weeks, this is a series bound solely by a mixture of passion, timing and fire retardant. And Miami did it again in Game 7.

Seven times the Celtics have taken a double lead, and seven times the Heat have come back. If Butler’s 3 points drop with 15 seconds left to play, the Heat will take a one-point lead – their first game.

The Heat had the opportunity of a puncher, an underdog with nothing to lose, who could take risks. A perfect swing at the right time can knock out a favorite opponent.

Butler should have managed to steer the ball to the belt and tie the rope. He has momentum and space, having started his own quick breakout after winning a rebound. And Butler is one of the best finishers in the league around the belt, his strength and dexterity perfect for scoring in traffic.

Instead, when he and his team were tired and in pain, Butler turned to a haymaker.

“My thought process was ‘Go on to win,’ which I did,” said Butler, who defended his 47 points in Game 6 with 35 points in Game 7.”[I] missed shot. But I’m shooting. My teammates liked the shot I took. So I’m living with it. “

Butler is not a man of regret, but miss will sting. A few minutes later, the Celtics hit the ball 100-96 wins to win his first trip to the NBA Finals in 12 years with a series against Golden Empire Warriors.

This is where the other side of the plot comes in. And that’s the man who stopped Butler.

The Celtics are on the verge of a crushing defeat, blowing a pivotal series in one of the worst ways imaginable. But if there’s one player they could choose to face a brilliant Butler in that moment, it’s that. Al Horford.

Horford did everything right. He got in front of Butler and “loaded” – jargon to defend himself against a player driving – with Horford in between the Heat star and the basket.

“I don’t know what he’s going to do,” said Horford, who was playing with a heavy heart after his grandfather’s death earlier in the week. “It looked like he was going to take the shot, but I had to make sure I was steady; and when he pulled up in the third round, I thought, let me play the best way I can. He has a good look at it.”

Horford was the best defender the Celtics had when it came to shots the way Butler intended. Horford disputed 29 shots more than any other Celtic in the series because he was always in the right position.

When Butler faced Horford in this series, he shot 27%. When Milwaukee Bucks‘ Giannis Antetokounmpo in the game against Horford in the Eastern semifinals, he made 37%. Earlier in Sunday’s game, Horford completely stoned Heat Max Strus in a dunk attempt in a classic example of his ability even at the age of 35.

The math behind Butler’s three-point effort called for “a lousy shot.” Butler, who is not a 3-point shooter, took only 19 3-pointers all season and earned only six. But in this series, he has been 4/7 out of 3s open. This feels open. In a second, it was wide open.

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Jimmy Butler says he was living with the three-point decision in the closing moments of the Heat’s loss to the Celtics in Game 7.

Horford on Butler’s shot. “He pulled up and whatever could have happened there.”

It was the 141st playoff game of Horford’s 15-year career and he never made it to the Finals, the longest streak in NBA history. And if he’d turned a little slower and darted out to bother Butler, perhaps that trail would still be there.

When the competition was over, Horford sent the ball into the air. When the Bob Cousy Cup was awarded to the Celtics as Eastern champions, it went to Horford.

For all Butler and Heat’s disappointment, Horford and teammates’ joy is the balance – and the latest chapter in what has been a tough playoff run.

“The journey has not been easy. We’ve had a tough road,” Horford said. “Brooklyn, Milwaukee – defending champion – and Miami … they brought us to the brink. For our team, it was resilience, it was turning the page, moving to the next thing, and we did that throughout the season. “