Heat Defeat Celtics in Game 7, Advance to NBA Finals

Jimmy Butler scored a game-high 28 points as the Miami Heat downed the Boston Celtics 103-84 in Game 7 to advance to the NBA Finals.

A loss would have seen Miami become the first team in NBA history to blow a 3-0 series lead. Instead, Erik Spoelstra and company rallied from a gut-wrenching defeat in Game 6 to book their second Finals appearance in the past four seasons, where they will face the Western Conference champion Denver Nuggets.

“Sometimes you have to suffer for the things that you really want,” said Spoelstra. “This group has shown fortitude when there are inevitable letdowns and failures, to have that perseverance to pick yourself up, to have that collective spirit to keep on forging ahead until you get to accomplish what you want.”

Game 1 of the NBA Finals goes Thursday night in Denver.

FanDuel Sportsbook currently has the Heat as a +9.0 point underdog on the spread and +310 on the moneyline.