DENVER (AP) &mdash; Nikola Jokic wasn&rsquo;t supposed to be here. Neither was Jimmy Butler, for that matter.
Jokic was drafted behind 40 other players in 2014. Butler was drafted behind 29 others in 2011. Jokic grew up in Serbia, not even thinking about the NBA. Butler didn&rsquo;t have the easiest upbringing in Texas, then went the junior college route at the start of his journey toward the pros.
Yet here they are in the NBA Finals.
One of them will become a champion for the first time, with Jokic leading the Denver Nuggets and Butler leading the Miami Heat in a matchup that starts Thursday night in Denver, with the Nuggets heavily favored to win it all.
&ldquo;This is going to be the hardest game of our life, and we know that,&rdquo; Jokic said. &ldquo;We are prepared for that. We are prepared for that. So, I think there is no favorite. Definitely, I think we are not favorites in this series. I think they&rsquo;re not either. I think it&rsquo;s just the finals.&rdquo;
&nbsp;

DENVER (AP) &mdash; Nikola Jokic wasn&rsquo;t supposed to be here. Neither was Jimmy Butler, for that matter.
Jokic was drafted behind 40 other players in 2014. Butler was drafted behind 29 others in 2011. Jokic grew up in Serbia, not even thinking about the NBA. Butler didn&rsquo;t have the easiest upbringing in Texas, then went the junior college route at the start of his journey toward the pros.
Yet here they are in the NBA Finals.
One of them will become a champion for the first time, with Jokic leading the Denver Nuggets and Butler leading the Miami Heat in a matchup that starts Thursday night in Denver, with the Nuggets heavily favored to win it all.
&ldquo;This is going to be the hardest game of our life, and we know that,&rdquo; Jokic said. &ldquo;We are prepared for that. We are prepared for that. So, I think there is no favorite. Definitely, I think we are not favorites in this series. I think they&rsquo;re not either. I think it&rsquo;s just the finals.&rdquo;
The Nuggets &mdash; in the finals for the first time &mdash; had by far the easier road to the title round. They climbed atop the Western Conference standings in mid-December and never fell from that perch, then lived up to that No. 1 seed by going 12-3 in the West playoffs.
Miami &mdash; a seven-time finalist now, seeking a fourth title &mdash; had about the rockiest path to the Rocky Mountains that a team could have. The Heat had to rally in a play-in elimination game just to make the playoffs, knocked out No. 1 overall seed Milwaukee in Round 1, rival New York in Round 2 and then just had to go win a Game 7 in Boston, after nearly wasting a 3-0 lead, to vanquish last season&rsquo;s loss to the Celtics in the East finals.
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DENVER (AP) &mdash; Nikola Jokic wasn&rsquo;t supposed to be here. Neither was Jimmy Butler, for that matter.
Jokic was drafted behind 40 other players in 2014. Butler was drafted behind 29 others in 2011. Jokic grew up in Serbia, not even thinking about the NBA. Butler didn&rsquo;t have the easiest upbringing in Texas, then went the junior college route at the start of his journey toward the pros.
Yet here they are in the NBA Finals.
One of them will become a champion for the first time, with Jokic leading the Denver Nuggets and Butler leading the Miami Heat in a matchup that starts Thursday night in Denver, with the Nuggets heavily favored to win it all.
&ldquo;This is going to be the hardest game of our life, and we know that,&rdquo; Jokic said. &ldquo;We are prepared for that. We are prepared for that. So, I think there is no favorite. Definitely, I think we are not favorites in this series. I think they&rsquo;re not either. I think it&rsquo;s just the finals.&rdquo;
The Nuggets &mdash; in the finals for the first time &mdash; had by far the easier road to the title round. They climbed atop the Western Conference standings in mid-December and never fell from that perch, then lived up to that No. 1 seed by going 12-3 in the West playoffs.
Miami &mdash; a seven-time finalist now, seeking a fourth title &mdash; had about the rockiest path to the Rocky Mountains that a team could have. The Heat had to rally in a play-in elimination game just to make the playoffs, knocked out No. 1 overall seed Milwaukee in Round 1, rival New York in Round 2 and then just had to go win a Game 7 in Boston, after nearly wasting a 3-0 lead, to vanquish last season&rsquo;s loss to the Celtics in the East finals.
&ldquo;This is a special group,&rdquo; Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. &ldquo;This group has been able to overcome a lot of different things, handle a lot of adversity, setbacks, things that have not gone the way we wanted them to go. And instead of having that collapse our spirit, it allowed us to develop some fortitude and grit collectively, and give us something to rally around, which was each other.&rdquo;
&nbsp;

DENVER (AP) &mdash; Nikola Jokic wasn&rsquo;t supposed to be here. Neither was Jimmy Butler, for that matter.
Jokic was drafted behind 40 other players in 2014. Butler was drafted behind 29 others in 2011. Jokic grew up in Serbia, not even thinking about the NBA. Butler didn&rsquo;t have the easiest upbringing in Texas, then went the junior college route at the start of his journey toward the pros.
Yet here they are in the NBA Finals.
One of them will become a champion for the first time, with Jokic leading the Denver Nuggets and Butler leading the Miami Heat in a matchup that starts Thursday night in Denver, with the Nuggets heavily favored to win it all.
&ldquo;This is going to be the hardest game of our life, and we know that,&rdquo; Jokic said. &ldquo;We are prepared for that. We are prepared for that. So, I think there is no favorite. Definitely, I think we are not favorites in this series. I think they&rsquo;re not either. I think it&rsquo;s just the finals.&rdquo;
The Nuggets &mdash; in the finals for the first time &mdash; had by far the easier road to the title round. They climbed atop the Western Conference standings in mid-December and never fell from that perch, then lived up to that No. 1 seed by going 12-3 in the West playoffs.
Miami &mdash; a seven-time finalist now, seeking a fourth title &mdash; had about the rockiest path to the Rocky Mountains that a team could have. The Heat had to rally in a play-in elimination game just to make the playoffs, knocked out No. 1 overall seed Milwaukee in Round 1, rival New York in Round 2 and then just had to go win a Game 7 in Boston, after nearly wasting a 3-0 lead, to vanquish last season&rsquo;s loss to the Celtics in the East finals.
&ldquo;This is a special group,&rdquo; Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. &ldquo;This group has been able to overcome a lot of different things, handle a lot of adversity, setbacks, things that have not gone the way we wanted them to go. And instead of having that collapse our spirit, it allowed us to develop some fortitude and grit collectively, and give us something to rally around, which was each other.&rdquo;
At 44-38 this season, Miami would tie the worst regular-season record ever by an NBA champion. The Washington Bullets had that record and won the 1978 title. There were 10 teams that finished this season with better records than Miami &mdash; nine of them are no longer playing &mdash; and 589 teams in NBA history that had better regular seasons than the 2022-23 Heat yet still didn&rsquo;t win a title.
&nbsp;

DENVER (AP) &mdash; Nikola Jokic wasn&rsquo;t supposed to be here. Neither was Jimmy Butler, for that matter.
Jokic was drafted behind 40 other players in 2014. Butler was drafted behind 29 others in 2011. Jokic grew up in Serbia, not even thinking about the NBA. Butler didn&rsquo;t have the easiest upbringing in Texas, then went the junior college route at the start of his journey toward the pros.
Yet here they are in the NBA Finals.
One of them will become a champion for the first time, with Jokic leading the Denver Nuggets and Butler leading the Miami Heat in a matchup that starts Thursday night in Denver, with the Nuggets heavily favored to win it all.
&ldquo;This is going to be the hardest game of our life, and we know that,&rdquo; Jokic said. &ldquo;We are prepared for that. We are prepared for that. So, I think there is no favorite. Definitely, I think we are not favorites in this series. I think they&rsquo;re not either. I think it&rsquo;s just the finals.&rdquo;
The Nuggets &mdash; in the finals for the first time &mdash; had by far the easier road to the title round. They climbed atop the Western Conference standings in mid-December and never fell from that perch, then lived up to that No. 1 seed by going 12-3 in the West playoffs.
Miami &mdash; a seven-time finalist now, seeking a fourth title &mdash; had about the rockiest path to the Rocky Mountains that a team could have. The Heat had to rally in a play-in elimination game just to make the playoffs, knocked out No. 1 overall seed Milwaukee in Round 1, rival New York in Round 2 and then just had to go win a Game 7 in Boston, after nearly wasting a 3-0 lead, to vanquish last season&rsquo;s loss to the Celtics in the East finals.
&ldquo;This is a special group,&rdquo; Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. &ldquo;This group has been able to overcome a lot of different things, handle a lot of adversity, setbacks, things that have not gone the way we wanted them to go. And instead of having that collapse our spirit, it allowed us to develop some fortitude and grit collectively, and give us something to rally around, which was each other.&rdquo;
At 44-38 this season, Miami would tie the worst regular-season record ever by an NBA champion. The Washington Bullets had that record and won the 1978 title. There were 10 teams that finished this season with better records than Miami &mdash; nine of them are no longer playing &mdash; and 589 teams in NBA history that had better regular seasons than the 2022-23 Heat yet still didn&rsquo;t win a title.
They are improbable finalists. Their leader took an improbable path, too. But after stints with Chicago, Philadelphia and Minnesota didn&rsquo;t always go as planned, Butler is now in the finals with Miami for a second time in four years.
&ldquo;I would like to say that I&rsquo;m never rattled. I&rsquo;m very calm,&rdquo; Butler said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m very consistent in everything that I do, whether it&rsquo;s before the game, after the game, during the game, and I think when my guys look at me like that, they follow suit in every single way. I love that about them because they&rsquo;re never shook. No matter what.&rdquo;
It&rsquo;s not about Jokic vs. Butler; both have big-time players around them as well, namely Jamal Murray for Denver and Bam Adebayo for Miami. Jokic and Butler are the two leading scorers left in these playoffs; Jokic is averaging 29.9 points, 13.3 rebounds and 10.3 assists, while Butler is averaging 28.5 per game &mdash; including a playoff-high 56 to help oust the Bucks.
Jokic is a two-time MVP, was in the conversation for a third in a row this year, has seen about every defense imaginable and rarely blinks at any of them. Play off him, he&rsquo;ll shoot and score. Play tight, he&rsquo;ll set up someone for an easier shot. He&rsquo;s as close to fundamental perfection as there might be in the league right now. Not bad for a guy who got drafted while the broadcast was airing a Taco Bell commercial &mdash; true story &mdash; and never thought he&rsquo;d make the NBA when he arrived in the U.S.
&ldquo;With Nikola, it&rsquo;s never about looking backward. It&rsquo;s always about looking forward and challenging himself to become the best player that he can be,&rdquo; Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. &ldquo;Early on, being the best player he could be was not necessarily about a skill set. It was about maturing, growing up, handling adversity, dealing with the referees, getting into the best shape of his life, losing weight. I think once that all happened, that kind of coincided with our rise.&rdquo;
The team that plays at the highest altitude in the NBA &mdash; 5,280 feet above sea level &mdash; has risen to its highest level yet. Jokic is four wins from his first ring. Butler is four wins from the ring he has been talking about getting all year, even when Miami&rsquo;s record didn&rsquo;t exactly suggest the Heat would be here.
But here they are. The West finals MVP in Jokic. The East finals MVP in Butler. The prize they want most is just four wins away.
&ldquo;In a lot of ways, what they have done is unprecedented,&rdquo; Miami forward Kevin Love said. &ldquo;Obviously, they operate in different ways to get the job done. But still, all things considered, I think they&rsquo;re two very underappreciated stars and superstars in this league.&rdquo;

Nikola Jokic wasn’t supposed to be here. Neither was Jimmy Butler, for that matter. Now, they are facing off in the 2023 NBA Finals.

Butler, Jokic lead Heat, Nuggets to NBA Finals after unconventional paths

DENVER (AP) &mdash; Caleb Martin was undrafted coming out of college. He entered the NBA with almost no guarantees. He had to play in the G League. Charlotte let him go after two seasons.
Desperate for a second chance, he joined the Miami Heat on a two-way contract to basically start from scratch again.
That&rsquo;s what it takes for some guys to make the league.
And that&rsquo;s what it took for Martin to make the NBA Finals.
On a Heat team filled with undrafted contributors, Martin stood out and became the breakout star of the Eastern Conference finals. He averaged 19.3 points on 60% shooting, scored a playoff-career-high 26 points on Boston&rsquo;s home floor in Game 7, and the Heat needed it all to oust the Celtics and earn a trip to the title round against the Denver Nuggets.
&ldquo;I definitely reflect on where I started and the journey it&rsquo;s taken to get here, and even as early as the two-way last year,&rdquo; Martin said. &ldquo;But I think more than anything, it&rsquo;s kind of a weird feeling because I&rsquo;m also understanding that as happy as I am, as grateful I am to be here, I also understand that we have four more. The job is not done. We didn&rsquo;t go through what we went through all the regular season and my personal journey to stop here.&rdquo;
&nbsp;

DENVER (AP) &mdash; Caleb Martin was undrafted coming out of college. He entered the NBA with almost no guarantees. He had to play in the G League. Charlotte let him go after two seasons.
Desperate for a second chance, he joined the Miami Heat on a two-way contract to basically start from scratch again.
That&rsquo;s what it takes for some guys to make the league.
And that&rsquo;s what it took for Martin to make the NBA Finals.
On a Heat team filled with undrafted contributors, Martin stood out and became the breakout star of the Eastern Conference finals. He averaged 19.3 points on 60% shooting, scored a playoff-career-high 26 points on Boston&rsquo;s home floor in Game 7, and the Heat needed it all to oust the Celtics and earn a trip to the title round against the Denver Nuggets.
&ldquo;I definitely reflect on where I started and the journey it&rsquo;s taken to get here, and even as early as the two-way last year,&rdquo; Martin said. &ldquo;But I think more than anything, it&rsquo;s kind of a weird feeling because I&rsquo;m also understanding that as happy as I am, as grateful I am to be here, I also understand that we have four more. The job is not done. We didn&rsquo;t go through what we went through all the regular season and my personal journey to stop here.&rdquo;
That&rsquo;s the credo for so many in the Heat locker room.
The captain, 20-year veteran and soon-to-be retired Udonis Haslem, was undrafted. Starting point guard Gabe Vincent, undrafted. Starting shooting guard Max Strus, undrafted. Duncan Robinson, who has made more 3-pointers than anyone in Heat history, undrafted. Haywood Highsmith, who gave the Heat tremendous minutes of energy off the bench against the Celtics, undrafted.
&nbsp;

DENVER (AP) &mdash; Caleb Martin was undrafted coming out of college. He entered the NBA with almost no guarantees. He had to play in the G League. Charlotte let him go after two seasons.
Desperate for a second chance, he joined the Miami Heat on a two-way contract to basically start from scratch again.
That&rsquo;s what it takes for some guys to make the league.
And that&rsquo;s what it took for Martin to make the NBA Finals.
On a Heat team filled with undrafted contributors, Martin stood out and became the breakout star of the Eastern Conference finals. He averaged 19.3 points on 60% shooting, scored a playoff-career-high 26 points on Boston&rsquo;s home floor in Game 7, and the Heat needed it all to oust the Celtics and earn a trip to the title round against the Denver Nuggets.
&ldquo;I definitely reflect on where I started and the journey it&rsquo;s taken to get here, and even as early as the two-way last year,&rdquo; Martin said. &ldquo;But I think more than anything, it&rsquo;s kind of a weird feeling because I&rsquo;m also understanding that as happy as I am, as grateful I am to be here, I also understand that we have four more. The job is not done. We didn&rsquo;t go through what we went through all the regular season and my personal journey to stop here.&rdquo;
That&rsquo;s the credo for so many in the Heat locker room.
The captain, 20-year veteran and soon-to-be retired Udonis Haslem, was undrafted. Starting point guard Gabe Vincent, undrafted. Starting shooting guard Max Strus, undrafted. Duncan Robinson, who has made more 3-pointers than anyone in Heat history, undrafted. Haywood Highsmith, who gave the Heat tremendous minutes of energy off the bench against the Celtics, undrafted.
Miami will finish this postseason with more points and starts from undrafted players than the other 15 teams that made the playoffs this year will &mdash; combined. The Heat currently have 876 points and 39 starts from undrafted guys; the rest of the league has 778 points and 31 starts. Denver basically doesn&rsquo;t play anyone that isn&rsquo;t undrafted, so the Heat margin on the rest of the league will only grow the rest of the way.
&nbsp;

DENVER (AP) &mdash; Caleb Martin was undrafted coming out of college. He entered the NBA with almost no guarantees. He had to play in the G League. Charlotte let him go after two seasons.
Desperate for a second chance, he joined the Miami Heat on a two-way contract to basically start from scratch again.
That&rsquo;s what it takes for some guys to make the league.
And that&rsquo;s what it took for Martin to make the NBA Finals.
On a Heat team filled with undrafted contributors, Martin stood out and became the breakout star of the Eastern Conference finals. He averaged 19.3 points on 60% shooting, scored a playoff-career-high 26 points on Boston&rsquo;s home floor in Game 7, and the Heat needed it all to oust the Celtics and earn a trip to the title round against the Denver Nuggets.
&ldquo;I definitely reflect on where I started and the journey it&rsquo;s taken to get here, and even as early as the two-way last year,&rdquo; Martin said. &ldquo;But I think more than anything, it&rsquo;s kind of a weird feeling because I&rsquo;m also understanding that as happy as I am, as grateful I am to be here, I also understand that we have four more. The job is not done. We didn&rsquo;t go through what we went through all the regular season and my personal journey to stop here.&rdquo;
That&rsquo;s the credo for so many in the Heat locker room.
The captain, 20-year veteran and soon-to-be retired Udonis Haslem, was undrafted. Starting point guard Gabe Vincent, undrafted. Starting shooting guard Max Strus, undrafted. Duncan Robinson, who has made more 3-pointers than anyone in Heat history, undrafted. Haywood Highsmith, who gave the Heat tremendous minutes of energy off the bench against the Celtics, undrafted.
Miami will finish this postseason with more points and starts from undrafted players than the other 15 teams that made the playoffs this year will &mdash; combined. The Heat currently have 876 points and 39 starts from undrafted guys; the rest of the league has 778 points and 31 starts. Denver basically doesn&rsquo;t play anyone that isn&rsquo;t undrafted, so the Heat margin on the rest of the league will only grow the rest of the way.
&ldquo;That storyline is over,&rdquo; Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said earlier in these playoffs about the undrafted contributors. &ldquo;These guys have proven themselves as competitors and winning players.&rdquo;
They have. But pointing it out isn&rsquo;t a sign of disrespect. It&rsquo;s a hat tip to the Heat buzz word &mdash; culture.
Miami&rsquo;s player development program &mdash; taking players that other teams overlooked, finding their strength, figuring out how to implement it into the Heat system and then working them like never before &mdash; is raved about by many in the league, and Martin is one of the best examples right now. He was one vote away from being the MVP of the East finals after shooting 11-for-16 and scoring 26 points in Game 7 on Monday night, after not playing at all in a Game 7 loss to Boston in last year&rsquo;s East finals.
&nbsp;

DENVER (AP) &mdash; Caleb Martin was undrafted coming out of college. He entered the NBA with almost no guarantees. He had to play in the G League. Charlotte let him go after two seasons.
Desperate for a second chance, he joined the Miami Heat on a two-way contract to basically start from scratch again.
That&rsquo;s what it takes for some guys to make the league.
And that&rsquo;s what it took for Martin to make the NBA Finals.
On a Heat team filled with undrafted contributors, Martin stood out and became the breakout star of the Eastern Conference finals. He averaged 19.3 points on 60% shooting, scored a playoff-career-high 26 points on Boston&rsquo;s home floor in Game 7, and the Heat needed it all to oust the Celtics and earn a trip to the title round against the Denver Nuggets.
&ldquo;I definitely reflect on where I started and the journey it&rsquo;s taken to get here, and even as early as the two-way last year,&rdquo; Martin said. &ldquo;But I think more than anything, it&rsquo;s kind of a weird feeling because I&rsquo;m also understanding that as happy as I am, as grateful I am to be here, I also understand that we have four more. The job is not done. We didn&rsquo;t go through what we went through all the regular season and my personal journey to stop here.&rdquo;
That&rsquo;s the credo for so many in the Heat locker room.
The captain, 20-year veteran and soon-to-be retired Udonis Haslem, was undrafted. Starting point guard Gabe Vincent, undrafted. Starting shooting guard Max Strus, undrafted. Duncan Robinson, who has made more 3-pointers than anyone in Heat history, undrafted. Haywood Highsmith, who gave the Heat tremendous minutes of energy off the bench against the Celtics, undrafted.
Miami will finish this postseason with more points and starts from undrafted players than the other 15 teams that made the playoffs this year will &mdash; combined. The Heat currently have 876 points and 39 starts from undrafted guys; the rest of the league has 778 points and 31 starts. Denver basically doesn&rsquo;t play anyone that isn&rsquo;t undrafted, so the Heat margin on the rest of the league will only grow the rest of the way.
&ldquo;That storyline is over,&rdquo; Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said earlier in these playoffs about the undrafted contributors. &ldquo;These guys have proven themselves as competitors and winning players.&rdquo;
They have. But pointing it out isn&rsquo;t a sign of disrespect. It&rsquo;s a hat tip to the Heat buzz word &mdash; culture.
Miami&rsquo;s player development program &mdash; taking players that other teams overlooked, finding their strength, figuring out how to implement it into the Heat system and then working them like never before &mdash; is raved about by many in the league, and Martin is one of the best examples right now. He was one vote away from being the MVP of the East finals after shooting 11-for-16 and scoring 26 points in Game 7 on Monday night, after not playing at all in a Game 7 loss to Boston in last year&rsquo;s East finals.
&ldquo;That might have surprised y&rsquo;all,&rdquo; said Heat star Jimmy Butler, who won the MVP trophy. &ldquo;To the untrained eye, he just looks like he&rsquo;s an undrafted guy who has been in the G League, who has started with Charlotte and now he&rsquo;s here. Started on a two-way contract. That&rsquo;s what it looks like to y&rsquo;all. To us, he&rsquo;s a hell of a player, hell of a defender, playmaker, shotmaker, all of the above.&rdquo;
It makes sense that some longshot players helped the Heat get here &mdash; since as a No. 8 seed that almost was eliminated in the play-in tournament, Miami was a longshot to do much of anything in the playoffs, much less make the finals for the league-best seventh time in the past 17 seasons.
Martin was solid in the first two rounds against No. 1 Milwaukee and No. 5 New York, averaging 10.8 points on nearly 53% shooting. Against the second-seeded Celtics, his numbers soared. Boston took a risk and didn&rsquo;t spend a lot of defensive effort on Martin.
He made the Celtics pay for that one.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s super-high-level competition,&rdquo; said Martin, whose twin brother, Cody, has been at many Heat playoff games this spring and has spent his four NBA seasons with Charlotte. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t hide it. You figure out if you&rsquo;re built for these type of environments or not whenever you get into them. I just I feel like I&rsquo;ve just been continuously prepping and getting ready for these moments, and when these moments come, I feel like I&rsquo;m ready for them. I feel like I&rsquo;m built for these type of moments.&rdquo;
Martin signed a three-year, $20 million contract last summer. For the real world, that&rsquo;s a ton of money. For the NBA, that makes him an absolute bargain. It&rsquo;s something he likely never saw coming when he was in college at N.C. State and Nevada, then never heard his name called on draft night, then got told he&rsquo;d have to fight for everything he got in the league.
But he was at his best when Miami needed him most. And now the finals await.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m so proud and happy for him,&rdquo; Butler said. &ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s going to be even better in the next round, and I don&rsquo;t think he&rsquo;s going to be a surprise to anybody any longer.&rdquo;

Caleb Martin stood out and became the breakout star of the Eastern Conference finals, averaging 19.3 points on 60% shooting.

Caleb Martin is the Miami Heat's latest undrafted success story

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; The Boston Celtics were a tenth of a second away from elimination. The Miami Heat were a tenth of a second from the NBA Finals.
Derrick White owned that final moment.
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1662660685023657984?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">White scored on a putback as time expired</a>&nbsp;and the Boston Celtics moved to the brink of the greatest comeback in NBA playoffs history, holding off the Miami Heat 104-103 on Saturday night to force a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference finals.
&ldquo;Derrick White, like a flash of lightning, just came out of nowhere and saved the day, man,&rdquo; Boston&rsquo;s Jaylen Brown said. &ldquo;An incredible play.&rdquo;
White knew it was good. Referees reviewed it, but it didn&rsquo;t take long to give the official word.
Elation for Boston. Devastation for Miami.
&ldquo;Ball came to me,&rdquo; White said. &ldquo;I made the shot.&rdquo;
Perhaps Boston will call it The Shot.
White became the second player in NBA history to hit a buzzer-beater with his team trailing and facing elimination &mdash; Michael Jordan&rsquo;s &ldquo;The Shot&rdquo; for Chicago against Cleveland in 1989 being the other.
&nbsp;

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; The Boston Celtics were a tenth of a second away from elimination. The Miami Heat were a tenth of a second from the NBA Finals.
Derrick White owned that final moment.
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1662660685023657984?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">White scored on a putback as time expired</a>&nbsp;and the Boston Celtics moved to the brink of the greatest comeback in NBA playoffs history, holding off the Miami Heat 104-103 on Saturday night to force a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference finals.
&ldquo;Derrick White, like a flash of lightning, just came out of nowhere and saved the day, man,&rdquo; Boston&rsquo;s Jaylen Brown said. &ldquo;An incredible play.&rdquo;
White knew it was good. Referees reviewed it, but it didn&rsquo;t take long to give the official word.
Elation for Boston. Devastation for Miami.
&ldquo;Ball came to me,&rdquo; White said. &ldquo;I made the shot.&rdquo;
Perhaps Boston will call it The Shot.
White became the second player in NBA history to hit a buzzer-beater with his team trailing and facing elimination &mdash; Michael Jordan&rsquo;s &ldquo;The Shot&rdquo; for Chicago against Cleveland in 1989 being the other.
&ldquo;I was just happy,&rdquo; White said. &ldquo;Season was on the line. We don&rsquo;t want to go home.&rdquo;
Jayson Tatum scored 31 points, Brown scored 26 and Marcus Smart added 21 for the Celtics, who became only the fourth NBA team to erase a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series and force a deciding game. The others in that club &mdash; the 1951 New York Knicks in the NBA Finals, the 1994 Denver Nuggets in the second round and the 2003 Portland Trail Blazers in the first round &mdash; all lost Game 7, all on the road.
Boston, however, is going home for its shot at history. Game 7 is Monday night on the Celtics&rsquo; floor, a matchup that&rsquo;ll decide who meets the Western Conference champion Denver Nuggets in a title series that will start Thursday.
&nbsp;

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; The Boston Celtics were a tenth of a second away from elimination. The Miami Heat were a tenth of a second from the NBA Finals.
Derrick White owned that final moment.
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1662660685023657984?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">White scored on a putback as time expired</a>&nbsp;and the Boston Celtics moved to the brink of the greatest comeback in NBA playoffs history, holding off the Miami Heat 104-103 on Saturday night to force a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference finals.
&ldquo;Derrick White, like a flash of lightning, just came out of nowhere and saved the day, man,&rdquo; Boston&rsquo;s Jaylen Brown said. &ldquo;An incredible play.&rdquo;
White knew it was good. Referees reviewed it, but it didn&rsquo;t take long to give the official word.
Elation for Boston. Devastation for Miami.
&ldquo;Ball came to me,&rdquo; White said. &ldquo;I made the shot.&rdquo;
Perhaps Boston will call it The Shot.
White became the second player in NBA history to hit a buzzer-beater with his team trailing and facing elimination &mdash; Michael Jordan&rsquo;s &ldquo;The Shot&rdquo; for Chicago against Cleveland in 1989 being the other.
&ldquo;I was just happy,&rdquo; White said. &ldquo;Season was on the line. We don&rsquo;t want to go home.&rdquo;
Jayson Tatum scored 31 points, Brown scored 26 and Marcus Smart added 21 for the Celtics, who became only the fourth NBA team to erase a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series and force a deciding game. The others in that club &mdash; the 1951 New York Knicks in the NBA Finals, the 1994 Denver Nuggets in the second round and the 2003 Portland Trail Blazers in the first round &mdash; all lost Game 7, all on the road.
Boston, however, is going home for its shot at history. Game 7 is Monday night on the Celtics&rsquo; floor, a matchup that&rsquo;ll decide who meets the Western Conference champion Denver Nuggets in a title series that will start Thursday.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a seven-game series,&rdquo; Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s nothing better than Game 7s.&rdquo;
Jimmy Butler made three free throws with 3.0 seconds left &mdash; the foul was originally called with 2.1 seconds left; referees put 0.9 seconds back on after reviewing the play to see if it was a 3-point try that Al Horford fouled him on &mdash; for a one-point Heat lead. It capped a Miami rally from 10 points down with less than 4 minutes remaining.
The Celtics had White inbound the ball on the game&rsquo;s final possession, and he passed to Smart &mdash; who missed a 3-pointer. But White sprinted from the inbound spot to the rim, the ball fell into his hands and he got the lay-in away just before time ran out to extend Boston&rsquo;s season.
&nbsp;

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; The Boston Celtics were a tenth of a second away from elimination. The Miami Heat were a tenth of a second from the NBA Finals.
Derrick White owned that final moment.
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1662660685023657984?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">White scored on a putback as time expired</a>&nbsp;and the Boston Celtics moved to the brink of the greatest comeback in NBA playoffs history, holding off the Miami Heat 104-103 on Saturday night to force a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference finals.
&ldquo;Derrick White, like a flash of lightning, just came out of nowhere and saved the day, man,&rdquo; Boston&rsquo;s Jaylen Brown said. &ldquo;An incredible play.&rdquo;
White knew it was good. Referees reviewed it, but it didn&rsquo;t take long to give the official word.
Elation for Boston. Devastation for Miami.
&ldquo;Ball came to me,&rdquo; White said. &ldquo;I made the shot.&rdquo;
Perhaps Boston will call it The Shot.
White became the second player in NBA history to hit a buzzer-beater with his team trailing and facing elimination &mdash; Michael Jordan&rsquo;s &ldquo;The Shot&rdquo; for Chicago against Cleveland in 1989 being the other.
&ldquo;I was just happy,&rdquo; White said. &ldquo;Season was on the line. We don&rsquo;t want to go home.&rdquo;
Jayson Tatum scored 31 points, Brown scored 26 and Marcus Smart added 21 for the Celtics, who became only the fourth NBA team to erase a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series and force a deciding game. The others in that club &mdash; the 1951 New York Knicks in the NBA Finals, the 1994 Denver Nuggets in the second round and the 2003 Portland Trail Blazers in the first round &mdash; all lost Game 7, all on the road.
Boston, however, is going home for its shot at history. Game 7 is Monday night on the Celtics&rsquo; floor, a matchup that&rsquo;ll decide who meets the Western Conference champion Denver Nuggets in a title series that will start Thursday.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a seven-game series,&rdquo; Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s nothing better than Game 7s.&rdquo;
Jimmy Butler made three free throws with 3.0 seconds left &mdash; the foul was originally called with 2.1 seconds left; referees put 0.9 seconds back on after reviewing the play to see if it was a 3-point try that Al Horford fouled him on &mdash; for a one-point Heat lead. It capped a Miami rally from 10 points down with less than 4 minutes remaining.
The Celtics had White inbound the ball on the game&rsquo;s final possession, and he passed to Smart &mdash; who missed a 3-pointer. But White sprinted from the inbound spot to the rim, the ball fell into his hands and he got the lay-in away just before time ran out to extend Boston&rsquo;s season.
There had been other buzzer-beaters from players whose teams were facing an elimination game, but before Saturday, only Jordan&rsquo;s came with his team trailing.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla was asked what went through his mind at that moment.
&ldquo;Nothing,&rdquo; Mazzulla said. &ldquo;Game 7.&rdquo;
Butler scored 24 points and Caleb Martin had 21 for the Heat, who are trying to pull off their own improbable trek to the title series by being only the second No. 8 seed to make the NBA Finals. They&rsquo;ve now lost as many games this week &mdash; three &mdash; as they had in their first 14 playoff games this spring combined on the way to ousting No. 1 Milwaukee, then No. 5 New York and taking what was supposed to be an insurmountable 3-0 lead over the second-seeded Celtics.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to go on the road and do something special,&rdquo; Butler said. &ldquo;But we&rsquo;ve got a special group.&rdquo;
&nbsp;

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; The Boston Celtics were a tenth of a second away from elimination. The Miami Heat were a tenth of a second from the NBA Finals.
Derrick White owned that final moment.
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1662660685023657984?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">White scored on a putback as time expired</a>&nbsp;and the Boston Celtics moved to the brink of the greatest comeback in NBA playoffs history, holding off the Miami Heat 104-103 on Saturday night to force a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference finals.
&ldquo;Derrick White, like a flash of lightning, just came out of nowhere and saved the day, man,&rdquo; Boston&rsquo;s Jaylen Brown said. &ldquo;An incredible play.&rdquo;
White knew it was good. Referees reviewed it, but it didn&rsquo;t take long to give the official word.
Elation for Boston. Devastation for Miami.
&ldquo;Ball came to me,&rdquo; White said. &ldquo;I made the shot.&rdquo;
Perhaps Boston will call it The Shot.
White became the second player in NBA history to hit a buzzer-beater with his team trailing and facing elimination &mdash; Michael Jordan&rsquo;s &ldquo;The Shot&rdquo; for Chicago against Cleveland in 1989 being the other.
&ldquo;I was just happy,&rdquo; White said. &ldquo;Season was on the line. We don&rsquo;t want to go home.&rdquo;
Jayson Tatum scored 31 points, Brown scored 26 and Marcus Smart added 21 for the Celtics, who became only the fourth NBA team to erase a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series and force a deciding game. The others in that club &mdash; the 1951 New York Knicks in the NBA Finals, the 1994 Denver Nuggets in the second round and the 2003 Portland Trail Blazers in the first round &mdash; all lost Game 7, all on the road.
Boston, however, is going home for its shot at history. Game 7 is Monday night on the Celtics&rsquo; floor, a matchup that&rsquo;ll decide who meets the Western Conference champion Denver Nuggets in a title series that will start Thursday.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a seven-game series,&rdquo; Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s nothing better than Game 7s.&rdquo;
Jimmy Butler made three free throws with 3.0 seconds left &mdash; the foul was originally called with 2.1 seconds left; referees put 0.9 seconds back on after reviewing the play to see if it was a 3-point try that Al Horford fouled him on &mdash; for a one-point Heat lead. It capped a Miami rally from 10 points down with less than 4 minutes remaining.
The Celtics had White inbound the ball on the game&rsquo;s final possession, and he passed to Smart &mdash; who missed a 3-pointer. But White sprinted from the inbound spot to the rim, the ball fell into his hands and he got the lay-in away just before time ran out to extend Boston&rsquo;s season.
There had been other buzzer-beaters from players whose teams were facing an elimination game, but before Saturday, only Jordan&rsquo;s came with his team trailing.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla was asked what went through his mind at that moment.
&ldquo;Nothing,&rdquo; Mazzulla said. &ldquo;Game 7.&rdquo;
Butler scored 24 points and Caleb Martin had 21 for the Heat, who are trying to pull off their own improbable trek to the title series by being only the second No. 8 seed to make the NBA Finals. They&rsquo;ve now lost as many games this week &mdash; three &mdash; as they had in their first 14 playoff games this spring combined on the way to ousting No. 1 Milwaukee, then No. 5 New York and taking what was supposed to be an insurmountable 3-0 lead over the second-seeded Celtics.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to go on the road and do something special,&rdquo; Butler said. &ldquo;But we&rsquo;ve got a special group.&rdquo;
The Celtics have now won five of their last six East finals games in Miami &mdash; a stretch that includes a Game 7 over the Heat last season to reach the NBA Finals.
That one, obviously, ended the Heat season. At least this time, Miami still has a chance.
&nbsp;

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; The Boston Celtics were a tenth of a second away from elimination. The Miami Heat were a tenth of a second from the NBA Finals.
Derrick White owned that final moment.
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1662660685023657984?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">White scored on a putback as time expired</a>&nbsp;and the Boston Celtics moved to the brink of the greatest comeback in NBA playoffs history, holding off the Miami Heat 104-103 on Saturday night to force a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference finals.
&ldquo;Derrick White, like a flash of lightning, just came out of nowhere and saved the day, man,&rdquo; Boston&rsquo;s Jaylen Brown said. &ldquo;An incredible play.&rdquo;
White knew it was good. Referees reviewed it, but it didn&rsquo;t take long to give the official word.
Elation for Boston. Devastation for Miami.
&ldquo;Ball came to me,&rdquo; White said. &ldquo;I made the shot.&rdquo;
Perhaps Boston will call it The Shot.
White became the second player in NBA history to hit a buzzer-beater with his team trailing and facing elimination &mdash; Michael Jordan&rsquo;s &ldquo;The Shot&rdquo; for Chicago against Cleveland in 1989 being the other.
&ldquo;I was just happy,&rdquo; White said. &ldquo;Season was on the line. We don&rsquo;t want to go home.&rdquo;
Jayson Tatum scored 31 points, Brown scored 26 and Marcus Smart added 21 for the Celtics, who became only the fourth NBA team to erase a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series and force a deciding game. The others in that club &mdash; the 1951 New York Knicks in the NBA Finals, the 1994 Denver Nuggets in the second round and the 2003 Portland Trail Blazers in the first round &mdash; all lost Game 7, all on the road.
Boston, however, is going home for its shot at history. Game 7 is Monday night on the Celtics&rsquo; floor, a matchup that&rsquo;ll decide who meets the Western Conference champion Denver Nuggets in a title series that will start Thursday.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a seven-game series,&rdquo; Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s nothing better than Game 7s.&rdquo;
Jimmy Butler made three free throws with 3.0 seconds left &mdash; the foul was originally called with 2.1 seconds left; referees put 0.9 seconds back on after reviewing the play to see if it was a 3-point try that Al Horford fouled him on &mdash; for a one-point Heat lead. It capped a Miami rally from 10 points down with less than 4 minutes remaining.
The Celtics had White inbound the ball on the game&rsquo;s final possession, and he passed to Smart &mdash; who missed a 3-pointer. But White sprinted from the inbound spot to the rim, the ball fell into his hands and he got the lay-in away just before time ran out to extend Boston&rsquo;s season.
There had been other buzzer-beaters from players whose teams were facing an elimination game, but before Saturday, only Jordan&rsquo;s came with his team trailing.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla was asked what went through his mind at that moment.
&ldquo;Nothing,&rdquo; Mazzulla said. &ldquo;Game 7.&rdquo;
Butler scored 24 points and Caleb Martin had 21 for the Heat, who are trying to pull off their own improbable trek to the title series by being only the second No. 8 seed to make the NBA Finals. They&rsquo;ve now lost as many games this week &mdash; three &mdash; as they had in their first 14 playoff games this spring combined on the way to ousting No. 1 Milwaukee, then No. 5 New York and taking what was supposed to be an insurmountable 3-0 lead over the second-seeded Celtics.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to go on the road and do something special,&rdquo; Butler said. &ldquo;But we&rsquo;ve got a special group.&rdquo;
The Celtics have now won five of their last six East finals games in Miami &mdash; a stretch that includes a Game 7 over the Heat last season to reach the NBA Finals.
That one, obviously, ended the Heat season. At least this time, Miami still has a chance.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know how we&rsquo;re going to get this done, but we&rsquo;re going to go out there and get it done,&rdquo; Spoelstra said. &ldquo;And that&rsquo;s what the next 48 hours is about. There&rsquo;s been nothing easy about this season for our group, and so we just have to do it the hard way.&rdquo;
The Heat are the 151st team to grab a 3-0 series lead in a best-of-seven. All 150 of the previous clubs finished the job. But the Celtics have made very clear that they have other ideas, and Mazzulla listed a lot of reasons why.
&ldquo;Faith. Love. Togetherness. Physicality. Belief. Hope.&rdquo; Mazzulla said. &ldquo;All those things combined. It starts with the locker room. Those guys had a choice to make and they chose to believe in each other.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Celtics: The Celtics are 5-0 when facing elimination this season, 3-0 on the road. They beat Philadelphia twice on their way to erasing a 3-2 lead in the East finals, and now have tied this series. &hellip; Malcolm Brogdon (right forearm strain) was downgraded to out about an hour before game time. ... White scored 11 for the Celtics, and Robert Williams III had 10.
Heat: Gabe Vincent scored 15, Duncan Robinson scored 13 and Bam Adebayo added 11 for Miami. ... Diddy was at the game, as was former Heat guard Goran Dragic and Florida Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk. &hellip; Unless Miami wins Game 7 at Boston, it may have been the final home game of Heat forward Udonis Haslem&rsquo;s 20-year career. The Heat are 613-297 in the 910 games in their home arena with Haslem on the roster; that doesn&rsquo;t include the restart bubble&rsquo;s home games in 2020.
GAME 7 HISTORY
The Celtics are 27-9 in Game 7s, winners of their last four &mdash; including one in Miami last season and one earlier this season, against Philadelphia in the East semifinals. They&rsquo;re 1-1 against the Heat all-time in such games (losing the 2012 East finals deciding game in Miami), and 22-5 at home in Game 7.
The Heat are 6-5 all-time in Game 7s, losing their last two (home vs. Boston in 2022, at Toronto in 2016), and are 0-2 when facing such a game on the road. Besides the Raptors game seven years ago, they lost a Game 7 at Atlanta in 2009.

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; The Boston Celtics were a tenth of a second away from elimination. The Miami Heat were a tenth of a second from the NBA Finals.
Derrick White owned that final moment.
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1662660685023657984?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">White scored on a putback as time expired</a>&nbsp;and the Boston Celtics moved to the brink of the greatest comeback in NBA playoffs history, holding off the Miami Heat 104-103 on Saturday night to force a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference finals.
&ldquo;Derrick White, like a flash of lightning, just came out of nowhere and saved the day, man,&rdquo; Boston&rsquo;s Jaylen Brown said. &ldquo;An incredible play.&rdquo;
White knew it was good. Referees reviewed it, but it didn&rsquo;t take long to give the official word.
Elation for Boston. Devastation for Miami.
&ldquo;Ball came to me,&rdquo; White said. &ldquo;I made the shot.&rdquo;
&nbsp;
Perhaps Boston will call it The Shot.
White became the second player in NBA history to hit a buzzer-beater with his team trailing and facing elimination &mdash; Michael Jordan&rsquo;s &ldquo;The Shot&rdquo; for Chicago against Cleveland in 1989 being the other.
&ldquo;I was just happy,&rdquo; White said. &ldquo;Season was on the line. We don&rsquo;t want to go home.&rdquo;
Jayson Tatum scored 31 points, Brown scored 26 and Marcus Smart added 21 for the Celtics, who became only the fourth NBA team to erase a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series and force a deciding game. The others in that club &mdash; the 1951 New York Knicks in the NBA Finals, the 1994 Denver Nuggets in the second round and the 2003 Portland Trail Blazers in the first round &mdash; all lost Game 7, all on the road.
Boston, however, is going home for its shot at history. Game 7 is Monday night on the Celtics&rsquo; floor, a matchup that&rsquo;ll decide who meets the Western Conference champion Denver Nuggets in a title series that will start Thursday.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a seven-game series,&rdquo; Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s nothing better than Game 7s.&rdquo;
Jimmy Butler made three free throws with 3.0 seconds left &mdash; the foul was originally called with 2.1 seconds left; referees put 0.9 seconds back on after reviewing the play to see if it was a 3-point try that Al Horford fouled him on &mdash; for a one-point Heat lead. It capped a Miami rally from 10 points down with less than 4 minutes remaining.
The Celtics had White inbound the ball on the game&rsquo;s final possession, and he passed to Smart &mdash; who missed a 3-pointer. But White sprinted from the inbound spot to the rim, the ball fell into his hands and he got the lay-in away just before time ran out to extend Boston&rsquo;s season.
There had been other buzzer-beaters from players whose teams were facing an elimination game, but before Saturday, only Jordan&rsquo;s came with his team trailing.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla was asked what went through his mind at that moment.
&ldquo;Nothing,&rdquo; Mazzulla said. &ldquo;Game 7.&rdquo;
Butler scored 24 points and Caleb Martin had 21 for the Heat, who are trying to pull off their own improbable trek to the title series by being only the second No. 8 seed to make the NBA Finals. They&rsquo;ve now lost as many games this week &mdash; three &mdash; as they had in their first 14 playoff games this spring combined on the way to ousting No. 1 Milwaukee, then No. 5 New York and taking what was supposed to be an insurmountable 3-0 lead over the second-seeded Celtics.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to go on the road and do something special,&rdquo; Butler said. &ldquo;But we&rsquo;ve got a special group.&rdquo;
The Celtics have now won five of their last six East finals games in Miami &mdash; a stretch that includes a Game 7 over the Heat last season to reach the NBA Finals.
That one, obviously, ended the Heat season. At least this time, Miami still has a chance.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know how we&rsquo;re going to get this done, but we&rsquo;re going to go out there and get it done,&rdquo; Spoelstra said. &ldquo;And that&rsquo;s what the next 48 hours is about. There&rsquo;s been nothing easy about this season for our group, and so we just have to do it the hard way.&rdquo;
The Heat are the 151st team to grab a 3-0 series lead in a best-of-seven. All 150 of the previous clubs finished the job. But the Celtics have made very clear that they have other ideas, and Mazzulla listed a lot of reasons why.
&ldquo;Faith. Love. Togetherness. Physicality. Belief. Hope.&rdquo; Mazzulla said. &ldquo;All those things combined. It starts with the locker room. Those guys had a choice to make and they chose to believe in each other.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Celtics: The Celtics are 5-0 when facing elimination this season, 3-0 on the road. They beat Philadelphia twice on their way to erasing a 3-2 lead in the East finals, and now have tied this series. &hellip; Malcolm Brogdon (right forearm strain) was downgraded to out about an hour before game time. ... White scored 11 for the Celtics, and Robert Williams III had 10.
Heat: Gabe Vincent scored 15, Duncan Robinson scored 13 and Bam Adebayo added 11 for Miami. ... Diddy was at the game, as was former Heat guard Goran Dragic and Florida Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk. &hellip; Unless Miami wins Game 7 at Boston, it may have been the final home game of Heat forward Udonis Haslem&rsquo;s 20-year career. The Heat are 613-297 in the 910 games in their home arena with Haslem on the roster; that doesn&rsquo;t include the restart bubble&rsquo;s home games in 2020.
GAME 7 HISTORY
The Celtics are 27-9 in Game 7s, winners of their last four &mdash; including one in Miami last season and one earlier this season, against Philadelphia in the East semifinals. They&rsquo;re 1-1 against the Heat all-time in such games (losing the 2012 East finals deciding game in Miami), and 22-5 at home in Game 7.
The Heat are 6-5 all-time in Game 7s, losing their last two (home vs. Boston in 2022, at Toronto in 2016), and are 0-2 when facing such a game on the road. Besides the Raptors game seven years ago, they lost a Game 7 at Atlanta in 2009.

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; The Boston Celtics were a tenth of a second away from elimination. The Miami Heat were a tenth of a second from the NBA Finals.
Derrick White owned that final moment.
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1662660685023657984?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">White scored on a putback as time expired</a>&nbsp;and the Boston Celtics moved to the brink of the greatest comeback in NBA playoffs history, holding off the Miami Heat 104-103 on Saturday night to force a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference finals.
&ldquo;Derrick White, like a flash of lightning, just came out of nowhere and saved the day, man,&rdquo; Boston&rsquo;s Jaylen Brown said. &ldquo;An incredible play.&rdquo;
White knew it was good. Referees reviewed it, but it didn&rsquo;t take long to give the official word.
Elation for Boston. Devastation for Miami.
&ldquo;Ball came to me,&rdquo; White said. &ldquo;I made the shot.&rdquo;
Perhaps Boston will call it The Shot.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
DERRICK WHITE JUST SENT THE CELTICS TO GAME SEVEN ARE YOU KIDDING ME 😱😱😱 <a href="https://t.co/CwWBN9FcKM">pic.twitter.com/CwWBN9FcKM</a>
&mdash; BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews/status/1662658954256687104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 28, 2023</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

White became the second player in NBA history to hit a buzzer-beater with his team trailing and facing elimination &mdash; Michael Jordan&rsquo;s &ldquo;The Shot&rdquo; for Chicago against Cleveland in 1989 being the other.
&ldquo;I was just happy,&rdquo; White said. &ldquo;Season was on the line. We don&rsquo;t want to go home.&rdquo;
Jayson Tatum scored 31 points, Brown scored 26 and Marcus Smart added 21 for the Celtics, who became only the fourth NBA team to erase a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series and force a deciding game. The others in that club &mdash; the 1951 New York Knicks in the NBA Finals, the 1994 Denver Nuggets in the second round and the 2003 Portland Trail Blazers in the first round &mdash; all lost Game 7, all on the road.
Boston, however, is going home for its shot at history. Game 7 is Monday night on the Celtics&rsquo; floor, a matchup that&rsquo;ll decide who meets the Western Conference champion Denver Nuggets in a title series that will start Thursday.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a seven-game series,&rdquo; Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s nothing better than Game 7s.&rdquo;
Jimmy Butler made three free throws with 3.0 seconds left &mdash; the foul was originally called with 2.1 seconds left; referees put 0.9 seconds back on after reviewing the play to see if it was a 3-point try that Al Horford fouled him on &mdash; for a one-point Heat lead. It capped a Miami rally from 10 points down with less than 4 minutes remaining.
The Celtics had White inbound the ball on the game&rsquo;s final possession, and he passed to Smart &mdash; who missed a 3-pointer. But White sprinted from the inbound spot to the rim, the ball fell into his hands and he got the lay-in away just before time ran out to extend Boston&rsquo;s season.
There had been other buzzer-beaters from players whose teams were facing an elimination game, but before Saturday, only Jordan&rsquo;s came with his team trailing.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla was asked what went through his mind at that moment.
&ldquo;Nothing,&rdquo; Mazzulla said. &ldquo;Game 7.&rdquo;
Butler scored 24 points and Caleb Martin had 21 for the Heat, who are trying to pull off their own improbable trek to the title series by being only the second No. 8 seed to make the NBA Finals. They&rsquo;ve now lost as many games this week &mdash; three &mdash; as they had in their first 14 playoff games this spring combined on the way to ousting No. 1 Milwaukee, then No. 5 New York and taking what was supposed to be an insurmountable 3-0 lead over the second-seeded Celtics.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to go on the road and do something special,&rdquo; Butler said. &ldquo;But we&rsquo;ve got a special group.&rdquo;
The Celtics have now won five of their last six East finals games in Miami &mdash; a stretch that includes a Game 7 over the Heat last season to reach the NBA Finals.
That one, obviously, ended the Heat season. At least this time, Miami still has a chance.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know how we&rsquo;re going to get this done, but we&rsquo;re going to go out there and get it done,&rdquo; Spoelstra said. &ldquo;And that&rsquo;s what the next 48 hours is about. There&rsquo;s been nothing easy about this season for our group, and so we just have to do it the hard way.&rdquo;
The Heat are the 151st team to grab a 3-0 series lead in a best-of-seven. All 150 of the previous clubs finished the job. But the Celtics have made very clear that they have other ideas, and Mazzulla listed a lot of reasons why.
&ldquo;Faith. Love. Togetherness. Physicality. Belief. Hope.&rdquo; Mazzulla said. &ldquo;All those things combined. It starts with the locker room. Those guys had a choice to make and they chose to believe in each other.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Celtics: The Celtics are 5-0 when facing elimination this season, 3-0 on the road. They beat Philadelphia twice on their way to erasing a 3-2 lead in the East finals, and now have tied this series. &hellip; Malcolm Brogdon (right forearm strain) was downgraded to out about an hour before game time. ... White scored 11 for the Celtics, and Robert Williams III had 10.
Heat: Gabe Vincent scored 15, Duncan Robinson scored 13 and Bam Adebayo added 11 for Miami. ... Diddy was at the game, as was former Heat guard Goran Dragic and Florida Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk. &hellip; Unless Miami wins Game 7 at Boston, it may have been the final home game of Heat forward Udonis Haslem&rsquo;s 20-year career. The Heat are 613-297 in the 910 games in their home arena with Haslem on the roster; that doesn&rsquo;t include the restart bubble&rsquo;s home games in 2020.
GAME 7 HISTORY
The Celtics are 27-9 in Game 7s, winners of their last four &mdash; including one in Miami last season and one earlier this season, against Philadelphia in the East semifinals. They&rsquo;re 1-1 against the Heat all-time in such games (losing the 2012 East finals deciding game in Miami), and 22-5 at home in Game 7.
The Heat are 6-5 all-time in Game 7s, losing their last two (home vs. Boston in 2022, at Toronto in 2016), and are 0-2 when facing such a game on the road. Besides the Raptors game seven years ago, they lost a Game 7 at Atlanta in 2009.

The Celtics moved to the brink of the greatest comeback in NBA history, holding off the Heat 104-103 on Saturday to force a Game 7

White’s putback as time expires lifts Celtics past Heat, forces Game 7

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Maybe Kevin Garnett was right. Maybe,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZYPzhBf0mc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">as he screamed in celebration</a>&nbsp;of Boston&rsquo;s 2008 NBA championship, anything truly is possible.
Even the impossible.
The Celtics are halfway to history, and that alone has gotten them entry into a very small club. Of the first 150 teams that trailed a best-of-seven series 3-0 in NBA history, just 14 &mdash; 9.3% &mdash; found a way to extend the matchup to Game 6. None of them have won the series, and most are usually eliminated by now.
Not the Celtics. They have cut the deficit in the Eastern Conference finals against the Miami Heat to 3-2, simultaneously trailing the series yet seeming to have all the momentum going into Game 6 in Miami on Saturday night.
&ldquo;Obviously, we didn&rsquo;t imagine being in this position, being down 3-0, but when adversity hits, you get to see like what a team is really made of,&rdquo; Celtics forward Jaylen Brown said. &ldquo;I mean, it couldn&rsquo;t get no worse than being down 3-0, but we didn&rsquo;t look around, we didn&rsquo;t go in separate directions. We stayed together. We doubled down on what we&rsquo;re good at on defense, and now I think it&rsquo;s a series.&rdquo;

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Maybe Kevin Garnett was right. Maybe,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZYPzhBf0mc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">as he screamed in celebration</a>&nbsp;of Boston&rsquo;s 2008 NBA championship, anything truly is possible.
Even the impossible.
The Celtics are halfway to history, and that alone has gotten them entry into a very small club. Of the first 150 teams that trailed a best-of-seven series 3-0 in NBA history, just 14 &mdash; 9.3% &mdash; found a way to extend the matchup to Game 6. None of them have won the series, and most are usually eliminated by now.
Not the Celtics. They have cut the deficit in the Eastern Conference finals against the Miami Heat to 3-2, simultaneously trailing the series yet seeming to have all the momentum going into Game 6 in Miami on Saturday night.
&ldquo;Obviously, we didn&rsquo;t imagine being in this position, being down 3-0, but when adversity hits, you get to see like what a team is really made of,&rdquo; Celtics forward Jaylen Brown said. &ldquo;I mean, it couldn&rsquo;t get no worse than being down 3-0, but we didn&rsquo;t look around, we didn&rsquo;t go in separate directions. We stayed together. We doubled down on what we&rsquo;re good at on defense, and now I think it&rsquo;s a series.&rdquo;
Only three teams have gone from down 3-0 to tied 3-3; the Celtics could be the fourth with a win on Saturday. No NBA team has ever fully escaped the 3-0 hole, but a win on Saturday would give Boston a chance to change that in Game 7 &mdash; which would be Monday on its home floor.
&ldquo;One of our assistants put it in great perspective: The seasons are like nine months long, and we just had a bad week,&rdquo; Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. &ldquo;Sometimes you have a bad week at work. We obviously didn&rsquo;t pick the best time to have a bad week, but we did, and we&rsquo;re sticking together and fighting like hell to keep it alive.&rdquo;
&nbsp;

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Maybe Kevin Garnett was right. Maybe,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZYPzhBf0mc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">as he screamed in celebration</a>&nbsp;of Boston&rsquo;s 2008 NBA championship, anything truly is possible.
Even the impossible.
The Celtics are halfway to history, and that alone has gotten them entry into a very small club. Of the first 150 teams that trailed a best-of-seven series 3-0 in NBA history, just 14 &mdash; 9.3% &mdash; found a way to extend the matchup to Game 6. None of them have won the series, and most are usually eliminated by now.
Not the Celtics. They have cut the deficit in the Eastern Conference finals against the Miami Heat to 3-2, simultaneously trailing the series yet seeming to have all the momentum going into Game 6 in Miami on Saturday night.
&ldquo;Obviously, we didn&rsquo;t imagine being in this position, being down 3-0, but when adversity hits, you get to see like what a team is really made of,&rdquo; Celtics forward Jaylen Brown said. &ldquo;I mean, it couldn&rsquo;t get no worse than being down 3-0, but we didn&rsquo;t look around, we didn&rsquo;t go in separate directions. We stayed together. We doubled down on what we&rsquo;re good at on defense, and now I think it&rsquo;s a series.&rdquo;
Only three teams have gone from down 3-0 to tied 3-3; the Celtics could be the fourth with a win on Saturday. No NBA team has ever fully escaped the 3-0 hole, but a win on Saturday would give Boston a chance to change that in Game 7 &mdash; which would be Monday on its home floor.
&ldquo;One of our assistants put it in great perspective: The seasons are like nine months long, and we just had a bad week,&rdquo; Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. &ldquo;Sometimes you have a bad week at work. We obviously didn&rsquo;t pick the best time to have a bad week, but we did, and we&rsquo;re sticking together and fighting like hell to keep it alive.&rdquo;
Meanwhile, the Denver Nuggets are waiting for an opponent. If Boston wins the series, the Nuggets will visit the Celtics for Game 1 of the NBA Finals. If Miami wins the East, the Heat are headed to Denver for Game 1. Either way, the title series starts June 1, somewhere.
&nbsp;

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Maybe Kevin Garnett was right. Maybe,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZYPzhBf0mc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">as he screamed in celebration</a>&nbsp;of Boston&rsquo;s 2008 NBA championship, anything truly is possible.
Even the impossible.
The Celtics are halfway to history, and that alone has gotten them entry into a very small club. Of the first 150 teams that trailed a best-of-seven series 3-0 in NBA history, just 14 &mdash; 9.3% &mdash; found a way to extend the matchup to Game 6. None of them have won the series, and most are usually eliminated by now.
Not the Celtics. They have cut the deficit in the Eastern Conference finals against the Miami Heat to 3-2, simultaneously trailing the series yet seeming to have all the momentum going into Game 6 in Miami on Saturday night.
&ldquo;Obviously, we didn&rsquo;t imagine being in this position, being down 3-0, but when adversity hits, you get to see like what a team is really made of,&rdquo; Celtics forward Jaylen Brown said. &ldquo;I mean, it couldn&rsquo;t get no worse than being down 3-0, but we didn&rsquo;t look around, we didn&rsquo;t go in separate directions. We stayed together. We doubled down on what we&rsquo;re good at on defense, and now I think it&rsquo;s a series.&rdquo;
Only three teams have gone from down 3-0 to tied 3-3; the Celtics could be the fourth with a win on Saturday. No NBA team has ever fully escaped the 3-0 hole, but a win on Saturday would give Boston a chance to change that in Game 7 &mdash; which would be Monday on its home floor.
&ldquo;One of our assistants put it in great perspective: The seasons are like nine months long, and we just had a bad week,&rdquo; Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. &ldquo;Sometimes you have a bad week at work. We obviously didn&rsquo;t pick the best time to have a bad week, but we did, and we&rsquo;re sticking together and fighting like hell to keep it alive.&rdquo;
Meanwhile, the Denver Nuggets are waiting for an opponent. If Boston wins the series, the Nuggets will visit the Celtics for Game 1 of the NBA Finals. If Miami wins the East, the Heat are headed to Denver for Game 1. Either way, the title series starts June 1, somewhere.
&ldquo;We have to shore up who we are and address the areas that we have not been maybe good enough or areas that we can clean up,&rdquo; Nuggets coach Michael Malone said Friday, after the team&rsquo;s first real practice since sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers for the Western Conference title. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s really hard to keep your rhythm when you&rsquo;re not playing NBA games.&rdquo;
The Heat had a nine-point lead in the third quarter of Game 4, in position to perhaps win in a sweep. The lead was gone 2-1/2 minutes later and the Celtics haven&rsquo;t trailed since.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/celtics-heat-eastern-conference-2023-nba-playoffs-5e85ae90fa8d41cb67bdde88dd142082">An 18-0 run in Game 4</a>&nbsp;put Boston on top of that game for good, a 12-0 run by the Celtics later in that game ended all doubt, and&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/heat-celtics-nba-playoffs-2023-6a8a1e06d6defdd571e45f76654418ba">then they started Game 5</a>&nbsp;with a 20-5 burst.
&nbsp;

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Maybe Kevin Garnett was right. Maybe,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZYPzhBf0mc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">as he screamed in celebration</a>&nbsp;of Boston&rsquo;s 2008 NBA championship, anything truly is possible.
Even the impossible.
The Celtics are halfway to history, and that alone has gotten them entry into a very small club. Of the first 150 teams that trailed a best-of-seven series 3-0 in NBA history, just 14 &mdash; 9.3% &mdash; found a way to extend the matchup to Game 6. None of them have won the series, and most are usually eliminated by now.
Not the Celtics. They have cut the deficit in the Eastern Conference finals against the Miami Heat to 3-2, simultaneously trailing the series yet seeming to have all the momentum going into Game 6 in Miami on Saturday night.
&ldquo;Obviously, we didn&rsquo;t imagine being in this position, being down 3-0, but when adversity hits, you get to see like what a team is really made of,&rdquo; Celtics forward Jaylen Brown said. &ldquo;I mean, it couldn&rsquo;t get no worse than being down 3-0, but we didn&rsquo;t look around, we didn&rsquo;t go in separate directions. We stayed together. We doubled down on what we&rsquo;re good at on defense, and now I think it&rsquo;s a series.&rdquo;
Only three teams have gone from down 3-0 to tied 3-3; the Celtics could be the fourth with a win on Saturday. No NBA team has ever fully escaped the 3-0 hole, but a win on Saturday would give Boston a chance to change that in Game 7 &mdash; which would be Monday on its home floor.
&ldquo;One of our assistants put it in great perspective: The seasons are like nine months long, and we just had a bad week,&rdquo; Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. &ldquo;Sometimes you have a bad week at work. We obviously didn&rsquo;t pick the best time to have a bad week, but we did, and we&rsquo;re sticking together and fighting like hell to keep it alive.&rdquo;
Meanwhile, the Denver Nuggets are waiting for an opponent. If Boston wins the series, the Nuggets will visit the Celtics for Game 1 of the NBA Finals. If Miami wins the East, the Heat are headed to Denver for Game 1. Either way, the title series starts June 1, somewhere.
&ldquo;We have to shore up who we are and address the areas that we have not been maybe good enough or areas that we can clean up,&rdquo; Nuggets coach Michael Malone said Friday, after the team&rsquo;s first real practice since sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers for the Western Conference title. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s really hard to keep your rhythm when you&rsquo;re not playing NBA games.&rdquo;
The Heat had a nine-point lead in the third quarter of Game 4, in position to perhaps win in a sweep. The lead was gone 2-1/2 minutes later and the Celtics haven&rsquo;t trailed since.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/celtics-heat-eastern-conference-2023-nba-playoffs-5e85ae90fa8d41cb67bdde88dd142082">An 18-0 run in Game 4</a>&nbsp;put Boston on top of that game for good, a 12-0 run by the Celtics later in that game ended all doubt, and&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/heat-celtics-nba-playoffs-2023-6a8a1e06d6defdd571e45f76654418ba">then they started Game 5</a>&nbsp;with a 20-5 burst.
Add that all up, and from the start of the third-quarter run in Game 4 to the end of the start-of-game spurt in Game 5, the Celtics outscored the Heat 84-43 in a span of 27 minutes.
&ldquo;The last two games are not who we are. It just happened to be that way,&rdquo; Heat forward Jimmy Butler said. &ldquo;We stopped playing defense halfway because we didn&rsquo;t make shots that we want to make. But that&rsquo;s easily correctable. You just have to come out and play harder from the jump. Like I always say, it&rsquo;s going to be all smiles and we are going to keep it very, very, very consistent, knowing that we are going to win next game.&rdquo;
At least the confidence isn&rsquo;t ailing. Everything else is.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra flatly shot down the notion that Miami has an excuse for the way it played in Game 5 &mdash; &ldquo;there&rsquo;s no excuses. Not at all,&rdquo; he insisted &mdash; even though the training room is as crowded as a scrum for a loose ball under a basket right now. The Heat have been shorthanded in the backcourt for the entirety of the playoffs after injuries to shooting guards Tyler Herro and Victor Oladipo, plus they didn&rsquo;t have starting guard Gabe Vincent for Game 5 and watched Kyle Lowry play through some sort of hand issue.
Miami&rsquo;s starters were outscored 95-44 in Game 5, and since the start of Boston&rsquo;s comeback-sparking burst in Game 4 the Heat have been outscored 75-33 from 3-point range, allowed the Celtics to shoot 54% from the field, 44% from 3-point range while committing 26 turnovers to Boston&rsquo;s 12.
Pick a number. They&rsquo;re all bad for the Heat, except the one that matters most &mdash; 3-2, the series score that means Miami is still only one win from capping its own improbable run of being a No. 8 seed that found its way into the NBA Finals.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a competitive series,&rdquo; Spoelstra said. &ldquo;You always expect things to be challenging in the conference finals. One game doesn&rsquo;t lead to the next game. &hellip; We beat them by whatever in Game 3. It just doesn&rsquo;t matter. It&rsquo;s about collectively preparing and putting together a great game. We&rsquo;ll play much better on Saturday. That&rsquo;s all we just have to focus on right now.&rdquo;

Of the first 150 teams that trailed a best-of-seven series 3-0 in NBA history, just 14 found a way to extend the matchup to Game 6.

Heat still lead East finals, but Celtics roaring back with eye on history

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Down nine early in the third quarter, down 3-0 in the series, the Boston Celtics knew their season was completely on the brink.
Three minutes later, everything looked different.
Jayson Tatum had 34 points and 11 rebounds, Derrick White and Jaylen Brown each added 16 points and the Celtics staved off elimination in the Eastern Conference finals by running away in the second half to beat the Miami Heat 116-99 in Game 4 on Tuesday night.
&ldquo;We were just trying to save our season,&rdquo; Tatum said.
They most definitely found a way to do that. The two big differences: a 33-point edge for the Celtics on 3-pointers, and an 18-0 run in that three-minute, third-quarter spurt that changed the game and &mdash; they hope &mdash; might end up changing the series.
&ldquo;We can&rsquo;t relax,&rdquo; Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. &ldquo;We have to keep the same level of intensity, the same mindset, the same focus in the next game.&rdquo;
&nbsp;

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Down nine early in the third quarter, down 3-0 in the series, the Boston Celtics knew their season was completely on the brink.
Three minutes later, everything looked different.
Jayson Tatum had 34 points and 11 rebounds, Derrick White and Jaylen Brown each added 16 points and the Celtics staved off elimination in the Eastern Conference finals by running away in the second half to beat the Miami Heat 116-99 in Game 4 on Tuesday night.
&ldquo;We were just trying to save our season,&rdquo; Tatum said.
They most definitely found a way to do that. The two big differences: a 33-point edge for the Celtics on 3-pointers, and an 18-0 run in that three-minute, third-quarter spurt that changed the game and &mdash; they hope &mdash; might end up changing the series.
&ldquo;We can&rsquo;t relax,&rdquo; Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. &ldquo;We have to keep the same level of intensity, the same mindset, the same focus in the next game.&rdquo;
Grant Williams scored 14, Al Horford added 12 and Marcus Smart scored 11 for the Celtics, who still trail the series 3-1 &mdash; but sent it back to Boston for a Game 5 on Thursday.
Jimmy Butler scored 29 for Miami, which was outscored 48-22 in a 14-minute stretch that turned the game &mdash; and perhaps the series &mdash; completely around. Boston would also have Game 7 on its floor as well if it can keep extending this series.
&ldquo;Tonight we played with pace, purpose,&rdquo; Tatum said. &ldquo;We were getting stops. We were getting out in transition. You see layups and free throws go in, the jump shots start to feel a lot easier.&rdquo;
Gabe Vincent scored 17 for Miami, Caleb Martin had 16 and Bam Adebayo added 10. The Heat shot 8 for 32 on 3-pointers, while Boston was 19 for 45.
No team in NBA history has ever successfully rallied from a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series; 150 have tried, 150 have failed.
But the Celtics gave themselves hope.
&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t really have a choice,&rdquo; Mazzulla said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s do-or-die. Got to stick together.&rdquo;
&nbsp;

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Down nine early in the third quarter, down 3-0 in the series, the Boston Celtics knew their season was completely on the brink.
Three minutes later, everything looked different.
Jayson Tatum had 34 points and 11 rebounds, Derrick White and Jaylen Brown each added 16 points and the Celtics staved off elimination in the Eastern Conference finals by running away in the second half to beat the Miami Heat 116-99 in Game 4 on Tuesday night.
&ldquo;We were just trying to save our season,&rdquo; Tatum said.
They most definitely found a way to do that. The two big differences: a 33-point edge for the Celtics on 3-pointers, and an 18-0 run in that three-minute, third-quarter spurt that changed the game and &mdash; they hope &mdash; might end up changing the series.
&ldquo;We can&rsquo;t relax,&rdquo; Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. &ldquo;We have to keep the same level of intensity, the same mindset, the same focus in the next game.&rdquo;
Grant Williams scored 14, Al Horford added 12 and Marcus Smart scored 11 for the Celtics, who still trail the series 3-1 &mdash; but sent it back to Boston for a Game 5 on Thursday.
Jimmy Butler scored 29 for Miami, which was outscored 48-22 in a 14-minute stretch that turned the game &mdash; and perhaps the series &mdash; completely around. Boston would also have Game 7 on its floor as well if it can keep extending this series.
&ldquo;Tonight we played with pace, purpose,&rdquo; Tatum said. &ldquo;We were getting stops. We were getting out in transition. You see layups and free throws go in, the jump shots start to feel a lot easier.&rdquo;
Gabe Vincent scored 17 for Miami, Caleb Martin had 16 and Bam Adebayo added 10. The Heat shot 8 for 32 on 3-pointers, while Boston was 19 for 45.
No team in NBA history has ever successfully rallied from a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series; 150 have tried, 150 have failed.
But the Celtics gave themselves hope.
&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t really have a choice,&rdquo; Mazzulla said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s do-or-die. Got to stick together.&rdquo;
The Heat led by as many as nine points in the opening quarter, kept the lead for the majority of the first half and were up by nine again when Max Strus connected on a 3-pointer early in the third quarter.
That was the moment where Boston&rsquo;s season was at stake.
And the Celtics responded &mdash; most emphatically.
&nbsp;

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Down nine early in the third quarter, down 3-0 in the series, the Boston Celtics knew their season was completely on the brink.
Three minutes later, everything looked different.
Jayson Tatum had 34 points and 11 rebounds, Derrick White and Jaylen Brown each added 16 points and the Celtics staved off elimination in the Eastern Conference finals by running away in the second half to beat the Miami Heat 116-99 in Game 4 on Tuesday night.
&ldquo;We were just trying to save our season,&rdquo; Tatum said.
They most definitely found a way to do that. The two big differences: a 33-point edge for the Celtics on 3-pointers, and an 18-0 run in that three-minute, third-quarter spurt that changed the game and &mdash; they hope &mdash; might end up changing the series.
&ldquo;We can&rsquo;t relax,&rdquo; Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. &ldquo;We have to keep the same level of intensity, the same mindset, the same focus in the next game.&rdquo;
Grant Williams scored 14, Al Horford added 12 and Marcus Smart scored 11 for the Celtics, who still trail the series 3-1 &mdash; but sent it back to Boston for a Game 5 on Thursday.
Jimmy Butler scored 29 for Miami, which was outscored 48-22 in a 14-minute stretch that turned the game &mdash; and perhaps the series &mdash; completely around. Boston would also have Game 7 on its floor as well if it can keep extending this series.
&ldquo;Tonight we played with pace, purpose,&rdquo; Tatum said. &ldquo;We were getting stops. We were getting out in transition. You see layups and free throws go in, the jump shots start to feel a lot easier.&rdquo;
Gabe Vincent scored 17 for Miami, Caleb Martin had 16 and Bam Adebayo added 10. The Heat shot 8 for 32 on 3-pointers, while Boston was 19 for 45.
No team in NBA history has ever successfully rallied from a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series; 150 have tried, 150 have failed.
But the Celtics gave themselves hope.
&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t really have a choice,&rdquo; Mazzulla said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s do-or-die. Got to stick together.&rdquo;
The Heat led by as many as nine points in the opening quarter, kept the lead for the majority of the first half and were up by nine again when Max Strus connected on a 3-pointer early in the third quarter.
That was the moment where Boston&rsquo;s season was at stake.
And the Celtics responded &mdash; most emphatically.
The 18-0 run took Boston from down nine to up nine, a huge turnaround that took 3 minutes, 3 seconds. The Celtics were 6 of 7 from the floor during the run, 4 of 4 from 3-point range, Tatum had nine of the 18 points and just like that the defending East champions &mdash; who won three playoff games on Miami&rsquo;s home floor in last year&rsquo;s playoffs &mdash; were rolling again.
&ldquo;We always say the last one to get is the hardest one to get,&rdquo; Adebayo said. &ldquo;I knew they would be desperate.&rdquo;
Miami got within four late in the third, only to see another lightning-fast spurt by the Celtics &mdash; this time, seven unanswered points in 40 seconds. Boston&rsquo;s edge was 88-79 going into the fourth, after winning the third quarter 38-23, with 21 of those points coming on 3-pointers.
The Celtics kept the lead the rest of the way.
&ldquo;They got us tonight,&rdquo; Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. &ldquo;You have to give them credit for that. There&rsquo;s no doubt about it. There&rsquo;s no questioning it. We&rsquo;re not wondering about that. They deserved to win tonight. We have to regroup and get ready for a great opportunity in Boston.&rdquo;
&nbsp;

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Down nine early in the third quarter, down 3-0 in the series, the Boston Celtics knew their season was completely on the brink.
Three minutes later, everything looked different.
Jayson Tatum had 34 points and 11 rebounds, Derrick White and Jaylen Brown each added 16 points and the Celtics staved off elimination in the Eastern Conference finals by running away in the second half to beat the Miami Heat 116-99 in Game 4 on Tuesday night.
&ldquo;We were just trying to save our season,&rdquo; Tatum said.
They most definitely found a way to do that. The two big differences: a 33-point edge for the Celtics on 3-pointers, and an 18-0 run in that three-minute, third-quarter spurt that changed the game and &mdash; they hope &mdash; might end up changing the series.
&ldquo;We can&rsquo;t relax,&rdquo; Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. &ldquo;We have to keep the same level of intensity, the same mindset, the same focus in the next game.&rdquo;
Grant Williams scored 14, Al Horford added 12 and Marcus Smart scored 11 for the Celtics, who still trail the series 3-1 &mdash; but sent it back to Boston for a Game 5 on Thursday.
Jimmy Butler scored 29 for Miami, which was outscored 48-22 in a 14-minute stretch that turned the game &mdash; and perhaps the series &mdash; completely around. Boston would also have Game 7 on its floor as well if it can keep extending this series.
&ldquo;Tonight we played with pace, purpose,&rdquo; Tatum said. &ldquo;We were getting stops. We were getting out in transition. You see layups and free throws go in, the jump shots start to feel a lot easier.&rdquo;
Gabe Vincent scored 17 for Miami, Caleb Martin had 16 and Bam Adebayo added 10. The Heat shot 8 for 32 on 3-pointers, while Boston was 19 for 45.
No team in NBA history has ever successfully rallied from a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series; 150 have tried, 150 have failed.
But the Celtics gave themselves hope.
&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t really have a choice,&rdquo; Mazzulla said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s do-or-die. Got to stick together.&rdquo;
The Heat led by as many as nine points in the opening quarter, kept the lead for the majority of the first half and were up by nine again when Max Strus connected on a 3-pointer early in the third quarter.
That was the moment where Boston&rsquo;s season was at stake.
And the Celtics responded &mdash; most emphatically.
The 18-0 run took Boston from down nine to up nine, a huge turnaround that took 3 minutes, 3 seconds. The Celtics were 6 of 7 from the floor during the run, 4 of 4 from 3-point range, Tatum had nine of the 18 points and just like that the defending East champions &mdash; who won three playoff games on Miami&rsquo;s home floor in last year&rsquo;s playoffs &mdash; were rolling again.
&ldquo;We always say the last one to get is the hardest one to get,&rdquo; Adebayo said. &ldquo;I knew they would be desperate.&rdquo;
Miami got within four late in the third, only to see another lightning-fast spurt by the Celtics &mdash; this time, seven unanswered points in 40 seconds. Boston&rsquo;s edge was 88-79 going into the fourth, after winning the third quarter 38-23, with 21 of those points coming on 3-pointers.
The Celtics kept the lead the rest of the way.
&ldquo;They got us tonight,&rdquo; Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. &ldquo;You have to give them credit for that. There&rsquo;s no doubt about it. There&rsquo;s no questioning it. We&rsquo;re not wondering about that. They deserved to win tonight. We have to regroup and get ready for a great opportunity in Boston.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Celtics: Tatum&rsquo;s second 3-pointer of the night was the 220th of his postseason career, passing Paul Pierce for the most in Celtics playoff history. &hellip; Boston&rsquo;s last four-game losing streak was in May 2021, late in the 2020-21 regular season. &hellip; Tatum&rsquo;s jumper with 9:22 left put Boston up seven, stopped a Heat spurt &mdash; and was his first fourth-quarter field goal of the series.
Heat: Vincent left early in the fourth quarter after turning his left ankle. &hellip; Miami was bidding for its first five-game winning streak of the season &mdash; not the postseason, the whole season. Its longest win streak of the regular season was four games, back in December.
HERRO UPDATE
Heat guard Tyler Herro, who broke his right hand in Game 1 of Round 1 at Milwaukee, has his brace off and is resuming workouts. &ldquo;He is starting the process,&rdquo; Spoelstra said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no timetable. But he does have the brace off and he&rsquo;s able to do ballhandling and some shooting.&rdquo;
CELEB WATCH
Among the celebrities in the crowd: PGA champion Brooks Koepka (who also was at the Florida Panthers&rsquo; win in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference finals series against Carolina on Tuesday night), NBA superfan Jimmy Goldstein, former New York Yankees teammates Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, and actor Jeremy Piven.

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Down nine early in the third quarter, down 3-0 in the series, the Boston Celtics knew their season was completely on the brink.
Three minutes later, everything looked different.
Jayson Tatum had 34 points and 11 rebounds, Derrick White and Jaylen Brown each added 16 points and the Celtics staved off elimination in the Eastern Conference finals by running away in the second half to beat the Miami Heat 116-99 in Game 4 on Tuesday night.
&ldquo;We were just trying to save our season,&rdquo; Tatum said.
They most definitely found a way to do that. The two big differences: a 33-point edge for the Celtics on 3-pointers, and an 18-0 run in that three-minute, third-quarter spurt that changed the game and &mdash; they hope &mdash; might end up changing the series.
&ldquo;We can&rsquo;t relax,&rdquo; Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. &ldquo;We have to keep the same level of intensity, the same mindset, the same focus in the next game.&rdquo;
&nbsp;
Grant Williams scored 14, Al Horford added 12 and Marcus Smart scored 11 for the Celtics, who still trail the series 3-1 &mdash; but sent it back to Boston for a Game 5 on Thursday.
Jimmy Butler scored 29 for Miami, which was outscored 48-22 in a 14-minute stretch that turned the game &mdash; and perhaps the series &mdash; completely around. Boston would also have Game 7 on its floor as well if it can keep extending this series.
&ldquo;Tonight we played with pace, purpose,&rdquo; Tatum said. &ldquo;We were getting stops. We were getting out in transition. You see layups and free throws go in, the jump shots start to feel a lot easier.&rdquo;
Gabe Vincent scored 17 for Miami, Caleb Martin had 16 and Bam Adebayo added 10. The Heat shot 8 for 32 on 3-pointers, while Boston was 19 for 45.
No team in NBA history has ever successfully rallied from a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series; 150 have tried, 150 have failed.
But the Celtics gave themselves hope.
&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t really have a choice,&rdquo; Mazzulla said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s do-or-die. Got to stick together.&rdquo;
The Heat led by as many as nine points in the opening quarter, kept the lead for the majority of the first half and were up by nine again when Max Strus connected on a 3-pointer early in the third quarter.
That was the moment where Boston&rsquo;s season was at stake.
And the Celtics responded &mdash; most emphatically.
The 18-0 run took Boston from down nine to up nine, a huge turnaround that took 3 minutes, 3 seconds. The Celtics were 6 of 7 from the floor during the run, 4 of 4 from 3-point range, Tatum had nine of the 18 points and just like that the defending East champions &mdash; who won three playoff games on Miami&rsquo;s home floor in last year&rsquo;s playoffs &mdash; were rolling again.
&ldquo;We always say the last one to get is the hardest one to get,&rdquo; Adebayo said. &ldquo;I knew they would be desperate.&rdquo;
Miami got within four late in the third, only to see another lightning-fast spurt by the Celtics &mdash; this time, seven unanswered points in 40 seconds. Boston&rsquo;s edge was 88-79 going into the fourth, after winning the third quarter 38-23, with 21 of those points coming on 3-pointers.
The Celtics kept the lead the rest of the way.
&ldquo;They got us tonight,&rdquo; Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. &ldquo;You have to give them credit for that. There&rsquo;s no doubt about it. There&rsquo;s no questioning it. We&rsquo;re not wondering about that. They deserved to win tonight. We have to regroup and get ready for a great opportunity in Boston.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Celtics: Tatum&rsquo;s second 3-pointer of the night was the 220th of his postseason career, passing Paul Pierce for the most in Celtics playoff history. &hellip; Boston&rsquo;s last four-game losing streak was in May 2021, late in the 2020-21 regular season. &hellip; Tatum&rsquo;s jumper with 9:22 left put Boston up seven, stopped a Heat spurt &mdash; and was his first fourth-quarter field goal of the series.
Heat: Vincent left early in the fourth quarter after turning his left ankle. &hellip; Miami was bidding for its first five-game winning streak of the season &mdash; not the postseason, the whole season. Its longest win streak of the regular season was four games, back in December.
HERRO UPDATE
Heat guard Tyler Herro, who broke his right hand in Game 1 of Round 1 at Milwaukee, has his brace off and is resuming workouts. &ldquo;He is starting the process,&rdquo; Spoelstra said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no timetable. But he does have the brace off and he&rsquo;s able to do ballhandling and some shooting.&rdquo;
CELEB WATCH
Among the celebrities in the crowd: PGA champion Brooks Koepka (who also was at the Florida Panthers&rsquo; win in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference finals series against Carolina on Tuesday night), NBA superfan Jimmy Goldstein, former New York Yankees teammates Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, and actor Jeremy Piven.

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Down nine early in the third quarter, down 3-0 in the series, the Boston Celtics knew their season was completely on the brink.
Three minutes later, everything looked different.
Jayson Tatum had 34 points and 11 rebounds, Derrick White and Jaylen Brown each added 16 points and the Celtics staved off elimination in the Eastern Conference finals by running away in the second half to beat the Miami Heat 116-99 in Game 4 on Tuesday night.
&ldquo;We were just trying to save our season,&rdquo; Tatum said.
They most definitely found a way to do that. The two big differences: a 33-point edge for the Celtics on 3-pointers, and an 18-0 run in that three-minute, third-quarter spurt that changed the game and &mdash; they hope &mdash; might end up changing the series.
&ldquo;We can&rsquo;t relax,&rdquo; Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. &ldquo;We have to keep the same level of intensity, the same mindset, the same focus in the next game.&rdquo;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Jayson Tatum shines as the <a href="https://twitter.com/celtics?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@celtics</a> win Game 4 on the road! 34 PTS, 11 REB, 7 AST, 2 BLK, 5 3PM ECF Game 5: Thursday, 8:30pm/et on TNT <a href="https://t.co/prAkjK9aoM">pic.twitter.com/prAkjK9aoM</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1661208318902190080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 24, 2023</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

Grant Williams scored 14, Al Horford added 12 and Marcus Smart scored 11 for the Celtics, who still trail the series 3-1 &mdash; but sent it back to Boston for a Game 5 on Thursday.
Jimmy Butler scored 29 for Miami, which was outscored 48-22 in a 14-minute stretch that turned the game &mdash; and perhaps the series &mdash; completely around. Boston would also have Game 7 on its floor as well if it can keep extending this series.
&ldquo;Tonight we played with pace, purpose,&rdquo; Tatum said. &ldquo;We were getting stops. We were getting out in transition. You see layups and free throws go in, the jump shots start to feel a lot easier.&rdquo;
Gabe Vincent scored 17 for Miami, Caleb Martin had 16 and Bam Adebayo added 10. The Heat shot 8 for 32 on 3-pointers, while Boston was 19 for 45.
No team in NBA history has ever successfully rallied from a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series; 150 have tried, 150 have failed.
But the Celtics gave themselves hope.
&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t really have a choice,&rdquo; Mazzulla said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s do-or-die. Got to stick together.&rdquo;
The Heat led by as many as nine points in the opening quarter, kept the lead for the majority of the first half and were up by nine again when Max Strus connected on a 3-pointer early in the third quarter.
That was the moment where Boston&rsquo;s season was at stake.
And the Celtics responded &mdash; most emphatically.
The 18-0 run took Boston from down nine to up nine, a huge turnaround that took 3 minutes, 3 seconds. The Celtics were 6 of 7 from the floor during the run, 4 of 4 from 3-point range, Tatum had nine of the 18 points and just like that the defending East champions &mdash; who won three playoff games on Miami&rsquo;s home floor in last year&rsquo;s playoffs &mdash; were rolling again.
&ldquo;We always say the last one to get is the hardest one to get,&rdquo; Adebayo said. &ldquo;I knew they would be desperate.&rdquo;
Miami got within four late in the third, only to see another lightning-fast spurt by the Celtics &mdash; this time, seven unanswered points in 40 seconds. Boston&rsquo;s edge was 88-79 going into the fourth, after winning the third quarter 38-23, with 21 of those points coming on 3-pointers.
The Celtics kept the lead the rest of the way.
&ldquo;They got us tonight,&rdquo; Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. &ldquo;You have to give them credit for that. There&rsquo;s no doubt about it. There&rsquo;s no questioning it. We&rsquo;re not wondering about that. They deserved to win tonight. We have to regroup and get ready for a great opportunity in Boston.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Celtics: Tatum&rsquo;s second 3-pointer of the night was the 220th of his postseason career, passing Paul Pierce for the most in Celtics playoff history. &hellip; Boston&rsquo;s last four-game losing streak was in May 2021, late in the 2020-21 regular season. &hellip; Tatum&rsquo;s jumper with 9:22 left put Boston up seven, stopped a Heat spurt &mdash; and was his first fourth-quarter field goal of the series.
Heat: Vincent left early in the fourth quarter after turning his left ankle. &hellip; Miami was bidding for its first five-game winning streak of the season &mdash; not the postseason, the whole season. Its longest win streak of the regular season was four games, back in December.
HERRO UPDATE
Heat guard Tyler Herro, who broke his right hand in Game 1 of Round 1 at Milwaukee, has his brace off and is resuming workouts. &ldquo;He is starting the process,&rdquo; Spoelstra said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no timetable. But he does have the brace off and he&rsquo;s able to do ballhandling and some shooting.&rdquo;
CELEB WATCH
Among the celebrities in the crowd: PGA champion Brooks Koepka (who also was at the Florida Panthers&rsquo; win in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference finals series against Carolina on Tuesday night), NBA superfan Jimmy Goldstein, former New York Yankees teammates Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, and actor Jeremy Piven.

The Celtics staved off elimination in the Eastern Conference finals by running away in the second half to beat the Heat 116-99.

Tatum scores 34, Celtics stave off elimination by topping Heat 116-99

Carmelo Anthony, the star forward who led Syracuse to an NCAA championship in his lone college season and went on to spend 19 years in the NBA,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/carmeloanthony/status/1660639136242343936" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">announced his retirement</a>&nbsp;on Monday.
Anthony, who was not in the NBA this season, retires as the No. 9 scorer in league history.
Only LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki, Wilt Chamberlain and Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal scored more than Anthony &mdash; who finishes his career with 28,289 points.
&ldquo;Now the time has come for me to say good-bye ... to the game that gave me purpose and pride,&rdquo; Anthony said in a videotaped message announcing his decision &mdash; one he called &ldquo;bittersweet.&rdquo;
Anthony&rsquo;s legacy has long been secure: He ends his playing days after being selected as one of the 75 greatest players in NBA history, a 10-time All-Star, a past scoring champion and a six-time All-NBA selection.
And while he never got to the NBA Finals &mdash; he only played in the conference finals once, with Denver against the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers in 2009 &mdash; Anthony also knew what it was like to be a champion.

Carmelo Anthony, the star forward who led Syracuse to an NCAA championship in his lone college season and went on to spend 19 years in the NBA,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/carmeloanthony/status/1660639136242343936" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">announced his retirement</a>&nbsp;on Monday.
Anthony, who was not in the NBA this season, retires as the No. 9 scorer in league history.
Only LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki, Wilt Chamberlain and Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal scored more than Anthony &mdash; who finishes his career with 28,289 points.
&ldquo;Now the time has come for me to say good-bye ... to the game that gave me purpose and pride,&rdquo; Anthony said in a videotaped message announcing his decision &mdash; one he called &ldquo;bittersweet.&rdquo;
Anthony&rsquo;s legacy has long been secure: He ends his playing days after being selected as one of the 75 greatest players in NBA history, a 10-time All-Star, a past scoring champion and a six-time All-NBA selection.
And while he never got to the NBA Finals &mdash; he only played in the conference finals once, with Denver against the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers in 2009 &mdash; Anthony also knew what it was like to be a champion.
&nbsp;

Carmelo Anthony, the star forward who led Syracuse to an NCAA championship in his lone college season and went on to spend 19 years in the NBA,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/carmeloanthony/status/1660639136242343936" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">announced his retirement</a>&nbsp;on Monday.
Anthony, who was not in the NBA this season, retires as the No. 9 scorer in league history.
Only LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki, Wilt Chamberlain and Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal scored more than Anthony &mdash; who finishes his career with 28,289 points.
&ldquo;Now the time has come for me to say good-bye ... to the game that gave me purpose and pride,&rdquo; Anthony said in a videotaped message announcing his decision &mdash; one he called &ldquo;bittersweet.&rdquo;
Anthony&rsquo;s legacy has long been secure: He ends his playing days after being selected as one of the 75 greatest players in NBA history, a 10-time All-Star, a past scoring champion and a six-time All-NBA selection.
And while he never got to the NBA Finals &mdash; he only played in the conference finals once, with Denver against the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers in 2009 &mdash; Anthony also knew what it was like to be a champion.
He was the Most Outstanding Player of the 2003 Final Four when he led Syracuse to the national championship, and he helped USA Basketball win Olympic gold three times &mdash; at Beijing in 2008, at London in 2012 and at Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
Anthony has played in 31 games in four appearances at the Olympics, the most of any U.S. men&rsquo;s player ever. Anthony&rsquo;s 37 points against Nigeria in the 2012 games is a USA Basketball men&rsquo;s record at an Olympics, as are his 10 3-pointers from that game and his 13-for-13 effort from the foul line against Argentina in 2008.
&nbsp;

Carmelo Anthony, the star forward who led Syracuse to an NCAA championship in his lone college season and went on to spend 19 years in the NBA,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/carmeloanthony/status/1660639136242343936" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">announced his retirement</a>&nbsp;on Monday.
Anthony, who was not in the NBA this season, retires as the No. 9 scorer in league history.
Only LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki, Wilt Chamberlain and Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal scored more than Anthony &mdash; who finishes his career with 28,289 points.
&ldquo;Now the time has come for me to say good-bye ... to the game that gave me purpose and pride,&rdquo; Anthony said in a videotaped message announcing his decision &mdash; one he called &ldquo;bittersweet.&rdquo;
Anthony&rsquo;s legacy has long been secure: He ends his playing days after being selected as one of the 75 greatest players in NBA history, a 10-time All-Star, a past scoring champion and a six-time All-NBA selection.
And while he never got to the NBA Finals &mdash; he only played in the conference finals once, with Denver against the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers in 2009 &mdash; Anthony also knew what it was like to be a champion.
He was the Most Outstanding Player of the 2003 Final Four when he led Syracuse to the national championship, and he helped USA Basketball win Olympic gold three times &mdash; at Beijing in 2008, at London in 2012 and at Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
Anthony has played in 31 games in four appearances at the Olympics, the most of any U.S. men&rsquo;s player ever. Anthony&rsquo;s 37 points against Nigeria in the 2012 games is a USA Basketball men&rsquo;s record at an Olympics, as are his 10 3-pointers from that game and his 13-for-13 effort from the foul line against Argentina in 2008.
&ldquo;Carmelo Anthony is one of the NBA&rsquo;s all-time great players and ambassadors,&rdquo; NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. &ldquo;We congratulate him on a remarkable 19-year career and look forward to seeing him in the Hall of Fame.&rdquo;
&nbsp;

Carmelo Anthony, the star forward who led Syracuse to an NCAA championship in his lone college season and went on to spend 19 years in the NBA,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/carmeloanthony/status/1660639136242343936" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">announced his retirement</a>&nbsp;on Monday.
Anthony, who was not in the NBA this season, retires as the No. 9 scorer in league history.
Only LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki, Wilt Chamberlain and Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal scored more than Anthony &mdash; who finishes his career with 28,289 points.
&ldquo;Now the time has come for me to say good-bye ... to the game that gave me purpose and pride,&rdquo; Anthony said in a videotaped message announcing his decision &mdash; one he called &ldquo;bittersweet.&rdquo;
Anthony&rsquo;s legacy has long been secure: He ends his playing days after being selected as one of the 75 greatest players in NBA history, a 10-time All-Star, a past scoring champion and a six-time All-NBA selection.
And while he never got to the NBA Finals &mdash; he only played in the conference finals once, with Denver against the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers in 2009 &mdash; Anthony also knew what it was like to be a champion.
He was the Most Outstanding Player of the 2003 Final Four when he led Syracuse to the national championship, and he helped USA Basketball win Olympic gold three times &mdash; at Beijing in 2008, at London in 2012 and at Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
Anthony has played in 31 games in four appearances at the Olympics, the most of any U.S. men&rsquo;s player ever. Anthony&rsquo;s 37 points against Nigeria in the 2012 games is a USA Basketball men&rsquo;s record at an Olympics, as are his 10 3-pointers from that game and his 13-for-13 effort from the foul line against Argentina in 2008.
&ldquo;Carmelo Anthony is one of the NBA&rsquo;s all-time great players and ambassadors,&rdquo; NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. &ldquo;We congratulate him on a remarkable 19-year career and look forward to seeing him in the Hall of Fame.&rdquo;
Anthony will remain part of international basketball for at least a few more months; Anthony is one of the ambassadors to the Basketball World Cup, FIBA&rsquo;s biggest event, which will be held this summer in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia.
&ldquo;I remember the days when I had nothing, just a ball on the court and a dream of something more,&rdquo; Anthony said. &ldquo;But basketball was my outlet. My purpose was strong, my communities, the cities I represented with pride and the fans that supported me along the way. I am forever grateful for those people and places because they made me Carmelo Anthony.&rdquo;
Anthony was drafted No. 3 overall by Denver in 2003, part of the star-studded class that included James at No. 1, Hall of Famer Chris Bosh at No. 4, and soon-to-be Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade -- he gets officially enshrined this summer &mdash; at No. 5.
Anthony will join them at the Hall of Fame before long. He averaged 22.5 points in his 19 seasons, spending the bulk of those years with Denver and the New York Knicks. Anthony has long raved about his time with the Knicks, and what it was like playing at Madison Square Garden, especially as a kid who was born in Brooklyn.
&ldquo;The Garden,&rdquo; Anthony said in 2014. &ldquo;They call it The Mecca for a reason.&rdquo;
Anthony also played for Portland, Oklahoma City, Houston and ended his career with the Lakers last season. He went unsigned this year, and now his retirement is official.
He said in his retirement address that he&rsquo;s looking forward to watching the development of his son Kiyan, a highly rated high school shooting guard.
&ldquo;People ask what I believe my legacy is,&rdquo; Anthony said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not my feats on the court that come to mind, all the awards or praise. Because my story has always been more than basketball. My legacy, my son ... I will forever continue through you. The time has come for you to carry this torch.&rdquo;

After a 19-year NBA career, Carmelo Anthony officially announced his retirement on Monday.

Carmelo Anthony retires after 19-year NBA career, 3 Olympic gold medals

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Gabe Vincent scored a career-high 29 points, Duncan Robinson added 22 and the eighth-seeded Miami Heat moved one win from the NBA Finals after rolling past the Boston Celtics 128-102 on Sunday night in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference title series.
Caleb Martin scored 18, Jimmy Butler finished with 16, Bam Adebayo had 13 and Max Strus added 10 for Miami, which leads the series 3-0. Every team in NBA history that has won the first three games of a best-of-seven has ultimately prevailed; the Heat are 8-0 in that situation.
Jayson Tatum scored 14 and Jaylen Brown added 12 for the Celtics, who won three times on Miami&rsquo;s floor on the way to winning last season&rsquo;s Eastern Conference finals &mdash; but simply never had a chance in this one and basically emptied the bench for the fourth quarter.
Grant Williams and Payton Pritchard each had 12 for Boston. Game 4 is Tuesday in Miami.
The NBA Finals start June 1, and the way things are going, that might mean the league is about to go a few days without games. The Western Conference finals could end Monday; Denver leads that series against the Los Angeles Lakers 3-0. And now, the East finals could end Tuesday.
&nbsp;

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Gabe Vincent scored a career-high 29 points, Duncan Robinson added 22 and the eighth-seeded Miami Heat moved one win from the NBA Finals after rolling past the Boston Celtics 128-102 on Sunday night in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference title series.
Caleb Martin scored 18, Jimmy Butler finished with 16, Bam Adebayo had 13 and Max Strus added 10 for Miami, which leads the series 3-0. Every team in NBA history that has won the first three games of a best-of-seven has ultimately prevailed; the Heat are 8-0 in that situation.
Jayson Tatum scored 14 and Jaylen Brown added 12 for the Celtics, who won three times on Miami&rsquo;s floor on the way to winning last season&rsquo;s Eastern Conference finals &mdash; but simply never had a chance in this one and basically emptied the bench for the fourth quarter.
Grant Williams and Payton Pritchard each had 12 for Boston. Game 4 is Tuesday in Miami.
The NBA Finals start June 1, and the way things are going, that might mean the league is about to go a few days without games. The Western Conference finals could end Monday; Denver leads that series against the Los Angeles Lakers 3-0. And now, the East finals could end Tuesday.
There&rsquo;s never been a season where both conference finals ended in sweeps; it happened in 1957 in the division finals immediately preceding the title series, when Boston beat Syracuse 3-0 and St. Louis beat Minneapolis 3-0.
Of all the 3-0 series leads in NBA history, this one might be the most unexpected &mdash; a No. 8 seed in the Heat, a team that struggled just to get into the playoffs, a team that was less than 3 minutes away from being eliminated in the play-in tournament, getting past top-seeded Milwaukee in five games, then fifth-seeded New York in six, and now on the brink of denying the No. 2-seeded Celtics a second consecutive East crown.
&nbsp;

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Gabe Vincent scored a career-high 29 points, Duncan Robinson added 22 and the eighth-seeded Miami Heat moved one win from the NBA Finals after rolling past the Boston Celtics 128-102 on Sunday night in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference title series.
Caleb Martin scored 18, Jimmy Butler finished with 16, Bam Adebayo had 13 and Max Strus added 10 for Miami, which leads the series 3-0. Every team in NBA history that has won the first three games of a best-of-seven has ultimately prevailed; the Heat are 8-0 in that situation.
Jayson Tatum scored 14 and Jaylen Brown added 12 for the Celtics, who won three times on Miami&rsquo;s floor on the way to winning last season&rsquo;s Eastern Conference finals &mdash; but simply never had a chance in this one and basically emptied the bench for the fourth quarter.
Grant Williams and Payton Pritchard each had 12 for Boston. Game 4 is Tuesday in Miami.
The NBA Finals start June 1, and the way things are going, that might mean the league is about to go a few days without games. The Western Conference finals could end Monday; Denver leads that series against the Los Angeles Lakers 3-0. And now, the East finals could end Tuesday.
There&rsquo;s never been a season where both conference finals ended in sweeps; it happened in 1957 in the division finals immediately preceding the title series, when Boston beat Syracuse 3-0 and St. Louis beat Minneapolis 3-0.
Of all the 3-0 series leads in NBA history, this one might be the most unexpected &mdash; a No. 8 seed in the Heat, a team that struggled just to get into the playoffs, a team that was less than 3 minutes away from being eliminated in the play-in tournament, getting past top-seeded Milwaukee in five games, then fifth-seeded New York in six, and now on the brink of denying the No. 2-seeded Celtics a second consecutive East crown.
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/naveenganglani/status/1660465686827917312?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">And the Heat let Boston know</a>&nbsp;how much they were enjoying this one.
Mindful that Boston&rsquo;s Al Horford directed a timeout signal toward the Miami bench during Game 1 when the Celtics were on a second-quarter spurt to build a comfortable lead, Butler did the same to Horford as the Heat were running away in the third quarter of Game 3.
Besides, the Heat rallied to win Game 1 anyway. There was no rally required in Game 3 by the Heat. There was barely one attempted by the Celtics, for that matter.
&nbsp;

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Gabe Vincent scored a career-high 29 points, Duncan Robinson added 22 and the eighth-seeded Miami Heat moved one win from the NBA Finals after rolling past the Boston Celtics 128-102 on Sunday night in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference title series.
Caleb Martin scored 18, Jimmy Butler finished with 16, Bam Adebayo had 13 and Max Strus added 10 for Miami, which leads the series 3-0. Every team in NBA history that has won the first three games of a best-of-seven has ultimately prevailed; the Heat are 8-0 in that situation.
Jayson Tatum scored 14 and Jaylen Brown added 12 for the Celtics, who won three times on Miami&rsquo;s floor on the way to winning last season&rsquo;s Eastern Conference finals &mdash; but simply never had a chance in this one and basically emptied the bench for the fourth quarter.
Grant Williams and Payton Pritchard each had 12 for Boston. Game 4 is Tuesday in Miami.
The NBA Finals start June 1, and the way things are going, that might mean the league is about to go a few days without games. The Western Conference finals could end Monday; Denver leads that series against the Los Angeles Lakers 3-0. And now, the East finals could end Tuesday.
There&rsquo;s never been a season where both conference finals ended in sweeps; it happened in 1957 in the division finals immediately preceding the title series, when Boston beat Syracuse 3-0 and St. Louis beat Minneapolis 3-0.
Of all the 3-0 series leads in NBA history, this one might be the most unexpected &mdash; a No. 8 seed in the Heat, a team that struggled just to get into the playoffs, a team that was less than 3 minutes away from being eliminated in the play-in tournament, getting past top-seeded Milwaukee in five games, then fifth-seeded New York in six, and now on the brink of denying the No. 2-seeded Celtics a second consecutive East crown.
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/naveenganglani/status/1660465686827917312?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">And the Heat let Boston know</a>&nbsp;how much they were enjoying this one.
Mindful that Boston&rsquo;s Al Horford directed a timeout signal toward the Miami bench during Game 1 when the Celtics were on a second-quarter spurt to build a comfortable lead, Butler did the same to Horford as the Heat were running away in the third quarter of Game 3.
Besides, the Heat rallied to win Game 1 anyway. There was no rally required in Game 3 by the Heat. There was barely one attempted by the Celtics, for that matter.
Boston got within 61-49 when Marcus Smart had a three-point play on the opening possession of the second half. The rest was all Miami, which immediately answered with a 28-7 run to open a 33-point lead at 89-56, which had the building rolling. The lead was so big, and there was so much time left, that the sellout crowd of 20,088 actually was subdued a bit by the time it was over.
They might have been yelled-out. Or maybe they were saving it for hockey on Monday night, when the Florida Panthers &mdash; another No. 8 seed on a magical playoff run in South Florida &mdash; will try to take a 3-0 lead in their East finals series against the Carolina Hurricanes.
&nbsp;

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Gabe Vincent scored a career-high 29 points, Duncan Robinson added 22 and the eighth-seeded Miami Heat moved one win from the NBA Finals after rolling past the Boston Celtics 128-102 on Sunday night in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference title series.
Caleb Martin scored 18, Jimmy Butler finished with 16, Bam Adebayo had 13 and Max Strus added 10 for Miami, which leads the series 3-0. Every team in NBA history that has won the first three games of a best-of-seven has ultimately prevailed; the Heat are 8-0 in that situation.
Jayson Tatum scored 14 and Jaylen Brown added 12 for the Celtics, who won three times on Miami&rsquo;s floor on the way to winning last season&rsquo;s Eastern Conference finals &mdash; but simply never had a chance in this one and basically emptied the bench for the fourth quarter.
Grant Williams and Payton Pritchard each had 12 for Boston. Game 4 is Tuesday in Miami.
The NBA Finals start June 1, and the way things are going, that might mean the league is about to go a few days without games. The Western Conference finals could end Monday; Denver leads that series against the Los Angeles Lakers 3-0. And now, the East finals could end Tuesday.
There&rsquo;s never been a season where both conference finals ended in sweeps; it happened in 1957 in the division finals immediately preceding the title series, when Boston beat Syracuse 3-0 and St. Louis beat Minneapolis 3-0.
Of all the 3-0 series leads in NBA history, this one might be the most unexpected &mdash; a No. 8 seed in the Heat, a team that struggled just to get into the playoffs, a team that was less than 3 minutes away from being eliminated in the play-in tournament, getting past top-seeded Milwaukee in five games, then fifth-seeded New York in six, and now on the brink of denying the No. 2-seeded Celtics a second consecutive East crown.
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/naveenganglani/status/1660465686827917312?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">And the Heat let Boston know</a>&nbsp;how much they were enjoying this one.
Mindful that Boston&rsquo;s Al Horford directed a timeout signal toward the Miami bench during Game 1 when the Celtics were on a second-quarter spurt to build a comfortable lead, Butler did the same to Horford as the Heat were running away in the third quarter of Game 3.
Besides, the Heat rallied to win Game 1 anyway. There was no rally required in Game 3 by the Heat. There was barely one attempted by the Celtics, for that matter.
Boston got within 61-49 when Marcus Smart had a three-point play on the opening possession of the second half. The rest was all Miami, which immediately answered with a 28-7 run to open a 33-point lead at 89-56, which had the building rolling. The lead was so big, and there was so much time left, that the sellout crowd of 20,088 actually was subdued a bit by the time it was over.
They might have been yelled-out. Or maybe they were saving it for hockey on Monday night, when the Florida Panthers &mdash; another No. 8 seed on a magical playoff run in South Florida &mdash; will try to take a 3-0 lead in their East finals series against the Carolina Hurricanes.
TIP-INS
Celtics: Robert Williams made his first shot, meaning he made 12 straight to start the series. He missed his second attempt. &hellip; The Heat encourage fans to wear white to playoff games, and Tatum also arrived in an all-white suit. &hellip; Smart appeared to throw a punch in the third quarter, but missed and after review referees determined he did not deserve a flagrant foul or a technical (which would have been his second of the night).
Heat: Robinson made five 3-pointers and now has 124 in his Heat postseason career, passing LeBron James (123) for the most in Miami history. ... Butler&rsquo;s steal with 7:17 left in the first quarter was the 2,000th in Heat postseason history. &hellip; Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal, at the game as part of the TNT broadcast crew, greeted former teammate (and now Heat executive) Alonzo Mourning and got a long ovation when introduced during a second-quarter time out. ... Vincent&rsquo;s previous career best was 28, set in a Jan. 12 win over Milwaukee.
CONFUSED DOLPHINS?
Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel, a regular at Heat games this season, tried to get the pregame crowd going by waving one of the giveaway towels. Dolphins defensive lineman Christian Wilkins was at the game &mdash; wearing green shoes on a night Miami was playing the Celtics, though it should be noted he was born in Massachusetts.
LOVE HURT
Miami&rsquo;s Kevin Love checked out 4:47 into the game after what the Heat said was an undisclosed ankle injury. He went to the Heat locker room for evaluation, returned to the bench area later in the first half, and started the second half.
QUOTABLE
&ldquo;The lack of mental toughness. It&rsquo;s embarrassing &hellip; that was an embarrassment for the Celtics.&rdquo; &mdash; TNT&rsquo;s Charles Barkley at halftime, with Boston trailing 61-46 and after being down by as many as 22 points.

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Gabe Vincent scored a career-high 29 points, Duncan Robinson added 22 and the eighth-seeded Miami Heat moved one win from the NBA Finals after rolling past the Boston Celtics 128-102 on Sunday night in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference title series.
Caleb Martin scored 18, Jimmy Butler finished with 16, Bam Adebayo had 13 and Max Strus added 10 for Miami, which leads the series 3-0. Every team in NBA history that has won the first three games of a best-of-seven has ultimately prevailed; the Heat are 8-0 in that situation.
Jayson Tatum scored 14 and Jaylen Brown added 12 for the Celtics, who won three times on Miami&rsquo;s floor on the way to winning last season&rsquo;s Eastern Conference finals &mdash; but simply never had a chance in this one and basically emptied the bench for the fourth quarter.
Grant Williams and Payton Pritchard each had 12 for Boston. Game 4 is Tuesday in Miami.
The NBA Finals start June 1, and the way things are going, that might mean the league is about to go a few days without games. The Western Conference finals could end Monday; Denver leads that series against the Los Angeles Lakers 3-0. And now, the East finals could end Tuesday.
There&rsquo;s never been a season where both conference finals ended in sweeps; it happened in 1957 in the division finals immediately preceding the title series, when Boston beat Syracuse 3-0 and St. Louis beat Minneapolis 3-0.
Of all the 3-0 series leads in NBA history, this one might be the most unexpected &mdash; a No. 8 seed in the Heat, a team that struggled just to get into the playoffs, a team that was less than 3 minutes away from being eliminated in the play-in tournament, getting past top-seeded Milwaukee in five games, then fifth-seeded New York in six, and now on the brink of denying the No. 2-seeded Celtics a second consecutive East crown.
&nbsp;
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/naveenganglani/status/1660465686827917312?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">And the Heat let Boston know</a>&nbsp;how much they were enjoying this one.
Mindful that Boston&rsquo;s Al Horford directed a timeout signal toward the Miami bench during Game 1 when the Celtics were on a second-quarter spurt to build a comfortable lead, Butler did the same to Horford as the Heat were running away in the third quarter of Game 3.
Besides, the Heat rallied to win Game 1 anyway. There was no rally required in Game 3 by the Heat. There was barely one attempted by the Celtics, for that matter.
Boston got within 61-49 when Marcus Smart had a three-point play on the opening possession of the second half. The rest was all Miami, which immediately answered with a 28-7 run to open a 33-point lead at 89-56, which had the building rolling. The lead was so big, and there was so much time left, that the sellout crowd of 20,088 actually was subdued a bit by the time it was over.
They might have been yelled-out. Or maybe they were saving it for hockey on Monday night, when the Florida Panthers &mdash; another No. 8 seed on a magical playoff run in South Florida &mdash; will try to take a 3-0 lead in their East finals series against the Carolina Hurricanes.
TIP-INS
Celtics: Robert Williams made his first shot, meaning he made 12 straight to start the series. He missed his second attempt. &hellip; The Heat encourage fans to wear white to playoff games, and Tatum also arrived in an all-white suit. &hellip; Smart appeared to throw a punch in the third quarter, but missed and after review referees determined he did not deserve a flagrant foul or a technical (which would have been his second of the night).
Heat: Robinson made five 3-pointers and now has 124 in his Heat postseason career, passing LeBron James (123) for the most in Miami history. ... Butler&rsquo;s steal with 7:17 left in the first quarter was the 2,000th in Heat postseason history. &hellip; Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal, at the game as part of the TNT broadcast crew, greeted former teammate (and now Heat executive) Alonzo Mourning and got a long ovation when introduced during a second-quarter time out. ... Vincent&rsquo;s previous career best was 28, set in a Jan. 12 win over Milwaukee.
CONFUSED DOLPHINS?
Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel, a regular at Heat games this season, tried to get the pregame crowd going by waving one of the giveaway towels. Dolphins defensive lineman Christian Wilkins was at the game &mdash; wearing green shoes on a night Miami was playing the Celtics, though it should be noted he was born in Massachusetts.
LOVE HURT
Miami&rsquo;s Kevin Love checked out 4:47 into the game after what the Heat said was an undisclosed ankle injury. He went to the Heat locker room for evaluation, returned to the bench area later in the first half, and started the second half.
QUOTABLE
&ldquo;The lack of mental toughness. It&rsquo;s embarrassing &hellip; that was an embarrassment for the Celtics.&rdquo; &mdash; TNT&rsquo;s Charles Barkley at halftime, with Boston trailing 61-46 and after being down by as many as 22 points.

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Gabe Vincent scored a career-high 29 points, Duncan Robinson added 22 and the eighth-seeded Miami Heat moved one win from the NBA Finals after rolling past the Boston Celtics 128-102 on Sunday night in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference title series.
Caleb Martin scored 18, Jimmy Butler finished with 16, Bam Adebayo had 13 and Max Strus added 10 for Miami, which leads the series 3-0. Every team in NBA history that has won the first three games of a best-of-seven has ultimately prevailed; the Heat are 8-0 in that situation.
Jayson Tatum scored 14 and Jaylen Brown added 12 for the Celtics, who won three times on Miami&rsquo;s floor on the way to winning last season&rsquo;s Eastern Conference finals &mdash; but simply never had a chance in this one and basically emptied the bench for the fourth quarter.
Grant Williams and Payton Pritchard each had 12 for Boston. Game 4 is Tuesday in Miami.
The NBA Finals start June 1, and the way things are going, that might mean the league is about to go a few days without games. The Western Conference finals could end Monday; Denver leads that series against the Los Angeles Lakers 3-0. And now, the East finals could end Tuesday.
There&rsquo;s never been a season where both conference finals ended in sweeps; it happened in 1957 in the division finals immediately preceding the title series, when Boston beat Syracuse 3-0 and St. Louis beat Minneapolis 3-0.
Of all the 3-0 series leads in NBA history, this one might be the most unexpected &mdash; a No. 8 seed in the Heat, a team that struggled just to get into the playoffs, a team that was less than 3 minutes away from being eliminated in the play-in tournament, getting past top-seeded Milwaukee in five games, then fifth-seeded New York in six, and now on the brink of denying the No. 2-seeded Celtics a second consecutive East crown.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Gabe Vincent TOOK OVER Game 3! 🔥 29 points (playoff career high) 🔥 6 threes (playoff career high) 🔥 11-14 shooting MIA can clinch Finals berth Tuesday on TNT <a href="https://t.co/iBylN4kBlf">pic.twitter.com/iBylN4kBlf</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1660480494578835456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 22, 2023</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/naveenganglani/status/1660465686827917312?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">And the Heat let Boston know</a>&nbsp;how much they were enjoying this one.
Mindful that Boston&rsquo;s Al Horford directed a timeout signal toward the Miami bench during Game 1 when the Celtics were on a second-quarter spurt to build a comfortable lead, Butler did the same to Horford as the Heat were running away in the third quarter of Game 3.
Besides, the Heat rallied to win Game 1 anyway. There was no rally required in Game 3 by the Heat. There was barely one attempted by the Celtics, for that matter.
Boston got within 61-49 when Marcus Smart had a three-point play on the opening possession of the second half. The rest was all Miami, which immediately answered with a 28-7 run to open a 33-point lead at 89-56, which had the building rolling. The lead was so big, and there was so much time left, that the sellout crowd of 20,088 actually was subdued a bit by the time it was over.
They might have been yelled-out. Or maybe they were saving it for hockey on Monday night, when the Florida Panthers &mdash; another No. 8 seed on a magical playoff run in South Florida &mdash; will try to take a 3-0 lead in their East finals series against the Carolina Hurricanes.
TIP-INS
Celtics: Robert Williams made his first shot, meaning he made 12 straight to start the series. He missed his second attempt. &hellip; The Heat encourage fans to wear white to playoff games, and Tatum also arrived in an all-white suit. &hellip; Smart appeared to throw a punch in the third quarter, but missed and after review referees determined he did not deserve a flagrant foul or a technical (which would have been his second of the night).
Heat: Robinson made five 3-pointers and now has 124 in his Heat postseason career, passing LeBron James (123) for the most in Miami history. ... Butler&rsquo;s steal with 7:17 left in the first quarter was the 2,000th in Heat postseason history. &hellip; Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal, at the game as part of the TNT broadcast crew, greeted former teammate (and now Heat executive) Alonzo Mourning and got a long ovation when introduced during a second-quarter time out. ... Vincent&rsquo;s previous career best was 28, set in a Jan. 12 win over Milwaukee.
CONFUSED DOLPHINS?
Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel, a regular at Heat games this season, tried to get the pregame crowd going by waving one of the giveaway towels. Dolphins defensive lineman Christian Wilkins was at the game &mdash; wearing green shoes on a night Miami was playing the Celtics, though it should be noted he was born in Massachusetts.
LOVE HURT
Miami&rsquo;s Kevin Love checked out 4:47 into the game after what the Heat said was an undisclosed ankle injury. He went to the Heat locker room for evaluation, returned to the bench area later in the first half, and started the second half.
QUOTABLE
&ldquo;The lack of mental toughness. It&rsquo;s embarrassing &hellip; that was an embarrassment for the Celtics.&rdquo; &mdash; TNT&rsquo;s Charles Barkley at halftime, with Boston trailing 61-46 and after being down by as many as 22 points.

The Miami Heat moved one win from the NBA Finals after rolling past the Boston Celtics 128-102 on Sunday night.

Heat roll past Celtics 128-102, take 3-0 lead in Conference Finals

The NBA&rsquo;s oldest coach. The NBA&rsquo;s newest superstar.
In an instant, the fortunes of the San Antonio Spurs changed in a big way.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/wembanyama-draft-lottery-nba-b0692a8ee59c2235f2d4f4387266eab7">Victor Wembanyama</a>&nbsp;is on his way to the NBA, and the coaching wins leader in Gregg Popovich will be waiting for him.
The right combination of ping-pong balls &mdash; 14, 5, 8 and 2 were the winning ones &mdash; gave the Spurs victory in the draft lottery Tuesday night, meaning they&rsquo;ll have the No. 1 pick June 22. That means they&rsquo;ve won the Wembanyama sweepstakes, and that four years of losing in a way that had never before happened under Popovich has actually paid off.
Pop and Wemby. A 74-year-old wine connoisseur who is one of the best basketball coaches in the world, and a&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-sports-basketball-las-vegas-6f4ac3d44f624ef36ddb00e314cf0401">19-year-old supertalent</a>&nbsp;who hails from the land where some of the best wines are made.
The NBA has a new dynamic duo.
&ldquo;When you talk about generational talents, it&rsquo;s often times beyond just your ability to make a shot or your ability to jump or your ability to put the ball on the floor,&rdquo; Spurs general manager Brian Wright said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s all of the little details that go into being great, becoming great. And as we&rsquo;ve studied Victor, he is very in-depth with everything that he does, whether it&rsquo;s on the court, whether it&rsquo;s training, or things that he&rsquo;s into off the court.&rdquo;
&nbsp;

The NBA&rsquo;s oldest coach. The NBA&rsquo;s newest superstar.
In an instant, the fortunes of the San Antonio Spurs changed in a big way.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/wembanyama-draft-lottery-nba-b0692a8ee59c2235f2d4f4387266eab7">Victor Wembanyama</a>&nbsp;is on his way to the NBA, and the coaching wins leader in Gregg Popovich will be waiting for him.
The right combination of ping-pong balls &mdash; 14, 5, 8 and 2 were the winning ones &mdash; gave the Spurs victory in the draft lottery Tuesday night, meaning they&rsquo;ll have the No. 1 pick June 22. That means they&rsquo;ve won the Wembanyama sweepstakes, and that four years of losing in a way that had never before happened under Popovich has actually paid off.
Pop and Wemby. A 74-year-old wine connoisseur who is one of the best basketball coaches in the world, and a&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-sports-basketball-las-vegas-6f4ac3d44f624ef36ddb00e314cf0401">19-year-old supertalent</a>&nbsp;who hails from the land where some of the best wines are made.
The NBA has a new dynamic duo.
&ldquo;When you talk about generational talents, it&rsquo;s often times beyond just your ability to make a shot or your ability to jump or your ability to put the ball on the floor,&rdquo; Spurs general manager Brian Wright said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s all of the little details that go into being great, becoming great. And as we&rsquo;ve studied Victor, he is very in-depth with everything that he does, whether it&rsquo;s on the court, whether it&rsquo;s training, or things that he&rsquo;s into off the court.&rdquo;
If the&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/wemby-victor-wembanyama-nba-draft-f5be654cce544c675559bad526220a9e">7-foot-3 Wembanyama</a>&nbsp;brings his current warm-up routine to the NBA, it&rsquo;ll be like none other. He&rsquo;s barefoot on the court for probably a good 15 or 20 minutes, stretching and doing various other things to get his feet ready. There&rsquo;s also some very specific ballhandling and passing things that he likes to do. It&rsquo;s not just a few shots, few dunks, few 3-pointers and go play. There&rsquo;s a plan and a reason for everything.
Popovich will love that. He knows Wembanyama has been taught the right way; the kid spent last year playing for Spurs icon Tony Parker&rsquo;s franchise in France, and is spending this season getting coached by Vincent Collet. That&rsquo;s someone Popovich coached against with the U.S. at the 2019 World Cup and the Tokyo Olympics. Popovich raves about Collet, not hiding his respect level for him at all.
&nbsp;

The NBA&rsquo;s oldest coach. The NBA&rsquo;s newest superstar.
In an instant, the fortunes of the San Antonio Spurs changed in a big way.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/wembanyama-draft-lottery-nba-b0692a8ee59c2235f2d4f4387266eab7">Victor Wembanyama</a>&nbsp;is on his way to the NBA, and the coaching wins leader in Gregg Popovich will be waiting for him.
The right combination of ping-pong balls &mdash; 14, 5, 8 and 2 were the winning ones &mdash; gave the Spurs victory in the draft lottery Tuesday night, meaning they&rsquo;ll have the No. 1 pick June 22. That means they&rsquo;ve won the Wembanyama sweepstakes, and that four years of losing in a way that had never before happened under Popovich has actually paid off.
Pop and Wemby. A 74-year-old wine connoisseur who is one of the best basketball coaches in the world, and a&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-sports-basketball-las-vegas-6f4ac3d44f624ef36ddb00e314cf0401">19-year-old supertalent</a>&nbsp;who hails from the land where some of the best wines are made.
The NBA has a new dynamic duo.
&ldquo;When you talk about generational talents, it&rsquo;s often times beyond just your ability to make a shot or your ability to jump or your ability to put the ball on the floor,&rdquo; Spurs general manager Brian Wright said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s all of the little details that go into being great, becoming great. And as we&rsquo;ve studied Victor, he is very in-depth with everything that he does, whether it&rsquo;s on the court, whether it&rsquo;s training, or things that he&rsquo;s into off the court.&rdquo;
If the&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/wemby-victor-wembanyama-nba-draft-f5be654cce544c675559bad526220a9e">7-foot-3 Wembanyama</a>&nbsp;brings his current warm-up routine to the NBA, it&rsquo;ll be like none other. He&rsquo;s barefoot on the court for probably a good 15 or 20 minutes, stretching and doing various other things to get his feet ready. There&rsquo;s also some very specific ballhandling and passing things that he likes to do. It&rsquo;s not just a few shots, few dunks, few 3-pointers and go play. There&rsquo;s a plan and a reason for everything.
Popovich will love that. He knows Wembanyama has been taught the right way; the kid spent last year playing for Spurs icon Tony Parker&rsquo;s franchise in France, and is spending this season getting coached by Vincent Collet. That&rsquo;s someone Popovich coached against with the U.S. at the 2019 World Cup and the Tokyo Olympics. Popovich raves about Collet, not hiding his respect level for him at all.
They&rsquo;ll talk before long about Wembanyama. That&rsquo;s certain. Pop will immerse himself into knowing everything that makes the kid tick, just so he knows how he&rsquo;ll react to every situation he&rsquo;ll face with the Spurs next season and beyond.
&nbsp;

The NBA&rsquo;s oldest coach. The NBA&rsquo;s newest superstar.
In an instant, the fortunes of the San Antonio Spurs changed in a big way.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/wembanyama-draft-lottery-nba-b0692a8ee59c2235f2d4f4387266eab7">Victor Wembanyama</a>&nbsp;is on his way to the NBA, and the coaching wins leader in Gregg Popovich will be waiting for him.
The right combination of ping-pong balls &mdash; 14, 5, 8 and 2 were the winning ones &mdash; gave the Spurs victory in the draft lottery Tuesday night, meaning they&rsquo;ll have the No. 1 pick June 22. That means they&rsquo;ve won the Wembanyama sweepstakes, and that four years of losing in a way that had never before happened under Popovich has actually paid off.
Pop and Wemby. A 74-year-old wine connoisseur who is one of the best basketball coaches in the world, and a&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-sports-basketball-las-vegas-6f4ac3d44f624ef36ddb00e314cf0401">19-year-old supertalent</a>&nbsp;who hails from the land where some of the best wines are made.
The NBA has a new dynamic duo.
&ldquo;When you talk about generational talents, it&rsquo;s often times beyond just your ability to make a shot or your ability to jump or your ability to put the ball on the floor,&rdquo; Spurs general manager Brian Wright said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s all of the little details that go into being great, becoming great. And as we&rsquo;ve studied Victor, he is very in-depth with everything that he does, whether it&rsquo;s on the court, whether it&rsquo;s training, or things that he&rsquo;s into off the court.&rdquo;
If the&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/wemby-victor-wembanyama-nba-draft-f5be654cce544c675559bad526220a9e">7-foot-3 Wembanyama</a>&nbsp;brings his current warm-up routine to the NBA, it&rsquo;ll be like none other. He&rsquo;s barefoot on the court for probably a good 15 or 20 minutes, stretching and doing various other things to get his feet ready. There&rsquo;s also some very specific ballhandling and passing things that he likes to do. It&rsquo;s not just a few shots, few dunks, few 3-pointers and go play. There&rsquo;s a plan and a reason for everything.
Popovich will love that. He knows Wembanyama has been taught the right way; the kid spent last year playing for Spurs icon Tony Parker&rsquo;s franchise in France, and is spending this season getting coached by Vincent Collet. That&rsquo;s someone Popovich coached against with the U.S. at the 2019 World Cup and the Tokyo Olympics. Popovich raves about Collet, not hiding his respect level for him at all.
They&rsquo;ll talk before long about Wembanyama. That&rsquo;s certain. Pop will immerse himself into knowing everything that makes the kid tick, just so he knows how he&rsquo;ll react to every situation he&rsquo;ll face with the Spurs next season and beyond.
&ldquo;His ability to connect and spend time and bounce between the really detailed development of basketball players and the bigger picture of developing people is just so impressive,&rdquo; Spurs managing partner Peter J. Holt said. &ldquo;I think no matter what Pop does, he&rsquo;s going to find a way to do that because that&rsquo;s in his heart. And I&rsquo;m excited to see whatever the next phase is in that journey.&rdquo;
This is an embarrassment of lottery riches for the Spurs. Let&rsquo;s be clear: They&rsquo;re not giving this back. But winning the lottery in 1987 and landing David Robinson was big, then winning the lottery again in 1997 and landing Tim Duncan was bigger, and now comes Wembanyama.
It&rsquo;s big. How big, well, that story will get told in the coming years.
&ldquo;Now it becomes real,&rdquo; former NBA player Ian Mahinmi &mdash; one of more than 40 international players that Popovich has had during his tenure in San Antonio &mdash; said during the telecast of Wembanyama&rsquo;s French league game Tuesday. &ldquo;Now everything becomes real.&rdquo;
&nbsp;

The NBA&rsquo;s oldest coach. The NBA&rsquo;s newest superstar.
In an instant, the fortunes of the San Antonio Spurs changed in a big way.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/wembanyama-draft-lottery-nba-b0692a8ee59c2235f2d4f4387266eab7">Victor Wembanyama</a>&nbsp;is on his way to the NBA, and the coaching wins leader in Gregg Popovich will be waiting for him.
The right combination of ping-pong balls &mdash; 14, 5, 8 and 2 were the winning ones &mdash; gave the Spurs victory in the draft lottery Tuesday night, meaning they&rsquo;ll have the No. 1 pick June 22. That means they&rsquo;ve won the Wembanyama sweepstakes, and that four years of losing in a way that had never before happened under Popovich has actually paid off.
Pop and Wemby. A 74-year-old wine connoisseur who is one of the best basketball coaches in the world, and a&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-sports-basketball-las-vegas-6f4ac3d44f624ef36ddb00e314cf0401">19-year-old supertalent</a>&nbsp;who hails from the land where some of the best wines are made.
The NBA has a new dynamic duo.
&ldquo;When you talk about generational talents, it&rsquo;s often times beyond just your ability to make a shot or your ability to jump or your ability to put the ball on the floor,&rdquo; Spurs general manager Brian Wright said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s all of the little details that go into being great, becoming great. And as we&rsquo;ve studied Victor, he is very in-depth with everything that he does, whether it&rsquo;s on the court, whether it&rsquo;s training, or things that he&rsquo;s into off the court.&rdquo;
If the&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/wemby-victor-wembanyama-nba-draft-f5be654cce544c675559bad526220a9e">7-foot-3 Wembanyama</a>&nbsp;brings his current warm-up routine to the NBA, it&rsquo;ll be like none other. He&rsquo;s barefoot on the court for probably a good 15 or 20 minutes, stretching and doing various other things to get his feet ready. There&rsquo;s also some very specific ballhandling and passing things that he likes to do. It&rsquo;s not just a few shots, few dunks, few 3-pointers and go play. There&rsquo;s a plan and a reason for everything.
Popovich will love that. He knows Wembanyama has been taught the right way; the kid spent last year playing for Spurs icon Tony Parker&rsquo;s franchise in France, and is spending this season getting coached by Vincent Collet. That&rsquo;s someone Popovich coached against with the U.S. at the 2019 World Cup and the Tokyo Olympics. Popovich raves about Collet, not hiding his respect level for him at all.
They&rsquo;ll talk before long about Wembanyama. That&rsquo;s certain. Pop will immerse himself into knowing everything that makes the kid tick, just so he knows how he&rsquo;ll react to every situation he&rsquo;ll face with the Spurs next season and beyond.
&ldquo;His ability to connect and spend time and bounce between the really detailed development of basketball players and the bigger picture of developing people is just so impressive,&rdquo; Spurs managing partner Peter J. Holt said. &ldquo;I think no matter what Pop does, he&rsquo;s going to find a way to do that because that&rsquo;s in his heart. And I&rsquo;m excited to see whatever the next phase is in that journey.&rdquo;
This is an embarrassment of lottery riches for the Spurs. Let&rsquo;s be clear: They&rsquo;re not giving this back. But winning the lottery in 1987 and landing David Robinson was big, then winning the lottery again in 1997 and landing Tim Duncan was bigger, and now comes Wembanyama.
It&rsquo;s big. How big, well, that story will get told in the coming years.
&ldquo;Now it becomes real,&rdquo; former NBA player Ian Mahinmi &mdash; one of more than 40 international players that Popovich has had during his tenure in San Antonio &mdash; said during the telecast of Wembanyama&rsquo;s French league game Tuesday. &ldquo;Now everything becomes real.&rdquo;
Popovich talked before the Spurs&rsquo; last game of the season about how, during his career, he has been the &ldquo;beneficiary of serendipity to a max degree.&rdquo;
He&rsquo;s not wrong. And more good fortune has come to San Antonio. The Spurs haven&rsquo;t won a playoff series since 2017 and went a combined 121-186 over the last four seasons.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/wembanyama-nba-draft-spurs-ee1a9bd2232173666d3302bb491c7c5c">They basically lost more games</a>&nbsp;in the last four years than they did in the previous eight years combined.
The losing ends now, if Wembanyama has anything to say about it. He&rsquo;s coming to the NBA with eyes on becoming a superstar, an icon, a champion. And he&rsquo;s about to become the star of the latest &mdash; and perhaps final &mdash; phase of Popovich&rsquo;s career.
&ldquo;Today was a good day,&rdquo; Wembanyama tweeted after the lottery.
Popovich doesn&rsquo;t tweet, but he and everyone else in San Antonio surely felt the same way. After 60 losses this season, they got the win they wanted most.

The NBA’s oldest coach and newest phenom could become the league's newest dynamic duo.

Victor Wembanyama, Gregg Popovich will be NBA’s newest dynamic duo

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Miami&rsquo;s Erik Spoelstra and Denver&rsquo;s Michael Malone are two of the four NBA coaches to have spent at least eight years with their current team.
They know how rare that is &mdash; especially as the league&rsquo;s coaching changes mount.
Championship-winning or title-contending coaches aren&rsquo;t safe in the NBA these days. In recent days, 2019 NBA champion Nick Nurse, 2021 champion Mike Budenholzer, 2021 Western Conference champion and 2022 Coach of the Year Monty Williams and most recently 2008 NBA champion Doc Rivers were all fired.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/raptors-nick-nurse-fired-c2b7dc404915ee3ae12fe1a52e589830">Nurse was fired by Toronto</a>,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/milwaukee-bucks-budenholzer-fired-e9ab56f83d317afd621adb7d7c244006">Budenholzer by Milwaukee</a>,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/suns-monty-williams-fired-53f33c2c3c8d69af7449cbfbf931bc0a">Williams by Phoenix</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/76ers-nba-doc-rivers-fired-09368e77a8f741576222c975c3affe55">Rivers by Philadelphia.</a>
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s disturbing,&rdquo; Spoelstra said. &ldquo;Doc&rsquo;s a Hall of Famer. ... There&rsquo;s only so many teams that can advance. It&rsquo;s just a really hard thing to do. Yeah, it&rsquo;s been a tough couple weeks, hearing the news of just some really surprising firings.&rdquo;
It doesn&rsquo;t make sense to Spoelstra, or likely to many other coaches. Spoelstra has the NBA&rsquo;s second-longest current tenure with one team. San Antonio&rsquo;s Gregg Popovich has coached the Spurs since 1996, Spoelstra took over the Heat in 2008, Steve Kerr became coach in Golden State in 2014 and Malone became coach in Denver in 2015.
&nbsp;

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Miami&rsquo;s Erik Spoelstra and Denver&rsquo;s Michael Malone are two of the four NBA coaches to have spent at least eight years with their current team.
They know how rare that is &mdash; especially as the league&rsquo;s coaching changes mount.
Championship-winning or title-contending coaches aren&rsquo;t safe in the NBA these days. In recent days, 2019 NBA champion Nick Nurse, 2021 champion Mike Budenholzer, 2021 Western Conference champion and 2022 Coach of the Year Monty Williams and most recently 2008 NBA champion Doc Rivers were all fired.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/raptors-nick-nurse-fired-c2b7dc404915ee3ae12fe1a52e589830">Nurse was fired by Toronto</a>,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/milwaukee-bucks-budenholzer-fired-e9ab56f83d317afd621adb7d7c244006">Budenholzer by Milwaukee</a>,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/suns-monty-williams-fired-53f33c2c3c8d69af7449cbfbf931bc0a">Williams by Phoenix</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/76ers-nba-doc-rivers-fired-09368e77a8f741576222c975c3affe55">Rivers by Philadelphia.</a>
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s disturbing,&rdquo; Spoelstra said. &ldquo;Doc&rsquo;s a Hall of Famer. ... There&rsquo;s only so many teams that can advance. It&rsquo;s just a really hard thing to do. Yeah, it&rsquo;s been a tough couple weeks, hearing the news of just some really surprising firings.&rdquo;
It doesn&rsquo;t make sense to Spoelstra, or likely to many other coaches. Spoelstra has the NBA&rsquo;s second-longest current tenure with one team. San Antonio&rsquo;s Gregg Popovich has coached the Spurs since 1996, Spoelstra took over the Heat in 2008, Steve Kerr became coach in Golden State in 2014 and Malone became coach in Denver in 2015.
&ldquo;I understand this business,&rdquo; said Malone, who&rsquo;ll lead Denver into the Western Conference finals starting Tuesday against the Los Angeles Lakers. &ldquo;You look around the coaching landscape, if you want a secure profession, coaching is not the one to get into. I should have been a TV reporter.&rdquo;
Of the last nine coaches to take a team to the NBA Finals, only two &mdash; Kerr and Spoelstra &mdash; are still with the franchise that they went to the title round with.
Three of the last four championship-winning coaches &mdash; Budenholzer in 2021, the Los Angeles Lakers&rsquo; Frank Vogel in 2020 and Nurse in 2019 &ndash; have since been fired by those clubs. Also no longer with their teams for various reasons after recent runs to the finals: Ime Udoka in Boston, Cleveland&rsquo;s David Blatt and then Tyronn Lue as well, and now Williams by the Suns.
&nbsp;

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Miami&rsquo;s Erik Spoelstra and Denver&rsquo;s Michael Malone are two of the four NBA coaches to have spent at least eight years with their current team.
They know how rare that is &mdash; especially as the league&rsquo;s coaching changes mount.
Championship-winning or title-contending coaches aren&rsquo;t safe in the NBA these days. In recent days, 2019 NBA champion Nick Nurse, 2021 champion Mike Budenholzer, 2021 Western Conference champion and 2022 Coach of the Year Monty Williams and most recently 2008 NBA champion Doc Rivers were all fired.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/raptors-nick-nurse-fired-c2b7dc404915ee3ae12fe1a52e589830">Nurse was fired by Toronto</a>,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/milwaukee-bucks-budenholzer-fired-e9ab56f83d317afd621adb7d7c244006">Budenholzer by Milwaukee</a>,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/suns-monty-williams-fired-53f33c2c3c8d69af7449cbfbf931bc0a">Williams by Phoenix</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/76ers-nba-doc-rivers-fired-09368e77a8f741576222c975c3affe55">Rivers by Philadelphia.</a>
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s disturbing,&rdquo; Spoelstra said. &ldquo;Doc&rsquo;s a Hall of Famer. ... There&rsquo;s only so many teams that can advance. It&rsquo;s just a really hard thing to do. Yeah, it&rsquo;s been a tough couple weeks, hearing the news of just some really surprising firings.&rdquo;
It doesn&rsquo;t make sense to Spoelstra, or likely to many other coaches. Spoelstra has the NBA&rsquo;s second-longest current tenure with one team. San Antonio&rsquo;s Gregg Popovich has coached the Spurs since 1996, Spoelstra took over the Heat in 2008, Steve Kerr became coach in Golden State in 2014 and Malone became coach in Denver in 2015.
&ldquo;I understand this business,&rdquo; said Malone, who&rsquo;ll lead Denver into the Western Conference finals starting Tuesday against the Los Angeles Lakers. &ldquo;You look around the coaching landscape, if you want a secure profession, coaching is not the one to get into. I should have been a TV reporter.&rdquo;
Of the last nine coaches to take a team to the NBA Finals, only two &mdash; Kerr and Spoelstra &mdash; are still with the franchise that they went to the title round with.
Three of the last four championship-winning coaches &mdash; Budenholzer in 2021, the Los Angeles Lakers&rsquo; Frank Vogel in 2020 and Nurse in 2019 &ndash; have since been fired by those clubs. Also no longer with their teams for various reasons after recent runs to the finals: Ime Udoka in Boston, Cleveland&rsquo;s David Blatt and then Tyronn Lue as well, and now Williams by the Suns.
&ldquo;This is the nature of this league and I think sometimes it&rsquo;s the chemistry,&rdquo; NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told ESPN in a televised interview before the draft lottery on Tuesday night. &rdquo;They don&rsquo;t go from being great coaches to bad coaches from one year to the next. It has to do with the chemistry of the team, the style, maybe somebody believes the players need to hear a new voice. But I&rsquo;m incredibly sympathetic. It&rsquo;s a rough side of this business and I think they understand it. They choose this profession. They&rsquo;re my friends and I hate to see it.&rdquo;
&nbsp;

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Miami&rsquo;s Erik Spoelstra and Denver&rsquo;s Michael Malone are two of the four NBA coaches to have spent at least eight years with their current team.
They know how rare that is &mdash; especially as the league&rsquo;s coaching changes mount.
Championship-winning or title-contending coaches aren&rsquo;t safe in the NBA these days. In recent days, 2019 NBA champion Nick Nurse, 2021 champion Mike Budenholzer, 2021 Western Conference champion and 2022 Coach of the Year Monty Williams and most recently 2008 NBA champion Doc Rivers were all fired.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/raptors-nick-nurse-fired-c2b7dc404915ee3ae12fe1a52e589830">Nurse was fired by Toronto</a>,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/milwaukee-bucks-budenholzer-fired-e9ab56f83d317afd621adb7d7c244006">Budenholzer by Milwaukee</a>,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/suns-monty-williams-fired-53f33c2c3c8d69af7449cbfbf931bc0a">Williams by Phoenix</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/76ers-nba-doc-rivers-fired-09368e77a8f741576222c975c3affe55">Rivers by Philadelphia.</a>
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s disturbing,&rdquo; Spoelstra said. &ldquo;Doc&rsquo;s a Hall of Famer. ... There&rsquo;s only so many teams that can advance. It&rsquo;s just a really hard thing to do. Yeah, it&rsquo;s been a tough couple weeks, hearing the news of just some really surprising firings.&rdquo;
It doesn&rsquo;t make sense to Spoelstra, or likely to many other coaches. Spoelstra has the NBA&rsquo;s second-longest current tenure with one team. San Antonio&rsquo;s Gregg Popovich has coached the Spurs since 1996, Spoelstra took over the Heat in 2008, Steve Kerr became coach in Golden State in 2014 and Malone became coach in Denver in 2015.
&ldquo;I understand this business,&rdquo; said Malone, who&rsquo;ll lead Denver into the Western Conference finals starting Tuesday against the Los Angeles Lakers. &ldquo;You look around the coaching landscape, if you want a secure profession, coaching is not the one to get into. I should have been a TV reporter.&rdquo;
Of the last nine coaches to take a team to the NBA Finals, only two &mdash; Kerr and Spoelstra &mdash; are still with the franchise that they went to the title round with.
Three of the last four championship-winning coaches &mdash; Budenholzer in 2021, the Los Angeles Lakers&rsquo; Frank Vogel in 2020 and Nurse in 2019 &ndash; have since been fired by those clubs. Also no longer with their teams for various reasons after recent runs to the finals: Ime Udoka in Boston, Cleveland&rsquo;s David Blatt and then Tyronn Lue as well, and now Williams by the Suns.
&ldquo;This is the nature of this league and I think sometimes it&rsquo;s the chemistry,&rdquo; NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told ESPN in a televised interview before the draft lottery on Tuesday night. &rdquo;They don&rsquo;t go from being great coaches to bad coaches from one year to the next. It has to do with the chemistry of the team, the style, maybe somebody believes the players need to hear a new voice. But I&rsquo;m incredibly sympathetic. It&rsquo;s a rough side of this business and I think they understand it. They choose this profession. They&rsquo;re my friends and I hate to see it.&rdquo;
Budenholzer&rsquo;s dismissal left Kerr upset, as he revealed earlier this month &mdash; but noted that all coaches understand how vulnerable they are.
&ldquo;My first response is not necessarily shock, it&rsquo;s more disappointment because Bud is a fantastic coach,&rdquo; Kerr said. &ldquo;He just won a championship and has been wildly successful in his coaching career. But this is the business we&rsquo;re in. &hellip; Expectations every year for every team are so high, and only one team can win. It&rsquo;s sad news for the coaching profession.&rdquo;
At least six teams will have new coaches next season &mdash; Phoenix, Milwaukee, Toronto, Detroit and now Philadelphia are looking, and&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/rockets-udoka-celtics-b65d91fdfa3174b0c9fa36634cd20e42">Houston has hired Udoka</a>&nbsp;as the replacement for Stephen Silas. There were two in-season moves as well: Brooklyn&rsquo;s&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/brooklyn-nets-nba-sports-new-york-e72b511a6d8cdb4e4875dbc1b157557e">Jacque Vaughn was hired by the Nets</a>&nbsp;in November, and Atlanta&rsquo;s&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/utah-jazz-atlanta-hawks-nba-sports-playoffs-bce807f9f9f26951421f9ea2c2e5d52f">Quin Snyder was hired by the Hawks</a>&nbsp;in February. And two coaches in the conference finals are in Year 1 of their careers: the Lakers&rsquo; Darvin Ham, and the Celtics&rsquo; Joe Mazzulla, who had to take over unexpectedly in Boston last fall following&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/boston-celtics-nba-sports-basketball-ime-udoka-0f04a614b82c497346a423d9da036521">Udoka&rsquo;s suspension</a>&nbsp;for an inappropriate relationship with a Celtics employee.
Mazzulla will meet Spoelstra and Miami in the Eastern Conference finals starting Wednesday. Spoelstra has faced Boston three times for the East title in four years, going up against three different coaches &mdash; Brad Stevens in the NBA bubble restart in 2020, Udoka last year and now Mazzulla &mdash; and says while the coaches change, organizational stability exists and is crucial.
&ldquo;Joe was in the bubble. ... He&rsquo;s been part of some really good teams,&rdquo; Spoelstra said. &ldquo;That does have an impact. Probably more than anything in this league right now, you&rsquo;re looking for some kind of organizational stability between the front office and coaching staff.&rdquo;

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Miami&rsquo;s Erik Spoelstra and Denver&rsquo;s Michael Malone are two of the four NBA coaches to have spent at least eight years with their current team.
They know how rare that is &mdash; especially as the league&rsquo;s coaching changes mount.
Championship-winning or title-contending coaches aren&rsquo;t safe in the NBA these days. In recent days, 2019 NBA champion Nick Nurse, 2021 champion Mike Budenholzer, 2021 Western Conference champion and 2022 Coach of the Year Monty Williams and most recently 2008 NBA champion Doc Rivers were all fired.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/raptors-nick-nurse-fired-c2b7dc404915ee3ae12fe1a52e589830">Nurse was fired by Toronto</a>,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/milwaukee-bucks-budenholzer-fired-e9ab56f83d317afd621adb7d7c244006">Budenholzer by Milwaukee</a>,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/suns-monty-williams-fired-53f33c2c3c8d69af7449cbfbf931bc0a">Williams by Phoenix</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/76ers-nba-doc-rivers-fired-09368e77a8f741576222c975c3affe55">Rivers by Philadelphia.</a>
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s disturbing,&rdquo; Spoelstra said. &ldquo;Doc&rsquo;s a Hall of Famer. ... There&rsquo;s only so many teams that can advance. It&rsquo;s just a really hard thing to do. Yeah, it&rsquo;s been a tough couple weeks, hearing the news of just some really surprising firings.&rdquo;
It doesn&rsquo;t make sense to Spoelstra, or likely to many other coaches. Spoelstra has the NBA&rsquo;s second-longest current tenure with one team. San Antonio&rsquo;s Gregg Popovich has coached the Spurs since 1996, Spoelstra took over the Heat in 2008, Steve Kerr became coach in Golden State in 2014 and Malone became coach in Denver in 2015.
&ldquo;I understand this business,&rdquo; said Malone, who&rsquo;ll lead Denver into the Western Conference finals starting Tuesday against the Los Angeles Lakers. &ldquo;You look around the coaching landscape, if you want a secure profession, coaching is not the one to get into. I should have been a TV reporter.&rdquo;
Of the last nine coaches to take a team to the NBA Finals, only two &mdash; Kerr and Spoelstra &mdash; are still with the franchise that they went to the title round with.
Three of the last four championship-winning coaches &mdash; Budenholzer in 2021, the Los Angeles Lakers&rsquo; Frank Vogel in 2020 and Nurse in 2019 &ndash; have since been fired by those clubs. Also no longer with their teams for various reasons after recent runs to the finals: Ime Udoka in Boston, Cleveland&rsquo;s David Blatt and then Tyronn Lue as well, and now Williams by the Suns.
&ldquo;This is the nature of this league and I think sometimes it&rsquo;s the chemistry,&rdquo; NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told ESPN in a televised interview before the draft lottery on Tuesday night. &rdquo;They don&rsquo;t go from being great coaches to bad coaches from one year to the next. It has to do with the chemistry of the team, the style, maybe somebody believes the players need to hear a new voice. But I&rsquo;m incredibly sympathetic. It&rsquo;s a rough side of this business and I think they understand it. They choose this profession. They&rsquo;re my friends and I hate to see it.&rdquo;
Budenholzer&rsquo;s dismissal left Kerr upset, as he revealed earlier this month &mdash; but noted that all coaches understand how vulnerable they are.
&ldquo;My first response is not necessarily shock, it&rsquo;s more disappointment because Bud is a fantastic coach,&rdquo; Kerr said. &ldquo;He just won a championship and has been wildly successful in his coaching career. But this is the business we&rsquo;re in. &hellip; Expectations every year for every team are so high, and only one team can win. It&rsquo;s sad news for the coaching profession.&rdquo;
At least six teams will have new coaches next season &mdash; Phoenix, Milwaukee, Toronto, Detroit and now Philadelphia are looking, and&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/rockets-udoka-celtics-b65d91fdfa3174b0c9fa36634cd20e42">Houston has hired Udoka</a>&nbsp;as the replacement for Stephen Silas. There were two in-season moves as well: Brooklyn&rsquo;s&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/brooklyn-nets-nba-sports-new-york-e72b511a6d8cdb4e4875dbc1b157557e">Jacque Vaughn was hired by the Nets</a>&nbsp;in November, and Atlanta&rsquo;s&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/utah-jazz-atlanta-hawks-nba-sports-playoffs-bce807f9f9f26951421f9ea2c2e5d52f">Quin Snyder was hired by the Hawks</a>&nbsp;in February. And two coaches in the conference finals are in Year 1 of their careers: the Lakers&rsquo; Darvin Ham, and the Celtics&rsquo; Joe Mazzulla, who had to take over unexpectedly in Boston last fall following&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/boston-celtics-nba-sports-basketball-ime-udoka-0f04a614b82c497346a423d9da036521">Udoka&rsquo;s suspension</a>&nbsp;for an inappropriate relationship with a Celtics employee.
Mazzulla will meet Spoelstra and Miami in the Eastern Conference finals starting Wednesday. Spoelstra has faced Boston three times for the East title in four years, going up against three different coaches &mdash; Brad Stevens in the NBA bubble restart in 2020, Udoka last year and now Mazzulla &mdash; and says while the coaches change, organizational stability exists and is crucial.
&ldquo;Joe was in the bubble. ... He&rsquo;s been part of some really good teams,&rdquo; Spoelstra said. &ldquo;That does have an impact. Probably more than anything in this league right now, you&rsquo;re looking for some kind of organizational stability between the front office and coaching staff.&rdquo;
There aren&rsquo;t many examples of that in the league right now. At minimum, 13 of the NBA&rsquo;s 30 teams will open next season with a coach who has been in place for no more than one season.
Rivers said Sunday that he expected to stay with the 76ers. &ldquo;No one&rsquo;s safe in our business. I get that,&rdquo; Rivers said.
Further proof of that came two days later, when he was dismissed.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just the business of basketball,&rdquo; Miami guard Kyle Lowry said. &ldquo;And one thing about our business is sometimes it gets a little cut-throat.&rdquo;
Spoelstra has long said part of Miami&rsquo;s strength is consistency. Managing general partner Micky Arison, CEO Nick Arison, team president Pat Riley, general manager Andy Elisburg and others have been with the Heat for decades &mdash; and from the very beginning, in Elisburg&rsquo;s case, since he&rsquo;s been with the franchise for all 35 of its seasons.
Spoelstra has been with the organization for more than half his life as well; he was 24 when he started in the video room, and now he&rsquo;s 52.
&ldquo;It takes so much time and energy to restart something,&rdquo; Spoelstra said. &ldquo;And I think that&rsquo;s part of the reason why we&rsquo;ve been able to reboot so many times, over and over and over. We&rsquo;re not reinventing a new culture and then trying to teach everybody and then all of a sudden, two years later, it&rsquo;s going to be somebody else doing the exact same thing. But particularly to have proven veteran guys (fired), it&rsquo;s just been stunning. It really has been disturbing.&rdquo;

Erik Spoelstra, Mike Malone and Adam Silver discussed the firings of Monty Williams, Doc Rivers, Mike Budenholzer and Nick Nurse.

As NBA coaching changes mount, some lament the lack of job security

Ja Morant spoke out Tuesday night about&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/ja-morant-gun-video-investigation-ce4081ab6036570ab2703be26f842743">his latest troubles</a>, three days after the Memphis guard apparently held a firearm again while being broadcast on social media and&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/ja-morant-nba-investigation-gun-7fe15dae343f85d0366a4c959d5313b3">was suspended by the Grizzlies</a>&nbsp;from all team activities.
He&rsquo;s also being investigated by the NBA for his actions, two months after the league&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/ja-morant-grizzlies-nba-gun-investigation-instagram-863e2f6217ab2ba438a85a31e4a492d5">suspended him for essentially the same thing</a>&nbsp;&mdash; displaying a gun on social media.
&ldquo;I know I&rsquo;ve disappointed a lot of people who have supported me,&rdquo; Morant said in a statement released Tuesday night by his representatives. &ldquo;This is a journey and I recognize there is more work to do. My words may not mean much right now, but I take full accountability for my actions. I&rsquo;m committed to continuing to work on myself.&rdquo;
His comments came a few hours after NBA Commissioner Adam Silver expressed disappointment over the situation. Silver handed down an eight-game suspension in March; there is no way of knowing yet what penalties Morant may face this time.
&nbsp;

Ja Morant spoke out Tuesday night about&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/ja-morant-gun-video-investigation-ce4081ab6036570ab2703be26f842743">his latest troubles</a>, three days after the Memphis guard apparently held a firearm again while being broadcast on social media and&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/ja-morant-nba-investigation-gun-7fe15dae343f85d0366a4c959d5313b3">was suspended by the Grizzlies</a>&nbsp;from all team activities.
He&rsquo;s also being investigated by the NBA for his actions, two months after the league&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/ja-morant-grizzlies-nba-gun-investigation-instagram-863e2f6217ab2ba438a85a31e4a492d5">suspended him for essentially the same thing</a>&nbsp;&mdash; displaying a gun on social media.
&ldquo;I know I&rsquo;ve disappointed a lot of people who have supported me,&rdquo; Morant said in a statement released Tuesday night by his representatives. &ldquo;This is a journey and I recognize there is more work to do. My words may not mean much right now, but I take full accountability for my actions. I&rsquo;m committed to continuing to work on myself.&rdquo;
His comments came a few hours after NBA Commissioner Adam Silver expressed disappointment over the situation. Silver handed down an eight-game suspension in March; there is no way of knowing yet what penalties Morant may face this time.
&ldquo;Honestly, I was shocked when I saw, this weekend, that video,&rdquo; Silver said in a televised interview with ESPN before the draft lottery in Chicago. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re in the process of investigating it and we&rsquo;ll figure out exactly what happened as best as we can. The video&rsquo;s a bit grainy and all that, but I&rsquo;m assuming the worst. We&rsquo;ll figure out exactly what happened there.&rdquo;
The first video, which cost Morant about $669,000 in forfeited salary, came out in March. The second was captured Saturday night and widely shared online. It was streamed on the Instagram account of Morant associate Davonte Pack, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because the Grizzlies have not commented on the specifics of the latest video.
The video streamed by Pack shows Morant briefly appearing to display a handgun. At the very brief moment &mdash; maybe less than a second &mdash; when Morant is shown holding what appears to be a weapon as he sits in the passenger seat of a vehicle, the livestream had 111 viewers.
&nbsp;

Ja Morant spoke out Tuesday night about&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/ja-morant-gun-video-investigation-ce4081ab6036570ab2703be26f842743">his latest troubles</a>, three days after the Memphis guard apparently held a firearm again while being broadcast on social media and&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/ja-morant-nba-investigation-gun-7fe15dae343f85d0366a4c959d5313b3">was suspended by the Grizzlies</a>&nbsp;from all team activities.
He&rsquo;s also being investigated by the NBA for his actions, two months after the league&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/ja-morant-grizzlies-nba-gun-investigation-instagram-863e2f6217ab2ba438a85a31e4a492d5">suspended him for essentially the same thing</a>&nbsp;&mdash; displaying a gun on social media.
&ldquo;I know I&rsquo;ve disappointed a lot of people who have supported me,&rdquo; Morant said in a statement released Tuesday night by his representatives. &ldquo;This is a journey and I recognize there is more work to do. My words may not mean much right now, but I take full accountability for my actions. I&rsquo;m committed to continuing to work on myself.&rdquo;
His comments came a few hours after NBA Commissioner Adam Silver expressed disappointment over the situation. Silver handed down an eight-game suspension in March; there is no way of knowing yet what penalties Morant may face this time.
&ldquo;Honestly, I was shocked when I saw, this weekend, that video,&rdquo; Silver said in a televised interview with ESPN before the draft lottery in Chicago. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re in the process of investigating it and we&rsquo;ll figure out exactly what happened as best as we can. The video&rsquo;s a bit grainy and all that, but I&rsquo;m assuming the worst. We&rsquo;ll figure out exactly what happened there.&rdquo;
The first video, which cost Morant about $669,000 in forfeited salary, came out in March. The second was captured Saturday night and widely shared online. It was streamed on the Instagram account of Morant associate Davonte Pack, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because the Grizzlies have not commented on the specifics of the latest video.
The video streamed by Pack shows Morant briefly appearing to display a handgun. At the very brief moment &mdash; maybe less than a second &mdash; when Morant is shown holding what appears to be a weapon as he sits in the passenger seat of a vehicle, the livestream had 111 viewers.
&ldquo;He could have injured, maimed, killed himself, someone else, with an act like that,&rdquo; Silver said. &ldquo;And also the acknowledgement that he&rsquo;s a star. He has an incredibly huge following. And my concern &mdash; and I thought he shared with me &mdash; that millions if not tens of millions of kids globally would see him as having done something that was celebrating in a way that act of using a firearm in that fashion.&rdquo;
Morant said in March that he needed to work on himself, and when the season ended a couple weeks ago, he offered similar thoughts.
&nbsp;

Ja Morant spoke out Tuesday night about&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/ja-morant-gun-video-investigation-ce4081ab6036570ab2703be26f842743">his latest troubles</a>, three days after the Memphis guard apparently held a firearm again while being broadcast on social media and&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/ja-morant-nba-investigation-gun-7fe15dae343f85d0366a4c959d5313b3">was suspended by the Grizzlies</a>&nbsp;from all team activities.
He&rsquo;s also being investigated by the NBA for his actions, two months after the league&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/ja-morant-grizzlies-nba-gun-investigation-instagram-863e2f6217ab2ba438a85a31e4a492d5">suspended him for essentially the same thing</a>&nbsp;&mdash; displaying a gun on social media.
&ldquo;I know I&rsquo;ve disappointed a lot of people who have supported me,&rdquo; Morant said in a statement released Tuesday night by his representatives. &ldquo;This is a journey and I recognize there is more work to do. My words may not mean much right now, but I take full accountability for my actions. I&rsquo;m committed to continuing to work on myself.&rdquo;
His comments came a few hours after NBA Commissioner Adam Silver expressed disappointment over the situation. Silver handed down an eight-game suspension in March; there is no way of knowing yet what penalties Morant may face this time.
&ldquo;Honestly, I was shocked when I saw, this weekend, that video,&rdquo; Silver said in a televised interview with ESPN before the draft lottery in Chicago. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re in the process of investigating it and we&rsquo;ll figure out exactly what happened as best as we can. The video&rsquo;s a bit grainy and all that, but I&rsquo;m assuming the worst. We&rsquo;ll figure out exactly what happened there.&rdquo;
The first video, which cost Morant about $669,000 in forfeited salary, came out in March. The second was captured Saturday night and widely shared online. It was streamed on the Instagram account of Morant associate Davonte Pack, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because the Grizzlies have not commented on the specifics of the latest video.
The video streamed by Pack shows Morant briefly appearing to display a handgun. At the very brief moment &mdash; maybe less than a second &mdash; when Morant is shown holding what appears to be a weapon as he sits in the passenger seat of a vehicle, the livestream had 111 viewers.
&ldquo;He could have injured, maimed, killed himself, someone else, with an act like that,&rdquo; Silver said. &ldquo;And also the acknowledgement that he&rsquo;s a star. He has an incredibly huge following. And my concern &mdash; and I thought he shared with me &mdash; that millions if not tens of millions of kids globally would see him as having done something that was celebrating in a way that act of using a firearm in that fashion.&rdquo;
Morant said in March that he needed to work on himself, and when the season ended a couple weeks ago, he offered similar thoughts.
&ldquo;Being disciplined on both sides, off the court making better decisions and on the court being locked in even more,&rdquo; Morant said. &ldquo;Being a leader of this team, it pretty much starts with me. ... I&rsquo;ve got to be better in that area.&rdquo;
Morant&rsquo;s five-year, $194 million max contract is set to begin this coming season. He has deals with Nike and Powerade, though the sports drink company pulled an ad featuring Morant almost immediately after the March video emerged.
This is the third known NBA investigation surrounding Morant and the possible involvement of firearms so far in 2023.
Morant&rsquo;s actions were investigated after a Jan. 29 incident in Memphis that he said led to Pack banned from Grizzlies&rsquo; home games for a year. That incident followed a game against the Indiana Pacers; citing unnamed sources, The Indianapolis Star and USA Today reported that multiple members of the Pacers saw a red dot pointed at them while they were near the loading dock where their bus was located, and The Athletic reported that a Pacers security guard believed the laser was attached to a gun.
The NBA confirmed that unnamed individuals were banned from the arena but said its investigation found no evidence that anyone was threatened with a weapon.
Then came the Denver-area incident in the early hours of March 4, after the Grizzlies played a road game against the Nuggets when Morant started a livestream from inside a strip club while holding a gun. No charges were filed.
Morant and Pack also are involved in a civil lawsuit brought after an incident at Morant&rsquo;s home last summer, in which a then-17-year-old alleged that they assaulted him. Morant filed a countersuit on April 12, accusing the teen of slander, battery and assault.

Ja Morant spoke out Tuesday about his latest troubles, three days after he apparently waved a firearm again in an Instagram video.

Ja Morant takes accountability after holding gun in another video

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver expressed disappointment Tuesday that Memphis guard Ja Morant apparently held a firearm again on social media this past weekend, but did not predict what punishment the league may impose.
Morant has already been suspended him from all team activities by the Grizzlies and the league has opened another investigation into the star guard&rsquo;s off-court conduct.
Silver met with Morant after a similar incident in March and suspended him for eight games.
&ldquo;Honestly, I was shocked when I saw, this weekend, that video,&rdquo; Silver said in a televised interview with ESPN before the draft lottery in Chicago. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re in the process of investigating it and we&rsquo;ll figure out exactly what happened as best as we can. The video&rsquo;s a bit grainy and all that, but I&rsquo;m assuming the worst. We&rsquo;ll figure out exactly what happened there.&rdquo;
It&rsquo;s the second time in less than three months that Morant was seen on Instagram holding what appeared to be a weapon. The first led to the eight-game suspension that was handed down in March and cost Morant about $669,000 in salary.
&nbsp;

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver expressed disappointment Tuesday that Memphis guard Ja Morant apparently held a firearm again on social media this past weekend, but did not predict what punishment the league may impose.
Morant has already been suspended him from all team activities by the Grizzlies and the league has opened another investigation into the star guard&rsquo;s off-court conduct.
Silver met with Morant after a similar incident in March and suspended him for eight games.
&ldquo;Honestly, I was shocked when I saw, this weekend, that video,&rdquo; Silver said in a televised interview with ESPN before the draft lottery in Chicago. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re in the process of investigating it and we&rsquo;ll figure out exactly what happened as best as we can. The video&rsquo;s a bit grainy and all that, but I&rsquo;m assuming the worst. We&rsquo;ll figure out exactly what happened there.&rdquo;
It&rsquo;s the second time in less than three months that Morant was seen on Instagram holding what appeared to be a weapon. The first led to the eight-game suspension that was handed down in March and cost Morant about $669,000 in salary.
This time, the suspension could be much longer and much more costly. The second video was captured Saturday night and widely shared online. It was streamed on the Instagram account of Morant associate Davonte Pack, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because the Grizzlies have not commented on the specifics of the latest video.
The video streamed by Pack shows Morant in the passenger seat of a vehicle, briefly appearing to display a handgun. At the very brief moment &mdash; maybe less than a second &mdash; when Morant is shown holding what appears to be a weapon as he sits in the passenger seat of a vehicle, the livestream had 111 viewers.
&nbsp;

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver expressed disappointment Tuesday that Memphis guard Ja Morant apparently held a firearm again on social media this past weekend, but did not predict what punishment the league may impose.
Morant has already been suspended him from all team activities by the Grizzlies and the league has opened another investigation into the star guard&rsquo;s off-court conduct.
Silver met with Morant after a similar incident in March and suspended him for eight games.
&ldquo;Honestly, I was shocked when I saw, this weekend, that video,&rdquo; Silver said in a televised interview with ESPN before the draft lottery in Chicago. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re in the process of investigating it and we&rsquo;ll figure out exactly what happened as best as we can. The video&rsquo;s a bit grainy and all that, but I&rsquo;m assuming the worst. We&rsquo;ll figure out exactly what happened there.&rdquo;
It&rsquo;s the second time in less than three months that Morant was seen on Instagram holding what appeared to be a weapon. The first led to the eight-game suspension that was handed down in March and cost Morant about $669,000 in salary.
This time, the suspension could be much longer and much more costly. The second video was captured Saturday night and widely shared online. It was streamed on the Instagram account of Morant associate Davonte Pack, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because the Grizzlies have not commented on the specifics of the latest video.
The video streamed by Pack shows Morant in the passenger seat of a vehicle, briefly appearing to display a handgun. At the very brief moment &mdash; maybe less than a second &mdash; when Morant is shown holding what appears to be a weapon as he sits in the passenger seat of a vehicle, the livestream had 111 viewers.
&ldquo;He could have injured, maimed, killed himself, someone else, with an act like that,&rdquo; Silver said. &ldquo;And also the acknowledgement that he&rsquo;s a star. He has an incredibly huge following. And my concern &mdash; and I thought he shared with me &mdash; that millions if not tens of millions of kids globally would see him as having done something that was celebrating in a way that act of using a firearm in that fashion.&rdquo;
When the season ended a couple weeks ago, Morant said again that he needed to work on his decision-making.
&ldquo;Being disciplined on both sides, off the court making better decisions and on the court being locked in even more,&rdquo; Morant said following a season-ending loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. &ldquo;Being a leader of this team, it pretty much starts with me. ... I&rsquo;ve got to be better in that area.&rdquo;
&nbsp;

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver expressed disappointment Tuesday that Memphis guard Ja Morant apparently held a firearm again on social media this past weekend, but did not predict what punishment the league may impose.
Morant has already been suspended him from all team activities by the Grizzlies and the league has opened another investigation into the star guard&rsquo;s off-court conduct.
Silver met with Morant after a similar incident in March and suspended him for eight games.
&ldquo;Honestly, I was shocked when I saw, this weekend, that video,&rdquo; Silver said in a televised interview with ESPN before the draft lottery in Chicago. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re in the process of investigating it and we&rsquo;ll figure out exactly what happened as best as we can. The video&rsquo;s a bit grainy and all that, but I&rsquo;m assuming the worst. We&rsquo;ll figure out exactly what happened there.&rdquo;
It&rsquo;s the second time in less than three months that Morant was seen on Instagram holding what appeared to be a weapon. The first led to the eight-game suspension that was handed down in March and cost Morant about $669,000 in salary.
This time, the suspension could be much longer and much more costly. The second video was captured Saturday night and widely shared online. It was streamed on the Instagram account of Morant associate Davonte Pack, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because the Grizzlies have not commented on the specifics of the latest video.
The video streamed by Pack shows Morant in the passenger seat of a vehicle, briefly appearing to display a handgun. At the very brief moment &mdash; maybe less than a second &mdash; when Morant is shown holding what appears to be a weapon as he sits in the passenger seat of a vehicle, the livestream had 111 viewers.
&ldquo;He could have injured, maimed, killed himself, someone else, with an act like that,&rdquo; Silver said. &ldquo;And also the acknowledgement that he&rsquo;s a star. He has an incredibly huge following. And my concern &mdash; and I thought he shared with me &mdash; that millions if not tens of millions of kids globally would see him as having done something that was celebrating in a way that act of using a firearm in that fashion.&rdquo;
When the season ended a couple weeks ago, Morant said again that he needed to work on his decision-making.
&ldquo;Being disciplined on both sides, off the court making better decisions and on the court being locked in even more,&rdquo; Morant said following a season-ending loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. &ldquo;Being a leader of this team, it pretty much starts with me. ... I&rsquo;ve got to be better in that area.&rdquo;
Morant&rsquo;s five-year, $194 million max contract is set to begin this coming season. He has endorsement deals with Nike and Powerade, though the sports drink company pulled an ad featuring Morant almost immediately after the March video emerged.
This is the third known NBA investigation surrounding Morant and the possible involvement of firearms so far in 2023.
Morant&rsquo;s actions were investigated after a Jan. 29 incident in Memphis that he said led to Pack banned from Grizzlies&rsquo; home games for a year.
That incident followed a game against the Indiana Pacers; citing unnamed sources, The Indianapolis Star and USA Today reported that multiple members of the Pacers saw a red dot pointed at them while they were near the loading dock where their bus was located, and The Athletic reported that a Pacers security guard believed the laser was attached to a gun.
The NBA confirmed that unnamed individuals were banned from the arena but said its investigation found no evidence that anyone was threatened with a weapon.
Then came the Denver-area incident in the early hours of March 4, after the Grizzlies played a road game against the Nuggets when Morant started a livestream from inside a strip club while holding a gun. No charges were filed.
Morant and Pack also are involved in a civil lawsuit brought after an incident at Morant&rsquo;s home last summer, in which a then-17-year-old alleged that they assaulted him. Morant filed a countersuit on April 12, accusing the teen of slander, battery and assault.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver expressed disappointment Tuesday that Ja Morant apparently held a firearm again on social media.

Adam Silver expresses disappointment over latest Ja Morant video

It&rsquo;s time. The Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes is about to have a winner.
The&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-draft-lottery-2023-wembanyama-spurs-pistons-rockets-7e95b8f804e9ec64e303debdc3a7b2d4">NBA draft lottery is Tuesday night</a>&nbsp;in Chicago and 14 teams will hope that the ping-pong balls will bounce their way, giving them the No. 1 pick this year and the chance to draft Wembanyama.
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/wemby-victor-wembanyama-nba-draft-f5be654cce544c675559bad526220a9e">The Detroit Pistons, Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs</a>&nbsp;all have the best chance of winning the lottery and getting the No. 1 pick &mdash; 14%, or about 7-1 odds.
Here is a look at what all the fuss is about:
WHO IS VICTOR WEMBANYAMA?
He&rsquo;s one of the most talked-about players in the world right now, for good and obvious reasons. He is a 7-foot-3, 19-year-old phenom who is wrapping up his third professional season in France and is about to start his NBA career. LeBron James calls Wembanyama &ldquo;an alien,&rdquo; and says that with the utmost of respect. Wembanyama has the height of a center, the shooting touch of a wing and the passing ability of a point guard. His wingspan is nearly 8 feet and he can nearly grab the rim &mdash; 10 feet in the air &mdash; without even jumping.

It&rsquo;s time. The Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes is about to have a winner.
The&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-draft-lottery-2023-wembanyama-spurs-pistons-rockets-7e95b8f804e9ec64e303debdc3a7b2d4">NBA draft lottery is Tuesday night</a>&nbsp;in Chicago and 14 teams will hope that the ping-pong balls will bounce their way, giving them the No. 1 pick this year and the chance to draft Wembanyama.
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/wemby-victor-wembanyama-nba-draft-f5be654cce544c675559bad526220a9e">The Detroit Pistons, Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs</a>&nbsp;all have the best chance of winning the lottery and getting the No. 1 pick &mdash; 14%, or about 7-1 odds.
Here is a look at what all the fuss is about:
WHO IS VICTOR WEMBANYAMA?
He&rsquo;s one of the most talked-about players in the world right now, for good and obvious reasons. He is a 7-foot-3, 19-year-old phenom who is wrapping up his third professional season in France and is about to start his NBA career. LeBron James calls Wembanyama &ldquo;an alien,&rdquo; and says that with the utmost of respect. Wembanyama has the height of a center, the shooting touch of a wing and the passing ability of a point guard. His wingspan is nearly 8 feet and he can nearly grab the rim &mdash; 10 feet in the air &mdash; without even jumping.
&nbsp;

It&rsquo;s time. The Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes is about to have a winner.
The&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-draft-lottery-2023-wembanyama-spurs-pistons-rockets-7e95b8f804e9ec64e303debdc3a7b2d4">NBA draft lottery is Tuesday night</a>&nbsp;in Chicago and 14 teams will hope that the ping-pong balls will bounce their way, giving them the No. 1 pick this year and the chance to draft Wembanyama.
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/wemby-victor-wembanyama-nba-draft-f5be654cce544c675559bad526220a9e">The Detroit Pistons, Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs</a>&nbsp;all have the best chance of winning the lottery and getting the No. 1 pick &mdash; 14%, or about 7-1 odds.
Here is a look at what all the fuss is about:
WHO IS VICTOR WEMBANYAMA?
He&rsquo;s one of the most talked-about players in the world right now, for good and obvious reasons. He is a 7-foot-3, 19-year-old phenom who is wrapping up his third professional season in France and is about to start his NBA career. LeBron James calls Wembanyama &ldquo;an alien,&rdquo; and says that with the utmost of respect. Wembanyama has the height of a center, the shooting touch of a wing and the passing ability of a point guard. His wingspan is nearly 8 feet and he can nearly grab the rim &mdash; 10 feet in the air &mdash; without even jumping.
WHAT WEMBANYAMA&rsquo;S BACKGROUND?
His parents are both tall and both very athletic. His father, Felix Wembanyama, is about 6-foot-5 and was a high jumper. His mother, Elodie de Fautereau; is about 6-foot-3 and was a basketball standout. They have tried to keep life very normal for a son who just happens to have worldwide fame already. And Wembanyama has tried to be a normal kid; he likes video games, art, reading and soccer.
WHAT HAPPENS TUESDAY?
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/wembanyama-nba-draft-spurs-ee1a9bd2232173666d3302bb491c7c5c">The winner of the draft lottery</a>&nbsp;gets the chance to make the No. 1 pick in next month&rsquo;s draft. So, while Wembanyama won&rsquo;t &ldquo;officially&rdquo; be a member of that team yet, it&rsquo;ll be a foregone conclusion that &mdash; barring some sort of incredible trade &mdash; he&rsquo;ll be selected by that franchise in June and could be with his new club for summer league games in early July.
HOW WILL HE FIT IN THE NBA?
&nbsp;

It&rsquo;s time. The Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes is about to have a winner.
The&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-draft-lottery-2023-wembanyama-spurs-pistons-rockets-7e95b8f804e9ec64e303debdc3a7b2d4">NBA draft lottery is Tuesday night</a>&nbsp;in Chicago and 14 teams will hope that the ping-pong balls will bounce their way, giving them the No. 1 pick this year and the chance to draft Wembanyama.
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/wemby-victor-wembanyama-nba-draft-f5be654cce544c675559bad526220a9e">The Detroit Pistons, Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs</a>&nbsp;all have the best chance of winning the lottery and getting the No. 1 pick &mdash; 14%, or about 7-1 odds.
Here is a look at what all the fuss is about:
WHO IS VICTOR WEMBANYAMA?
He&rsquo;s one of the most talked-about players in the world right now, for good and obvious reasons. He is a 7-foot-3, 19-year-old phenom who is wrapping up his third professional season in France and is about to start his NBA career. LeBron James calls Wembanyama &ldquo;an alien,&rdquo; and says that with the utmost of respect. Wembanyama has the height of a center, the shooting touch of a wing and the passing ability of a point guard. His wingspan is nearly 8 feet and he can nearly grab the rim &mdash; 10 feet in the air &mdash; without even jumping.
WHAT WEMBANYAMA&rsquo;S BACKGROUND?
His parents are both tall and both very athletic. His father, Felix Wembanyama, is about 6-foot-5 and was a high jumper. His mother, Elodie de Fautereau; is about 6-foot-3 and was a basketball standout. They have tried to keep life very normal for a son who just happens to have worldwide fame already. And Wembanyama has tried to be a normal kid; he likes video games, art, reading and soccer.
WHAT HAPPENS TUESDAY?
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/wembanyama-nba-draft-spurs-ee1a9bd2232173666d3302bb491c7c5c">The winner of the draft lottery</a>&nbsp;gets the chance to make the No. 1 pick in next month&rsquo;s draft. So, while Wembanyama won&rsquo;t &ldquo;officially&rdquo; be a member of that team yet, it&rsquo;ll be a foregone conclusion that &mdash; barring some sort of incredible trade &mdash; he&rsquo;ll be selected by that franchise in June and could be with his new club for summer league games in early July.
HOW WILL HE FIT IN THE NBA?
There is a learning curve for everybody, even No. 1 draft picks. And it&rsquo;s a rite of passage for all rookies, especially highly touted ones, to get challenged by established NBA players &mdash; few of them are taller, but many are stronger and more experienced. He will have some rough moments, for certain.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/wembanyama-wemby-nba-draft-lottery-50308e65f44b8df7a2368c4de17bacff">But he will make any team better,</a>&nbsp;maybe much better, right away.
WHERE HAS HE PLAYED?
He became a full-time pro in the 2020-21 season with the French club Nanterre. He has been on three teams in his three seasons in the French league, his year with Nanterre followed by a season with the powerhouse club ASVEL &mdash; owned by San Antonio Spurs great Tony Parker &mdash; and this season with Boulogne-Levallois. His current team wraps up its regular season on Tuesday (which is why he won&rsquo;t be at the draft lottery) and is about to open the playoffs.

It&rsquo;s time. The Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes is about to have a winner.
The&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-draft-lottery-2023-wembanyama-spurs-pistons-rockets-7e95b8f804e9ec64e303debdc3a7b2d4">NBA draft lottery is Tuesday night</a>&nbsp;in Chicago and 14 teams will hope that the ping-pong balls will bounce their way, giving them the No. 1 pick this year and the chance to draft Wembanyama.
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/wemby-victor-wembanyama-nba-draft-f5be654cce544c675559bad526220a9e">The Detroit Pistons, Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs</a>&nbsp;all have the best chance of winning the lottery and getting the No. 1 pick &mdash; 14%, or about 7-1 odds.
Here is a look at what all the fuss is about:
WHO IS VICTOR WEMBANYAMA?
He&rsquo;s one of the most talked-about players in the world right now, for good and obvious reasons. He is a 7-foot-3, 19-year-old phenom who is wrapping up his third professional season in France and is about to start his NBA career.
LeBron James calls Wembanyama &ldquo;an alien,&rdquo; and says that with the utmost of respect. Wembanyama has the height of a center, the shooting touch of a wing and the passing ability of a point guard. His wingspan is nearly 8 feet and he can nearly grab the rim &mdash; 10 feet in the air &mdash; without even jumping.
WHAT WEMBANYAMA&rsquo;S BACKGROUND?
His parents are both tall and both very athletic. His father, Felix Wembanyama, is about 6-foot-5 and was a high jumper. His mother, Elodie de Fautereau; is about 6-foot-3 and was a basketball standout. They have tried to keep life very normal for a son who just happens to have worldwide fame already. And Wembanyama has tried to be a normal kid; he likes video games, art, reading and soccer.
WHAT HAPPENS TUESDAY?
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/wembanyama-nba-draft-spurs-ee1a9bd2232173666d3302bb491c7c5c">The winner of the draft lottery</a>&nbsp;gets the chance to make the No. 1 pick in next month&rsquo;s draft. So, while Wembanyama won&rsquo;t &ldquo;officially&rdquo; be a member of that team yet, it&rsquo;ll be a foregone conclusion that &mdash; barring some sort of incredible trade &mdash; he&rsquo;ll be selected by that franchise in June and could be with his new club for summer league games in early July.
HOW WILL HE FIT IN THE NBA?
There is a learning curve for everybody, even No. 1 draft picks. And it&rsquo;s a rite of passage for all rookies, especially highly touted ones, to get challenged by established NBA players &mdash; few of them are taller, but many are stronger and more experienced. He will have some rough moments, for certain.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/wembanyama-wemby-nba-draft-lottery-50308e65f44b8df7a2368c4de17bacff">But he will make any team better,</a>&nbsp;maybe much better, right away.
WHERE HAS HE PLAYED?
He became a full-time pro in the 2020-21 season with the French club Nanterre. He has been on three teams in his three seasons in the French league, his year with Nanterre followed by a season with the powerhouse club ASVEL &mdash; owned by San Antonio Spurs great Tony Parker &mdash; and this season with Boulogne-Levallois. His current team wraps up its regular season on Tuesday (which is why he won&rsquo;t be at the draft lottery) and is about to open the playoffs.

The Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes is about to have a winner. Here's everything you need to know about the potential superstar.

Who is Victor Wembanyama? Here's everything you need to know

Tim Reynolds is a writer for the Associated Press.