Scintillating play by Jimmy Butler and consistent performances by Bam Adebayo have carried the eighth-seeded Miami Heat on their Cinderella run through the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Butler and Adebayo were not alone in Miami’s most recent outing, however.
After receiving a significant boost from an undrafted quartet of players, the Heat look to punch their ticket to their second NBA Finals appearance in four seasons on Tuesday when they host the Boston Celtics.
A resounding 128-102 victory on Sunday gave Miami a commanding 3-0 series lead over second-seeded Boston in the Eastern Conference final.
In NBA circles, a 3-0 deficit is akin to a death knell for the trailing club. No team in league history has overcome such a deficit to win a series.
Vincent and fellow undrafted players Duncan Robinson (22), Caleb Martin (18) and Max Strus (10) combined to score 79 points to allow Butler and Adebayo to essentially kick up their heels.
On the flip side, Boston’s celebrated duo of Jayson Tatum and Brown combined to make just 12 of 35 shots from the floor and 1 of 14 from 3-point range on Sunday. Brown, in fact, is just 2-for-20 from beyond the arc in the series.
As a team, the Celtics are shooting themselves in the foot from 3-point range (31-for-106, 29.2 percent), while the Heat are shooting the lights out (44-for-92, 47.8 percent) from beyond the arc.
Still, the most ardent of Boston fans will harken back to the time that the 2004 Red Sox overcame a 3-0 series deficit to stun the rival New York Yankees on their way toward winning the World Series. So, anything is possible.
Miami’s Kevin Love collected five quick points and two rebounds before exiting Sunday’s game with an apparent ankle injury. Spoelstra told reporters that the 34-year-old Love “says he’s fine” despite failing to return to the game.
