BAM Adebayo bounced back big time as he towed Miami Heat to a National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals appearance after clinching a 125-113 victory over Boston Celtics in their Eastern Conference finals on Sunday night (Monday in the Philippines).
Blaming himself for his subpar showing in Game 5 defeat that delayed the Heat’s march to the NBA last dance, Adebayo poured season-best 32 points to go along with 14 rebounds.
Jimmy Butler added 22 markers, including some big shots down the stretch for the Heat, rookie Tyler Herro contributed 19 while Andre Iguodala and Duncan Robinson had 15 points each.
After letting its early double-digit lead slip away and turn into a 90-96 deficit, the Heat woke up on five straight points from Herro for a 96-all count before Adebayo completed a three-point play to give Miami a 101-100 upperhand.
It was all Miami since then with Herro hitting a pair to spearhead a 9-0 scoring blast before Butler came up with crucial conversions to increase the advantage to 116-102 with over two minutes left.
“A great series. It was so competitive,” Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Extremely well-coached and well-put together and we are just honored to be part of that type of a series in a conference finals, and then we get an opportunity for the next stage.”
Jaylen Brown spearheaded the Celtics with 26 points, Jayson Tatum added double-double 21 points and 11 assists while Marcus Smart and Kemba Walker contributed 20 markers each.
The Heat will face Los Angeles Lakers in the championship series beginning Wednesday (Thursday in the Philippines)./PN
