Spoelstra on GM 7: ‘We are going up there and get it done’
Goforitradio Staff
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We got an absolute classic on Saturday night in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals between the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat.
Jimmy Butler, who was 5/21 from the field but finished with 24 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists, was fouled by Al Horford, shooting a three. Butler would make all three free throws with 3.0 seconds to go, which gave the Celtics enough time. Boston’s Marcus Smart would miss a three, Derrick White would tip it in at the buzzer, and Boston would defeat the Heat 104-103 in Miami to even the series at three.
After being down 3-0, the Celtics have forced a Game 7 on Monday night back in Boston and could be the first team in NBA history to come back from a 3-0 deficit. Last season, the Celtics defeated the Heat in the conference finals in Game 7 in Miami.
According to Butler, if he had played better, the Heat would have finished the series.
“Like I told the guys on the bench, I told the guys in the locker room, that if I play better, we’re not even in this position, honestly speaking,” Butler said after the loss. “And I will be better. That’s what makes me smile because those guys follow my lead. So when I’m playing better, I think we’re playing better as a whole.”
Butler knows the Heat must find a way to get through the Celtics.
“I think, I believe, as we all do like you’re going to get the same test until you pass it, I swear,” he said. “We were in this same position last year. We can do it. I know that we will do it. We’ve got to go on the road and win in a very, very, very tough environment. But we are capable of it. So let’s get busy.”
Miami won the first two games of this series and has proven they can succeed in Boston, and Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra is confident in his guys.
“This is one hell of a series,” he said. “At this time right now, I don’t know how we are going to get this done, but we are going up there and get it done. And that’s what the next 48 hours is about.”
Boston is 5-0 in these playoffs in elimination games and defeated the 76ers in Game 7 in the second round. This is a battled-tested group that has “unfinished business.”
It will be tough for the Heat to win after such a deflating loss, but as Spoelstra said, Miami will have to get it done.
