Why the Boston Celtics should keep this core together, plus Tyler Herro updates

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Nikola Jokić has just been riding horses and awaiting his next victim for the NBA Finals. Good luck to Bam Adebayo and Co.

Miami Maintains Status Quos

Heat avoid historic collapse

The Celtics sought NBA history with their 0-3 comeback, but luck was not on their side. Neither were the Heat, who handed Boston a 103-84 Game 7 home loss. Their season-ending defeat makes the Celtics the 151st NBA team in 151 attempts to lose a playoff series after trailing 0-3. You normally wouldn’t blame a team for failing to overcome such a deficit. Baseball has seen it happen only once, and it’s barely happened in hockey. But the Boston Red Sox’s historic comeback in 2004 provided some belief it could also happen in the NBA.

Just days ago, Jaylen Brown told reporters, “It means nothing if we come and lay an egg on our home floor.” The Celtics did just that in Game 7 after dominating Games 4 and 5 before a last-second savior moment from Derrick White won Game 6. The Heat won Game 7 with brilliant defense, timely shots and keeping Boston from ever applying pressure in the series’ final moments.

Jimmy Butler won Eastern Conference Finals MVP with averages of 24.7 points, 7.6 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 2.6 steals in 39.6 minutes with shooting splits of 42 percent from the field, 35 percent from 3 and 83 percent from the free-throw line. But maybe Caleb Martin should have earned the honors. Martin had 26 points, 10 rebounds and three assists in Game 7, leaving his series averages at 19.3 points and 6.4 rebounds with 60/49/88 shooting splits for the series. When other players (see: Adebayo, Bam) seemed hesitant to score and complement Butler, Martin stepped up with timely shot after timely shot.

The Heat shot 50 percent from deep on 28 attempts while the Celtics were 9-of-42 (21.4 percent). Despite attempting more 3s, Boston seemed more timid than usual from deep, as Miami finished with a plus-five advantage.

These weren’t the same Celtics from Games 4-6, and maybe that’s why history remained on Miami’s side. Maintaining the necessary excellence to climb out of a 3-0 hole is tough, especially in the conference finals. People dismissed Miami all season long because the Heat didn’t resemble their 2021-22 form.

The Heat were flawed but resilient. Butler is a superstar. Erik Spoelstra is one of the greatest coaches ever. And this #HeatCulture tends to find the Caleb Martins and Gabe Vincents of the world step up. The Heat proved they belong.

Now, they enter the NBA Finals as a wildly overlooked opponent. The Nuggets looked the part in the regular season and marched through the West. They’re justifiably favored over Miami. But the same was said and believed about Milwaukee and Boston. Maybe the Nuggets are that much better and win their first title over Miami. But, so far with the Heat,…