Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo’s Teammates Ripped As Heat Lose to Celtics in Game 7

Despite that miss, he was excellent again with 35 points and nine rebounds. He kept his team within striking distance through sheer individual will, but Boston countered with the three-headed attack of Jayson Tatum (26 points, 10 rebounds and six assists), Jaylen Brown (24 points, six assists and six rebounds) and Marcus Smart (24 points, nine rebounds and five assists).

The biggest issue for the Heat was the poor performance from their supporting cast, as players not named Butler and Bam Adebayo (25 points and 11 rebounds) shot a combined 12-of-43 (27.9 percent) from the field.

Social media took notice, and Kyle Lowry in particular drew plenty of ire:

Boston jumped out to a 15-point lead by the end of the first quarter by forcing turnovers, running off misses, targeting Max Strus in switches and creating easy looks in transition. Miami’s offense was far too stagnant with 17 points in the opening quarter, although Butler put the team on his back and clawed to within six by halftime.

Still, Tyler Herro was far less than 100 percent in his first action since Game 3 because of a groin injury, Lowry got cooked multiple times on defense while struggling with his outside shot and the Celtics had an answer for every one of Butler’s spurts.

The final spurt was almost enough for Miami to shock the Eastern Conference champs, as it went on an 11-0 run and had the ball down two in the final 20 seconds. However, Butler missed the pull-up three-pointer in transition that would have given his side the lead, and the Celtics iced it from there on the free-throw line.

Boston’s win meant the road team went 5-2 in this series, and it may need some of that magic away from home in the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors.