Miami Heat Stomp Boston Celtics In Game 7, Advance To NBA Finals

BOSTON -- Jimmy Butler called his shot. A year to the day after Butler vowed to get the Miami Heat over the hump following a hard-fought Game 7 loss to the Boston Celtics in the 2022 Eastern Conference finals, he made good on his promise.

Miami joined the 1999 New York Knicks as the second No. 8 seed to make the NBA Finals after a dominant 103-84 victory over Boston in Game 7 of the conference finals on Monday night.

The rest of the Celtics labored to score, as well, as the team finished 9-for-42 on 3-pointers.

The Heat, meanwhile, made 50% of their 3-pointers in Game 7 -- and they are now set to face their biggest test in Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets.

The eighth-seeded Heat are just the second No. 8 seed in NBA history to appear in the Finals. The Nuggets, who are appearing in the Finals for the first time, completed a sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers and will have home-court advantage against the Heat.

All four rounds of the NBA playoffs are a best-of-seven format, as has been the case since 2003. The NBA does not reseed after each round, so the bracket is set at the start of the tournament.

The top six teams in each conference automatically qualified for the playoffs, while the teams that finished the regular season in seventh through 10th places advanced to the NBA's play-in tournament to determine the final two playoff teams in each conference.

Coverage of the NBA Finals will begin June 1 in Denver on ESPN 102.3/AM 1000 KSOO.

HOW TO WATCH

Game 1: Thursday at Denver, 8:30 p.m. ET (ABC)
Game 2: Sunday at Denver, 8 p.m. ET (ABC)
Game 3: Wednesday June 7 at Miami, 8:30 p.m. ET (ABC)
Game 4: Friday June 9 at Miami, 8:30 p.m. ET (ABC)
Game 5*: Monday June 12 at Denver, 8:30 p.m. ET (ABC)
Game 6*: Thursday June 15 at Miami, 8:30 p.m. ET (ABC)
Game 7*: Sunday June 18 at Denver, 8 p.m. ET (ABC)
*If necessary