Jimmy Butler praises Heat after win vs Celtics in Game 7 but insists attention is now on the Nuggets

Following the Miami Heat’s 103-84 victory over the Boston Celtics in Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals, Jimmy Butler paid tribute to his teammates while expressing a message about their goal.

“I have so much faith in myself and in this group of guys,” Butler said after accepting the trophy. “And the team that coach Pat (general manager Pat Riley), Spo (head coach Eril Spoelstra) and everyone else put together.”

‘I see him every day. I know how good players we have, I know how good a team we are. And we did.

Butler would go on to say, “We stuck together as a band, as a team, we talked about having a tough fight down the road and that’s exactly what we did.” But we are not satisfied.

“We’re excited, we’re happy, but we still have four to get.

Butler recorded 28 points, seven rebounds and six assists in the Game 7 win over Boston

As for the game itself, Butler scored 28 points and Caleb Martin had 26 points and 10 rebounds to help the Heat avoid being on the wrong side of history.

The Heat recovered after losing a 3-0 series lead and advanced to the NBA Finals for the second time in four seasons. They will face the Western Conference champion Nuggets with Game 1 in Denver on Thursday night.

Bam Adebayo scored 12 points with 10 rebounds for Miami, which is the first No. 8 seed to play for a championship since the 1999 New York Knicks. Top-seeded Denver has been waiting since sweeping the Lakers from Los Angeles on May 22.

Game 6 hero Derrick White scored 18 for Boston, who hoped to become the first NBA team to advance after falling 0-3 in a best-of-seven series. Jaylen Brown scored 19 with eight rebounds but is went 1 for 9 from 3 runs.

Jayson Tatum, who scored a Game 7 record 51 points against Philadelphia in the conference semifinals, had 14 points with 11 rebounds after twisting his ankle in the game’s opener and limping for 42 minutes.

The Celtics led by five points early on before conceding a 14-4 run to end the first quarter, then giving up 16 of the first 22 points in the second. Boston cut the deficit to seven points late in the third, but Miami took a 76-66 lead at the break and scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter to pull away.

The Heat won the first three games — including two in Boston — and needed just one more win to reach the NBA Finals. None of the 150 teams that have opened a 3-0 lead in an NBA playoff series have ever failed to advance.

Bam Adebayo (13) was one of two Miami players to have a double-double with 12 pts and 10 rebs

Caleb Martin was the other, with 26 points and ten rebounds while shooting 11-16 from the field

But the Celtics got excited watching a documentary about the Boston Red Sox’s comeback from a 3-0 deficit to the New York Yankees en route to the 2004 World Series. When the Celtics took the floor for Game 4 in Miami, ex-Yankees Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter sat courtside.

Boston won Games 4 and 5 by double digits and had a comfortable lead in Game 6 before Miami rallied to take a one-point lead with 3 seconds left. The Heat looked to win when Marcus Smart’s 3-point desperation ended, but White scored on a backhand in the final 10th of a second to force a game-breaking seventh game.

Back home, the Celtics greeted their fans with a pre-game video intercutting highlights from the Red Sox’s comeback with their own. 2004 Red Sox catalyst Kevin Millar recorded a message to rock the crowd.

But the heavily favored Celtics could not repeat the feat.