Game 7 in Boston tonight will be an epic conclusion to an already legendary series. The Heat dominated the first 3 games of this series, with a 26 point thumping of the Celtics in Game 3. Since then, the Celtics have used elite defense, timely offense, and an all time buzzer beater to force Game 7. Now the question is: who are the players that will decide Game 7? It’s easy to say the stars for each team will show up, but history has shown us it’s the unsung heroes that will decide this one.
The last time the Celtics played a Game 7, Jayson Tatum scored the most points in NBA history in a Game 7. He dropped 51 points and completely dominated the hapless 76ers. After the 76ers lost a winnable Game 6 in their own building, they completely no-showed Gam 7 and had no answer for Tatum. Sound familiar? This is eerily similar to where we find ourselves heading into Game 7. However, it’s hard to see the Heat letting Tatum completely dominate tonight the way he did last series. The Heat play defense too well to allow the best player on the court to send them home. Boston will need guys like Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart to keep up their recent good play in order to take the pressure off Tatum.
For Miami, they need to find some offense outside of Jimmy Butler. Gabe Vincent and Caleb Martin have been the best role players for Miami. We know Butler and Bam Adebayo will show up, but Miami won’t win tonight by only scoring 97 points, like they did in Game 5. Chances are, they’ll need to do what they did in Games 1 and 2 in order to win. The Heat scored 123 in Game 1 and 111 in Game 2.
Game 7 should be a great conclusion to a series we won’t soon forget. We can’t wait for tip-off!