Derrick White has scored on a tip-in just before the buzzer sounded, as Boston Celtics forced a Game Seven with a solid 104-103 victory over hosts Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals.
After Jimmy Butler made three free throws with three seconds left to give Miami the lead, Boston's Marcus Smart had his three-point attempt go in and out, but White grabbed the offensive rebound and quickly banked the ball in for a dramatic Celtics victory.
Second-seeded Boston have won the past three games to become just the fourth team in NBA history to force a Game Seven, after losing the first three games of a playoff series. No team has ever won a series from 3-0 down.
Game Seven is Tuesday (NZ time) at Boston, with Western Conference champions Denver Nuggets awaiting the winners.
No.8 seeds Miami had taken the one-point lead with a 15-4 burst, after trailing by 10 with under five minutes remaining. Butler scored 13 of the Heat's points during the rally.
Jayson Tatum registered 31 points, 12 rebounds and five assists, and Jaylen Brown added 26 points and 10 rebounds for the Celtics. Smart scored 21 points, White had 11 and Robert Williams III added 10.
Butler was just five-of-21 shooting, while finishing with 24 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists. He had 15 points in the fourth quarter.
Caleb Martin recorded 21 points and 15 rebounds for the Heat.
The Celtics are 5-0 in elimination games this postseason. They barely looked interested in continuing the series, while being whipped 128-102 in Game Three, before staging the impressive recovery.
Miami's Gabe Vincent had 15 points, Duncan Robinson added 13, Bam Adebayo contributed 11 points and 13 rebounds, and Max Strus had 10 points.
Smart split two free throws with 16.9 seconds remaining to give Boston a two-point lead. Butler was looking for the last shot and was fouled by Al Horford with three seconds left.
The call was reviewed, and Butler was ruled behind the three-point line and was granted three free throws, making them all for the lead.
White drained a three-pointer and Smart converted a three-point play to give Boston a 98-88 advantage with 4m 56s remaining.
NBA Six Man of the Year Malcolm Brogdon (right forearm strain) sat out the contest for the Celtics, who shot 43.6 percent from the field and were a shaky seven-of-35 from three-point range.
Miami shot just 35.5 percent, but made 14-of-30 shot attempts from behind the arc.
Tatum scored 16 of his 25 first-half points in the second quarter to help the Celtics hold a 57-53 halftime lead. Butler had just nine points in the half on two-of-10 shooting, while Martin had team highs of 14 points and nine rebounds.
Reuters
