The regular-seasons rankings do not matter when it comes down to the conference finals. The Miami Heat proved this theory by coming on top against an otherwise strong Boston Celtics. The Heat won the opener game 117-114 in OT.

The Boston Celtics kept the lead in a large part of the first quarter, but Miami Heat bounced back heavily, just as they always do. The game never swung one way, as both the teams kept fighting back. But the clutch moments really made this game worthy of all the hype.

Jimmy Butler makes it a point to praise the match-winner

The Miami Heat had a lot many winners in their squad, because almost every player in the starting five chipped in. But the contribution from center Bam Adebayo stood apart as he made possible a wonderful block. He denied a skyrocketing Jayson Tatum from dunking with seconds remaining on the clock.

Jimmy Butler looked elated and took no time in the post-game interview to give all the credit to his teammate. He expressed, “Bam! That saves the game for us. I love how he does any and everything that you ask him to do. Ask him to pass ball, he does that. Score, he does that. Come up with a huge defensive stop block. He does that. He’s a huge part of our winning. I’ve been saying that all year long and I’m repeating again.”

Apparently, it was Jimmy G. Buckets who put the Heat on a one-point lead with just 12 seconds to go. Still, Jimmy knows that a conversion from Tatum would have leveled the score and anything could’ve happened if the game went in OT-2. He later added, “We talk about it, we go through it over and over, but Bam’s been our savior on that end so many different times throughout the year.”

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The entire Miami Heat unit deserves a pat on their back!

It was only Duncan Robinson who could not show his elite shooting prowess in the game. But apart from that, we saw an impressive three-pointer from Tyler Herro in the OT. Also, his defensive play against Kemba Walker in those clutch moments were a treat to watch. The 20-YO now has 10+ points in his 10th consecutive post-season game. Now that’s impressive!

Also, Goran Dragic added 29 points in the game and remained powered in every quarter of the match. He scored at 57.9 FG% and converted four free throws in as many attempts. So it was a complete team play that got them past the Celtics in their first game of the conference finals.