Boston Celtics reunite with Miami Heat at Game 7: Confrontation history, records and things to know
At 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday, May 30, the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat will face off in Game 7 of the Eastern Finals series. The winning team will win the final ticket to play at the 2023 NBA Finals against the Denver Nuggets.
Before we get to this highly entertaining match, let's take a look at some of the two teams' remarkable stats, including records, uncanny coincidences of dates and more.
- NBA Finals 1951: New York Knicks force series to Game 7 against Rochester Royals
- 1994 NBA Western Finals: Denver Nuggets push series to Game 7 against Utah Jazz
- NBA Playoffs Western Round 1 in 2003: Portland Trail Blazers push series to Game 7 against Dallas Mavericks
- NBA Eastern Finals 2023: Boston Celtics push series to Game 7 against Miami Heat
This will be the 37th Game 7 in the history of the Boston Celtics, the highest number in the entire NBA. After this game is over, the Celtics will set a record when participating in 25% of Game 7 in NBA Playoffs history.
If counting Game 7, the results of the two teams are as follows:
- Celtics have played 36 matches, won 27 games and lost 9 times, achieving a win rate of 75%. Boston's home record is 22-5 and away is 5-4.
- Heat played 11 matches, won 6 matches and lost 5 times, achieving a win rate of 54.5%. Miami's home record is 6-3 and away is 0-2.
Regarding the two captains, coach Joe Mazzulla has never held an army in Game 7 in the NBA Playoffs. Meanwhile, coach Erik Spoelstra has directed Game 7 7 times before, winning 4 and losing 3.
At the 2023 NBA Playoffs, the Boston Celtics won 5 games in a situation facing elimination (elimination game). They lack exactly 1 win to equalize the tournament record with 6 wins, shared by the Denver Nuggets in 1994 and 2020.
As for the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat, this is the second year in a row that they have met in Game 7 of the Eastern Finals. Last year, Game 7 took place with a choking ending.
The Boston Celtics took a 13-point lead with less than 4 minutes left in the fourth half, then the Miami Heat created an 11-0 run with four different players speaking out, shortening the gap to 2 points.
With 35 points all game, Jimmy Butler confidently threw 3 points when the fourth half had 17 seconds left but the ball did not go into the basket, the game ended with a 100-96 victory for the Boston Celtics.
This year, the two teams will meet again at Game 7 of the Eastern Finals, taking place on the morning of May 30, Vietnam time. The difference is in the venue when last year the two teams met at Heat's field, this year the clash will take place in Boston.
A special individual to mention is Al Horford when he played 9 Game 7 games in his career, the 4th most in NBA history.
The 36-year-old has an extremely respectable record in this life-and-death match, winning 7 of the 9 Game 7 matches he has played, including 5 victories when wearing the Boston Celtics shirt.
In 13 meetings between the Celtics and Heat in the Eastern finals in the past two years, the away team has more victories than the home team. Last year the away team won 5 times in 7 matches (5-2), this year won 4 times in 6 matches (4-2).
Looking further into the past, the two teams had one more encounter in the Eastern Finals and pulled each other to Game 7, which was at the 2012 NBA Playoffs. At that time, the Miami Heat beat the Boston Celtics 101- 88 at home.
