No unheard-of comeback, last-second miracle, or cavalcade of higher seeds will be able to stop the Miami Heat from competing for the NBA championship.
The eighth-seeded Heat defeated Boston 103-84 in Game 7 on Monday night to advance to the NBA Finals for the second time in four seasons.
Jimmy Butler, the Most Valuable Player of the Eastern Conference Finals, scored 28 points, while Caleb Martin added 26 points and 10 rebounds.
Miami bounced back from blowing a 3-0 series lead and progressed to face the Western Conference champion Nuggets a year after dropping a seventh game to the Celtics.
"Our gang stuck together. We discussed going out and obtaining a tough one as a team. "We actually did that," Butler remarked. But we're not content.
For Miami, which is the first No. 8 seed to make it to the NBA Finals since the 1999 New York Knicks, Bam Adebayo scored 12 points and pulled down 10 rebounds.