Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat are surprisingly still in contention to win the NBA title this season. How the Heat have managed to reach the Eastern Conference Finals is something that can be considered short of a basketball miracle. Even then, the Heat could find the odds to get past the Boston Celtics given to them by ESPN disrespectful.

The sports media giant calculated that Jimmy Butler and company only have a three percent chance of reaching the 2023 NBA Finals. That can be tough to swallow, let alone digest, for the Heat, who have seemingly mastered the art of defying long odds in the playoffs.

Considering the challenges the Heat have solved and survived so far in the playoffs, it can be hard to wrap one's mind around the idea that Miami is that huge of an underdog versus the Celtics. Sure, Jayson Tatum and the Celtics appear to be the deeper and more well-rounded team, but the Heat seem to be constantly pushing the right buttons in this postseason.

The Heat and the Celtics met four times in the regular season, with Boston winning the first two and Miami taking the last couple of meetings. Miami, however, is still missing the services of Tyler Herro, who suffered a hand injury in the first round.

How the Heat got here

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Heat’s Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler (Butler in casual clothes) smiling, with Celtics’ Jayson Tatum looking serious; caption below: BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR”

Jedd Pagaduan ·

Miami Heat stars Bam Adebayo and Jaime Jaquez Jr. looking at Boston Celtics stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown in front of the Kaseya Center.

Zachary Weinberger ·

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Scotty White ·

The Heat had to go through the Play-in Tournament to get this far in the playoffs. Miami even lost to Atlanta Hawks in the first leg of their Play-in journey before pulling off a comeback victory in their last chance to make the playoffs against the Chicago Bulls to secure a date with no other than the No. 1 team in the East in the first round.

Most NBA fans and experts picked the Milwaukee Bucks to take care of business against the Heat, but Jimmy Butler and company turned the table on them and finished off the Bucks in only five games. That was just the start of Miami's Cinderella run, though, as the Heat torched the bigger and healthier New York Knicks in the second round, needing just six games to send the team from the Big Apple to an early vacation.