The Miami Heat drew first blood against the Boston Celtics with a dramatic 117-114 overtime victory in Game 1 of the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals. The game was a nail-biting back-and-forth that needed an extra period to decide the winner.
The Heat went down by one after a clutch Kemba Walker step-back on rookie Tyler Herro in the final minute of overtime, but All-Star Jimmy Butler answered back with an imposing layup over Jayson Tatum and the foul. Miami then got a crucial stop on the other end, as Bam Adebayo rejected Tatum’s dunk attempt to preserve the win for the red-hot South Beach club.
BAM SAYS NO! Game saving block on Tatum ❌pic.twitter.com/1bLdY6laqc
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) September 16, 2020
With no timeouts remaining for Boston and just 2.5 ticks left in overtime, the Celtics still had one final hoorah to try and force another extra period.
Marcus Smart completed a full court pass to Tatum on the other end of the floor. The 6-foot-8 swingman lost his balance and fell on the floor, but he still found a way to hoist a shot over two Heat defenders.




He narrowly missed the target, as Miami completed the spirited win and improved their playoff record to 9-1.
Players from both teams put up huge numbers, as Tatum led all scores with 30 markers on a losing effort. Smart and Walker pitched in 26 and 19 points respectively for the Celtics.
The Heat side, meanwhile, were led by Goran Dragic’s 29-point outin, as well as a surprising 22-point explosion for Jae Crowder.
The team’s next meeting is on Thursday, during which the Celtics will try to even up the series and avoid a 0-2 hole. On the other hand, the Heat will hope to maintain their incredible 1-loss postseason run.