MIAMI — That 3 percent chance the computer was insisting before this series began?
Maybe those were the chances the Heat had of getting past the Celtics.
Maybe those were the chances of the Celtics coming back from the dead and pushing the Heat to where we are now: the brink.
Maybe those were the chances of Derrick White outracing Max Strus and the clock and beating both, silencing an arena that thought the Heat had finally put the Celtics away when nothing of the sort had occurred Saturday night.
White scored on a tip-in with 0.1 of a second left after Marcus Smart’s desperation attempt failed, giving the Celtics a 104-103 victory to force a Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Monday night in Boston.
The tip-in survived a replay review that confirmed White beat the buzzer. The margin was so slim that Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said he had “no idea” if the shot was good.
“I’m still like in disbelief,” Celtics forward Jayson Tatum said. “That (bleep) was crazy.”
It was an all-time stunner of a finish, but then again, this is an all-time stunner of an Eastern Conference Finals.
Boston is only the fourth team in NBA history to force a Game 7 after losing the first three games. It can become the first team to win a series by climbing out of such a hole.
At least if you’re Boston, that’s how you’re looking at it.
If you’re Miami, you’re trying to not become the first team to lead a series 3-0 and then lose four straight. All 151 previous 3-0 leaders found a way to close it out.
The result left one team boasting about its resilience … and the other team boasting about the same thing.
The Heat, to be fair, wouldn’t be in this position if it weren’t one of the most resilient No. 8 seeds the league has ever seen. But the Celtics have faced elimination these past three games and won all three, two by blowout, and two in Miami. So you think they’re not confident they can finish the job in TD Garden?
“Whatever it takes,” White said.
Bring it on, said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, who was ready to play two on this night.
“We wish we could get this thing done now,” he said. “Right now, we want to get this done.”
The Heat’s Jimmy Butler couldn’t get it done until he suddenly could. In the final 3:25, Butler helped turn a 98-91 deficit into what appeared to be a 103-102 lead by hitting eight free throws, a three-pointer and a layup. But he finished 5-of-21 from the field and took the blame.
“If I play better, we’e not even in this position,” Butler said. “And I will be better. And that’s what makes me smile.”
Then — in barely more time than White had to get the ball off his fingertips before the red light came on that could have signaled the end of Boston’s season, Butler repeated his guarantee from earlier in the series.
“I don’t care what happened, but we’re going to go in and get a win,” he said.
There’s no reason they can’t — if they go up and play the way they did in the first two games in Boston.
There’s no way they can — if Boston plays the way it has in these past three games, including a convincing 110-97 victory at home in a Game 5.
“We’ve been to hell and back,” Celtics forward Jaylen Brown said.
What is it with these Boston teams, anyway? You go anywhere in the Bronx, mention 2004, and you’re likely to get slugged. Such was the Red Sox’s rally from 3-0 down in the American League Championship Series against the Yankees. That was a first.
You go anywhere in Atlanta, you make people shudder with the mere mention of “28-3,” the score by which the Falcons had put away the Patriots in the Super Bowl until they didn’t.
Can the Celtics join that list? Once the Celtics pulled within 3-2, The Boston Globe smelled blood in the water, with headlines talking about all the pressure being on the Heat in a Game 6-or-bust scenario for Miami. Certainly, if the Heat had gotten run out of its own arena as it did in Game 4, that would be the case.
Now?
“I don’t know how we’re going to get this done, but we’re going to get it done,” Spoelstra said.
Spoelstra has to know the Heat won’t be going to the NBA Finals if Butler and Bam Adebayo again combine to go 9-of-37 from the field in Game 7. Or if the Heat’s supporting cast again is the unsupported cast. Caleb Martin (21 points) and Gabe Vincent (15) carried their weight, including going 7-of-14 on 3-pointers. But Martin and Vincent vs. Brown and Tatum (who combined for 57 points) won’t cut it.
It was bad that Butler was missing shots, but what may have been worse was his lack of aggressiveness until the very end. Time after time he appeared to be in pass-first mode. While that accounted for his eight assists, the Heat doesn’t need him getting in the paint and passing up shots. It doesn’t need him so passive he’s not even looking at the basket.
In short, the Heat needs Playoff Jimmy, not Pensive Jimmy, on Monday night if it’s to reach the NBA Finals for the seventh time since 2006, which would be the most of any team in that span. Butler will be looking at his second appearance in the Finals.
Not to mention, if South Florida’s dream of a sweep of the NBA and NHL titles is to remain alive. Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk was even there Saturday night rooting on the Heat.
“At 11:35 right now, I have no idea how we’re going to get this done,” Spoelstra said. “I just know in the next 48 hours, we’re going to figure this out.”
Dolphins reporter Hal Habib can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @gunnerhal.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Stunning tip-in, stunning series as Celtics push Heat to Game 7