As the Heat bus rumbled down Causeway Street, Kevin Love and Udonis Haslem sat alongside each other in silence. It had been less than 48 hours since Miami’s season was pushed to the brink, since the Heat were floored by a Derrick White buzzer-beating putback that forced Miami into an elimination game. During challenging times, Love and Haslem, two of the team’s elder statesmen, liked to discuss things that needed to be said to sharpen the team’s focus. On Monday, there was no need.
“You could feel it,” Love said. “These guys were ready.”
Miami is headed back to the Finals, and really—who saw this coming? Inside TD Garden, the atmosphere before tip-off was one of a coronation. No NBA team had ever rallied from a 3–0 deficit to win a playoff series. Boston was one win away from doing it. Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo sat courtside. Isaiah Thomas looked on from a suite off the floor. Kevin Millar, the face of the 2004 Red Sox comeback against the Yankees, prepared a video.
