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In a strange sequence in the third quarter of Game 7 between the Celtics and Heat on Sunday night in Miami, Heat guard Max Strus made a corner three, only to have it retroactively taken off the board minutes later.
Strus made a three in front of the Miami bench with 11:04 to play in the third quarter. Here’s a video of the three-pointer:
In real-time on video, it appears that the left heel of Strus hits the side boundary as he is gathering for the shot. However, zoomed in footage appeared to be inconclusive.
Either way, the Strus three-point field goal was taken off the board minutes later, at the 8:28 mark of the third quarter when Robert Williams was at the line shooting free throws for the Celtics.
After the game, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra was asked about the Strus play that proved to be an important momentum swing in the game.
“I’m sure [the league office is] gonna look at that, and we will be the case study for that. I’m not crying or whining. Come on. We got beat,” Spoelstra said.
The Celtics won the nail-biter 100–96 in a game they never trailed to advance to the NBA finals on Thursday night against Golden State.