Heat Defeat Celtics In Game 7, Advance To Finals

 For the second consecutive year, the Miami Heat will represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals. They punched their ticket Saturday night with a rousing Game 7 win over the Boston Celtics by the score of 101-88.

LeBron James was the headliner again, finishing with a double-double. The NBA MVP scored a game-high 31 points and pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds.

Dwyane Wade scored 23, while Chris Bosh came off the bench for 19 points, including a career best 3-4 performance from beyond the arc.

Speaking of benches, Boston got next to nothing from their second unit. 2 total points in 39 minutes of play from the Celtics subs hurt their chances of advancing to the NBA Finals as a 5 seed.

As he's been all postseason, Boston point guard Rajon Rondo was impressive. The All-Star finished with his 10th career playoff triple-double, leading his team in points (22), assists (14), and rebounds (10). As good as Rondo was, he recognized that his opponent was better.

"Give them credit," Rondo said in postgame. "They spread the points out as a team tonight. Give them credit. They played great tonight as a team and we just came up short."

In what could have been the last game for the Celtics "Big Three," Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen all reached double-figures, combining for 48 points. The trio was formed 5 years ago, won 1 NBA title and played in 2.

Boston was below .500 going into the NBA All-Star break. They came within one victory of the NBA Finals. Their offseason begins while Miami's season continues with 1 ultimate goal 4 wins away.

The Heat now gear up to take on an explosive, young, ultra talented Oklahoma City Thunder squad in the Finals, with Game 1 scheduled for this Tuesday. Tip-off from OKC is set for 8:00.