3 Keys for the Boston Celtics to Make NBA History in Game 7 vs the Miami Heat

• The Boston Celtics moved within a win of historic comeback against the Miami Heat
• Jayson Tatum powered their revival, averaging 28.3 points in their last three games
• The Celtics have found a way to limit the offensive production of Heat's Bam Adebayo

History beckons for the Boston Celtics in Game 7 of the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals.

They faced elimination three times in this series and survived all of them.

The Celtics need one more win on Monday night to record the greatest comeback in NBA history.

Here are three keys for the Celtics to accomplish the historic feat in Game 7.

Big game from Jayson Tatum

Tatum is the main reason why the Celtics are right back in this series. He sparked Boston’s comeback in Game 4, scoring 33 points in the 116-99 win against the Heat.

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He helped Boston steal another win on the road in Game 6, dropping 31 points in the Celtics’ thrilling 104-103 victory, per CBS Sports.

The Celtics need another strong performance from Tatum in Game 7 for them to complete the reverse sweep. He will fancy his chances of doing just that as he fared extremely well in his last Game 7 for Boston.

Tatum scored 51 points in the winner-take-all contest against the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Outside shooting critical for Boston

The Celtics’ fortunes in this series turned when they started hitting their outside shots. Boston shot just 31 of 106 from the 3-point area in Games 1 to 3, causing the team to fall into a 0-3 hole.

Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum struggled mightily from deep in those three games. Brown shot 2 of 20 from beyond the arc, while Tatum made just five of his 20 3-point attempts during that stretch.

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The Celtics started making their outside shots in Games 4 and 5. They shot 34 of 84 from deep in those two games.

Interestingly, Boston’s 3-point struggles returned in Game 6, per NBC Sports. The Celtics shot just 7 of 35 from beyond the arc on Saturday, but they still found a way to win because of their excellent defense on Miami’s star duo.

Celtics limiting Bam Adebayo’s scoring

The Celtics have found the winning formula in this series and that is to limit Bam Adebayo’s offense. Miami is 6-0 in this year’s playoffs when Bam scores at least 20 points.

The Celtics decided to move Robert Williams to the bench and put more active defenders in front of Adebayo.

That decision has paid dividends for Boston, with the Heat man scoring just 12.3 points a game, with 10 turnovers combined in Games 4, 5, and 6.

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Adebayo’s offense is crucial for Miami, as they are 2-5 this postseason when he fails to score 20 points.

Keys to winning for Miami

Sports Brief recently reported on the three keys for the Heat in Game 7 against the Celtics.

Jimmy Butler was identified as the player who needs to step up in the winner-take-all contest.

'Playoff Jimmy' struggled in Game 6 of the series, shooting just 5 of 21 from the field.