Boston Celtics – Miami Heat · NBA

Win probability changed during the game. · 27 May 2023

BOS104–103MIA

Is it worth watching?

Highly recommended

It was more exciting than 98% of NBA games since 2017

It measures how much the win probability moved during the game —without looking at who won or at the score— and compares it with the 10,950 NBA games with a curve since 2017. “Highly recommended” is the most intense 20%, “recommended” runs from 50% to 80%, and “skippable” is the rest. Source: ESPN.

↑ MIA winsBOS wins ↓

Home team's win probability across the game (source: ESPN). The band rises when MIA leads and falls when BOS does.

This is how the game was decided.

Jayson Tatum decided it, the Boston Celtics player with the most points (31, with 12 rebounds and 5 assists; +3 with him on the floor); the winner's best plus-minus was Jaylen Brown's (+7). The criterion: the winner's points in the box score; plus-minus says who was on the floor when the game opened up.

The game-winner in Miami Heat 103-104 Boston Celtics (May 27, 2023) was hit by Derrick White: a putback with 0.0 s left in the fourth quarter, putting the Boston Celtics up 104-103. They never trailed again.

The biggest run of Miami Heat 103-104 Boston Celtics (May 27, 2023) was a 9-0 run by the Boston Celtics in the third quarter (from 5:20 to 3:27), from 69-65 to 78-65. The Miami Heat' best was a 8-0 run between the third quarter and the fourth quarter, from 68-79 to 76-79.

▸See where these figures come from

Play: Derrick White makes tip shot.

I count as the game-winner the basket that puts the winning team ahead for good. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

A run here is consecutive points by one team without the opponent scoring. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

Source: the game's official box score and play-by-play.

Derrick White decided this game: his points put his team ahead at the buzzer of the fourth quarter, and the opponent never led again.

It is the only game he has decided this way in the NBA since the 2002-03 season.

His profile shows the games White decided

▸See where these figures come from

A game is decided by the last basket that puts a team ahead in the final ten seconds of the fourth quarter or of an overtime, if that team wins.

27 May 2023 · The source is the ESPN play-by-play, play espn:401547676:667; the date is the one on the NBA box score.

Rotations · who was on the floor

Closing lineup · BOS

Tatum · White · Smart · Brown · Horford

Closing lineup · MIA

Butler · Adebayo · Martin · Vincent · Strus

Q1Q2Q3Q4

BOS

Jayson Tatum

44′ · +3

Derrick White

42′ · +3

Marcus Smart

42′ · -10

Jaylen Brown

39′ · +7

Al Horford

32′ · -6

Grant Williams

22′ · +2

Robert Williams III

17′ · +5

Sam Hauser

2′ · +1

MIA

Jimmy Butler III

47′ · 0

Bam Adebayo

46′ · +6

Caleb Martin

41′ · +1

Gabe Vincent

41′ · -2

Max Strus

25′ · -12

Kyle Lowry

18′ · +1

Cody Zeller

2′ · -7

Duncan Robinson

20′ · +8

Each bar is a stint on the floor (source: NBA). The number is minutes played and the team's +/− with him on the court. BOS and MIA.

These lineups played the most minutes together.

Boston Celtics

Brown, Tatum, White, Horford, and Smart played 18.6 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 2 points.
Brown, Tatum, White, Williams, and Smart played 6.5 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 1 point.
Tatum, White, Williams, Horford, and Smart played 6.3 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.

Miami Heat

Adebayo, Martin, Vincent, Strus, and Butler played 22.1 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 8 points.
Adebayo, Martin, Robinson, Vincent, and Butler played 7.9 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 6 points.
Adebayo, Robinson, Vincent, Lowry, and Butler played 7.5 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.

▸See every lineup of the game

Boston Celtics

Brown, Tatum, White, Williams, and Williams played 5.8 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 11 points.
Tatum, White, Williams, Williams, and Smart played 2.7 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 4 points.
Brown, White, Williams, Horford, and Smart played 2.2 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 3 points.
Brown, Tatum, Williams, Horford, and Smart played 2.0 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.
Brown, Williams, Hauser, Horford, and Smart played 1.8 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 1 point.
Brown, Tatum, Williams, Williams, and Smart played 1.2 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 1 point.

Miami Heat

Adebayo, Martin, Robinson, Lowry, and Butler played 3.5 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 5 points.
Adebayo, Martin, Vincent, Lowry, and Butler played 2.6 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 3 points.
Martin, Strus, Lowry, Butler, and Zeller played 2.4 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 7 points.
Adebayo, Martin, Robinson, Vincent, and Lowry played 1.3 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 1 point.

▸See where these figures come from

The lineups come from the NBA's official rotation: who was on the floor and when. Each lineup's plus-minus is worked out from every player's stints and is only shown when they all add up with each other and with the final score.

Jimmy Butler III covered 5.45 km, more than anyone in the game.

Jayson Tatum touched the ball 101 times, a game high.
Jayson Tatum made 67 passes, a game high.
Robert Williams III defended 9 shots at the rim, a game high, and opponents made 2.
Bam Adebayo had 26 rebound chances, a game high.

▸See what was measured for each player

Boston Celtics

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Derrick White	4.78	6.3	64	50
Jayson Tatum	4.70	5.9	101	67
Marcus Smart	4.54	5.9	71	49
Jaylen Brown	4.38	6.3	55	29
Al Horford	3.62	6.3	37	30
Grant Williams	2.69	6.8	23	18
Robert Williams III	1.98	6.5	18	13
Sam Hauser	0.26	7.7	1	1

Miami Heat

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Jimmy Butler III	5.45	6.5	95	65
Caleb Martin	5.20	7.2	52	34
Bam Adebayo	5.15	6.3	68	48
Gabe Vincent	4.68	6.3	56	34
Max Strus	3.27	7.3	25	15

The figures come from the NBA's optical tracking (NBA.com) for this game; speed is each player's average while on the floor.

Who stood out on defense during the season

These figures cover the whole 2022-23 regular season, not this game.

Boston Celtics

Jaylen Brown recovered 0.9 loose balls per game over his 67 games.
He ranks 9 of 382 in the league.
Jayson Tatum recovered 0.9 loose balls per game over his 74 games.
He ranks 11 of 382 in the league.
Al Horford contested 10.1 shots per game over his 63 games.
He ranks 15 of 382 in the league.

Miami Heat

Jimmy Butler III deflected 3.2 passes per game over his 64 games.
He ranks 10 of 382 in the league.
Kyle Lowry drew 0.24 charges per game over his 54 games.
He ranks 16 of 382 in the league.
Caleb Martin drew 0.23 charges per game over his 71 games.
He ranks 17 of 382 in the league.

Hustle figures come from the hustle stats the NBA publishes (NBA.com) and rim defense comes from its tracking; both cover the regular season. For each player in this game we show the figure that ranks him highest in the league, and for each team, the three best ranked. Ranks count players with at least 30 games and, at the rim, at least 4 defended shots per game.

The Miami Heat have won 75 of their 186 games against the Boston Celtics.

75-111record of the Miami Heat · NBA 1988-89 – 2025-26, regular season and playoffs

0-4in 2025-26

See the full head-to-head in the Analyst

See where it comes from

Official NBA box scores, regular season and playoffs, 1988-89 – 2025-26. It counts every game between the two teams that the house holds, this one included.

SportiveWorld knows much more about this game

Game context

Attendance

20.201

103.1% of capacity

Kaseya Center · Miami

Series

Game 6

Conference finals

MIA 4-3

Scoring

207

combined points

12.2 below the season average (219.2)

⚖️ The last two minutes

Official NBA L2M report: every call in the endgame, reviewed by the league.

32 calls reviewed2 errors admitted by the NBA

Foul: Shooting · 00:33.5

Gabe Vincent → Jayson Tatum

Vincent (MIA) moves laterally and turns into Tatum's (BOS) path after his gather, initiating body contact that affects Tatum's driving shot attempt.

Violation: Lane · 01:01.0

Caleb Martin → Celtics

Martin (MIA) steps into the lane prior to Brown (BOS) releasing his free throw attempt, preventing White (BOS) from getting into position to rebound.