Boston Celtics: 6 of the top moments from the 2021-22 season

Top Boston Celtics moment No. 6) The C’s get over the Conference Finals hump

The Boston Celtics defeated the Miami Heat on the road in Game 7 to clinch their first NBA Finals appearance since 2010. Making the championship round is always a great accomplishment in its own right, but this time it was made even greater considering how close they’ve come in recent years.

They played in five Eastern Conference Finals’ since their last appearance in the NBA Finals.

In 2012 it was against LeBron’s Miami Heat; in 2017 and 2018 it was LeBron’s Cleveland Cavaliers; in 2020 and 2022 it was Jimmy Butler’s Heat.

Prior to this season’s deciding Game 7, the Boston Celtics were 0-5 in series-clinching games since 2012. They had the chance to break through that barrier that had plagued them for over a decade or fall short once again and leave fans wondering what could’ve been.

This Boston team felt different than the others.

They had a knack for making things hard on themselves, yet they always responded and played their best with their backs against the wall.

Game 7 was exactly on theme.

The C’s controlled the large majority of the game, built their lead, and answered every Miami run with one of their own. They held a 13-point lead with 3:35 remaining and were primed to get over the hump and make the NBA Finals.

Miami wasn’t going to roll over and let their season end and they went on an 11-0 run to put themselves in position to pull the rug from under Boston.

Jimmy Butler had the ball down by two with 20 seconds to go. He went for the jugular and pulled up from 3-point range to snatch the lead back and potentially win the game for the Heat. Every single Celtics fan imagined the worst when the ball went up in the air.

They believed Butler was going to knock down the shot and shock Boston to its very core.

Boston’s faithful followers could let out a deep sigh of relief after Butler’s shot was short and clanked off the rim and fell into the hands of Marcus Smart. Two free throws for Boston after that put the game away and secured their return to the NBA Finals.

The season may not have ended with a championship, but this core earned valuable experience and showed them what it takes to get back to the promised land.