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Celtics Are NBA Finals Bound After Unpredictable Season

MIAMI – The shot wasn’t in the air for more than a few seconds, but for the collection of green-clad players watching it felt like an eternity. For three quarters the Celtics had fended off a relentless, never ending Heat charge, battling as a 15-point first quarter lead was whittled to six at the end of the second, as a 12 point edge with 3 ½ minutes to play was sliced to two. Now there they were, 17 seconds on the clock, up two, a trip to the Finals on the line and Jimmy Butler, the latest villain in Boston’s long history of them, was pulling up from three.