White joins Michael Jordan as the only player to achieve this NBA playoff feat originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Whenever you can join Michael Jordan in making NBA playoff history, it’s a pretty impressive accomplishment. And that’s exactly what Boston Celtics guard Derrick White did Saturday night in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat.
White saved the Celtics’ season and forced a Game 7 back in Boston on Monday night with a buzzer-beating putback in the final second — literally — of the fourth quarter.
The dramatic finish gave the C’s a 104-103 win and left Heat fans at the Kaseya Center absolutely stunned.
White’s buzzer-beater is the sixth in league history for a team facing elimination. He also became just the second player ever to hit a winning shot at the buzzer in a playoff game when his team was trailing at the time — Miami led 103-102 with three seconds remaining before the final sequence. The only other player to accomplish this feat is Jordan, who sank a buzzer-beater in Game 5 of the Chicago Bulls’ first-round series versus the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1989.
The Heat led this series 3-0 at one point, and now they are facing the possibility of becoming the first team in league history ever to blow that kind of series advantage.
Game 7 is Monday night at TD Garden in Boston. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:30 pm ET. The atmosphere is going to be incredible, and one team will punch its ticket to the 2023 NBA Finals.