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WAMC Sports Report 5/30/23: Jimmy Butler helps Heat to 103-84 Game 7 win over Celtics

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NBA PLAYOFFS

Jimmy Butler scored 28 points and Caleb Martin gave Miami 26 points and 10 rebounds in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals to help the Miami Heat beat the Celtics 103-84 and turn back Boston’s attempt at an unprecedented comeback. The Heat recovered after blowing a 3-0 lead in the series and advanced to the NBA Finals for the second time in four seasons. They will face the Western Conference champion Nuggets in Game 1 in Denver on Thursday night. Miami is the first No. 8 seed to play for a championship since the 1999 New York Knicks. Top-seeded Denver has been waiting since sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers on May 22. Game 6 hero Derrick White scored 18 for Boston.

The Celtics entered their Game 7 matchup with the Heat eyeing a chance to make NBA history. It may have evaporated on the very first play. Jayson Tatum rolled his left ankle on a layup attempt on Boston’s opening possession of the game, and he and the Celtics never were the same afterward, stumbling to a 103-84 loss. Boston was looking to extend a wild postseason ride that already included five wins when facing elimination — twice in the East semifinals after falling behind 3-2 to the 76ers, and three straight times against the Heat. Instead, for the second straight year Celtics season ended with a team receiving a trophy on their home floor.

A person with knowledge of the decision says the Philadelphia 76ers have hired coach Nick Nurse weeks after he was fired by the Toronto Raptors. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team had not announced the move. Nurse led the Raptors to the 2019 NBA championship after they beat the 76ers in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Nurse will replace Doc Rivers, who was fired after he led the 76ers to their second straight 50-win season behind NBA MVP Joel Embiid but again failed to lead them to the Eastern Conference finals.

The Denver Nuggets call it beautiful. Their no-drama way of conducting business doesn’t grab tons of headlines. But it has set the franchise up for its first NBA Finals in 47 years in the league. The story of the 2022-23 Nuggets feels like the opposite of the narratives of so many of their opponents in these playoffs. Unlike Denver, those teams are studded with stars, making headlines after big trades, featuring semiregulars on the police blotter and filled with drama up and down the roster.

Cancel that flight plan, Denver. Turns out, the NBA Finals are starting in the Mile High City after all. And Jimmy Butler was proven right. Finally, we have a title-series matchup: The Miami Heat, champions of the Eastern Conference even after getting in as only the No. 8 seed, will take on the Western Conference champion Nuggets in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. The series starts in Denver on Thursday night. The Heat got there by winning Game 7 of the East title series in Boston on Monday night. It came one year to the day after the Celtics won a Game 7 on Miami’s floor to win the East title a year ago.

NHL PLAYOFFS

William Karlsson scored two goals and had an assist as the Vegas Golden Knights advanced to their second Stanley Cup Final with a 6-0 (nothing) rout over Dallas. The Stars had extended the Western Conference Final to six games after losing the first three. William Carrier, Keegan Kolesar and Michael Amadio each had a goal and an assist for the Knights. Jonathan Marchessault also had a goal. Carrier, Marchessault and Karlsson were part of the inaugural 2017-18 Knights season that ended in their Cup Final. Adin Hill stopped 23 shots for his second career playoff shutout — both against the Stars. Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers will be Saturday night in Las Vegas.

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

Aaron Judge hit two homers at the plate and robbed one in the field with a leaping catch at the wall, leading the New York Yankees past the Seattle Mariners 10-4. Domingo Germán pitched into the seventh inning to win his first start following a 10-game suspension for using a foreign substance on the mound. Judge also doubled off the wall and was one of several Yankees batters to have a big night, most of it coming against Seattle rookie Bryce Miller. And if his swings at the plate weren’t enough, Judge stole a homer from Teoscar Hernández at the right-field fence in the eighth. Jake Bauers also went deep against Miller, and the Yankees finished with a season-high 18 hits.

The Red Sox were off last night, they start 3-game series against Cincinnati tonight at 7:10 in Boston.

The Mets were also off last night. They begin a 3-game series against the Phillies in New York at 7:10 tonight.

A New Hampshire stadium is being recognized for playing a largely unheralded role in helping racially integrate baseball. Much of the attention has been on Jackie Robinson, who broke the major league color barrier in 1947 with the Brooklyn Dodgers. But a year earlier, (In 1946,) Hall of Fame catcher Roy Campanella and Cy Young award-winning pitcher Don Newcombe helped make the Nashua Dodgers, a minor league affiliate of the Brooklyn Dodgers, the first racially integrated baseball team in the United States. The Dodgers chose Nashua after finding resistance in other parts of the country and the players recalled being welcomed by the town's mostly white residents.

NFL

Former Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Jets running back Le’Veon Bell says he smoked marijuana before playing some NFL games during his career. Bell told Barstool Sports’ “Steel Here” podcast he would smoke and then run for 150 yards and two touchdowns. The 31-year-old Bell hasn’t played in the league since the 2021 season. The running back also blasted then-New York coach Adam Gase on the podcast, saying he was a “terrible” play caller during his brief tenure with the Jets.

HORSE RACING

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, or HISA, is calling an emergency meeting in Kentucky today to discuss the recent slew of horse deaths at Churchill Downs. Veterinary teams from Churchill Downs, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, and HISA will be reviewing health records with the goal of determining causes of death. HISA is also dispatching an inspector to consider the physical track surface and its Director of Equine Safety and Welfare to consult onsite at Churchill Downs to ensure proper oversight going forward.

ARENA FOOTBALL

Pete Porcelli is out after one game as head coach of the Albany Empire. The Times Union reports that Ryan Larkin, chief associate of principal owner Antonio Brown, told Porcelli that he had been demoted to line coach following Saturday’s loss to the Fayetteville Mustangs. The beleaguered Empire drew larger than normal crowds for that game after announcements had been made that Brown would play in the game, but the former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver never made an appearance. Porcelli says that he’ll remain with the team in an advisory role.

FRENCH OPEN

Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic both picked up straight-set victories in the first round of the French Open against opponents ranked outside the Top 100 and making their Grand Slam debuts. Alcaraz is seeded No. 1, Djokovic is No. 3 and most everyone expects them to face each other in the semifinals. Alcaraz beat Flavio Cobolli on Monday. Djokovic defeated Aleksandar Kovacevic. With 14-time champion Rafael Nadal sidelined by injury and missing the clay-court major tournament, Alcaraz and Djokovic are popular picks to emerge as the men's champion.

WNBA

Recent allegations by WNBA player Dearica Hamby that her coach harassed her for being pregnant have shined a renewed spotlight on one of the biggest challenges that female professional athletes face. Juggling the demands of parenthood with those of a professional sports career is just one of myriad challenges female athletes face in an industry rife with pay disparities, harassment and bullying. The athletes say things are slowly getting better as new work contracts include provisions for increased pay, maternity leave and child care stipends. But they also say that pregnant athletes continue to encounter attitudes ranging from ambivalent to outright hostile from leagues, coaches — and even fellow players.

COCA-COLA 600

Ryan Blaney pulled away late to win the rescheduled Coca-Cola 600 on Monday at Charlotte Speedway, giving team owner Roger Penske a sweep of the Memorial Day weekend’s top races in the United States. Josef Newgarden won a record-extending 19th Indianapolis 500 on Sunday for Team Penske. It marked the first time Team Penske has earned a sweep of the two races in the same year. Like Newgarden, Blaney went into the crowd to celebrate with fans. Blaney took the lead from William Byron on a restart and led the final 26 laps to win his first Cup Series race since the 2021 Daytona’s Coke Zero Sugar 400. Blaney’s victory snapped a 59-race drought.

© 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

A 2022 Siena College graduate, Alexander began his journalism career as a sports writer for Siena College's student paper The Promethean, and as a host for Siena's school radio station, WVCR-FM "The Saint." A Cubs fan, Alexander hosts the morning Sports Report in addition to producing Morning Edition. You can hear the sports reports over-the-air at 6:19 and 7:19 AM, and online on WAMC.org. He also speaks Spanish as a second language. To reach him, email ababbie@wamc.org, or call (518)-465-5233 x 190. You can also find him on Twitter/X: @ABabbieWAMC.