Heat make history in going from play-in to conference finals

It was just over a month ago that the Miami Heat’s season was on the brink. Jimmy Butler and Co. had just fallen to the Atlanta Hawks in the first game of the NBA's play-in tournament. They needed a win over the Chicago Bulls a couple days later just to earn a spot in the NBA Playoffs as the eighth seed.

Even after Erik Spoelstra’s squad defeated Chicago, no one really gave this team much chance against an NBA-best Milwaukee Bucks in the first round.

About that?

After pulling off a shocking upset over Milwaukee in that series to become the first play-in team to earn a spot in the conference semifinals, Miami has knocked off the Knicks in six games to advance to the NBA’s version of the Final 4.

Taking on the New York Knicks in Game 6 at home Friday night, Miami needed one more win to punch its ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they would face off with either the Philadelphia 76ers or Boston Celtics.

After falling down 31-17 in the first quarter, the Heat maintained their composure and were able to take a one-point lead into halftime. In a contest that developed into a low-scoring affair between the two longtime rivals, Miami came out on top by the score of 96-92.

Things did get tricky late in the game when Heat guard Gabe Vincent committed a Flagrant 1 foul. This gave New York two free throws and possession of the ball. Knicks star Jalen Brunson nailed both from the charity stripe before finding Josh Hart for a layup to pull this one to within 92-90 with 54.1 seconds remaining.

New York would then stop Miami, setting the stage for a potential game-tying or winning shot. Unfortunately for the Knicks, Jalen Brunson committed an uncharacteristic turnover to essentially put this one away for the Heat.