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• Heat advance to NBA Finals, foil Celtics' bid at history

  Jimmy Butler backed up his bold guarantee and the Miami Heat bounced back to prevent the Boston Celtics from making history.

  Butler led all players with 28 points as the Heat advanced to the NBA Finals for the second time in four years with a 103-84 rout of the Celtics in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals on Monday night.

  Miami went ahead late in the first quarter and never looked back en route to joining the 1999 New York Knicks as the only No. 8 seeds in a conference to reach the NBA Finals. The Heat will meet the Western Conference champion Nuggets with Game 1 to be held Thursday in Denver.

  The Heat also denied Boston from becoming the first team in league history to win a seven-game series after losing the first three contests, as well as make Butler's claim after Game 5 that Miami would win the series a reality. 

  Boston had forced Monday's winner-take-all matchup with a dramatic Game 6 victory in Miami on Saturday, with Derrick White's buzzer-beating tip-in giving the Celtics a 104-103 win and extending the series.

  The Celtics could never muster a comeback in Game 7, however, as Miami built a 27-15 lead early in the second quarter and took a 52-41 advantage into half-time.

  Boston got the deficit to within seven late in the third quarter before Caleb Martin scored the first eight points of a 12-2 Heat run that put Miami up 83-66 with 10 minutes remaining.

  Martin finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds for Miami, which went 14 of 28 from 3-point range while the Celtics shot just 21.4 per cent from beyond the arc. Butler was named the Eastern Conference Finals MVP and received the Larry Bird Trophy, named in honour of the former Celtics great.

  Jaylen Brown led Boston with 19 points but went 8 of 23 from the field, while All-Star Jayson Tatum was held to 14 points after playing through a sore ankle he injured early in the contest.

• New NBL season to feature 10 teams, to be launched on Wednesday

  The National Basketball League (NBL) is set to make its long-awaited return from a two-year break, with one of the main features of the upcoming season being a partnership between Jamaica Basketball Association (JABA) and the Ministry of National Security, to use the sport as a way of influencing troubled communities and schools, to reduce violence.

  Some 10 teams led by defending champions St George’s Slayers are down to contest the season and players and coaches have expressed their delight about the return of the country’s top league on the basketball calendar, following the COVID-induced break.

  This season will be launched on Wednesday May 31, at the Sports Development Foundation (SDF) starting at 2:00 pm.

  The league is expected to be played over four months and will showcase some of the best local-based talent and aspiring national payers, who will parade their skills in the presence of national coaches. An all-star NBL team will also be selected mid-season to play against the visiting University of Missouri NCAA team, during the summer.   

  Games will be played primarily at the National Stadium Courts, while select games will be hosted in Montego Bay and other approved venues. Teams will vie for cash prizes and other incentives provided by sponsors and partners. 

  Confirmed teams are, St Georges Slayers (Defending Champions), UWI Runnin rebels, Rae Town Raptors, Urban Knights, Upper Room Eagles, Tivoli Wizards, Falmouth Saints, Central Celtics, Spanish Town Spartans and Portmore Flames

• 76ers reportedly hire former Raptors coach Nick Nurse

  Nick Nurse has found a new coaching job.

  The Philadelphia 76ers agreed to hire former Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse on Monday, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

  Nurse led the Raptors to the franchise’s only title in 2019, but was fired on April 21, nine days after losing 109-105 to the Chicago Bulls in their play-in game.

  He replaces Doc Rivers, who was fired after three seasons at the helm in Philadelphia on May 16, two days after the Sixers’ Game 7 loss to the Boston Celtics to blow a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference semi-finals.

  Nurse coached the Raptors for five seasons, amassing a 227-163 record for a .582 winning percentage – the best in franchise history.

  He led Toronto to a pair of Atlantic Division titles, however, the team finished last this season with a 41-41 record to miss the playoffs for the second time in the last three seasons.

  Led by 2022-23 MVP Joel Embiid, the 76ers finished second in the Atlantic this season and third in the East but bowed out in the conference semis for the third year in a row.

  This year’s ouster was the second time Philadelphia was eliminated with a Game 7 loss, in addition to 2021, when the top-seeded 76ers lost to the Hawks.

  The loss marked Rivers’ 10th such defeat in a winner-take-all playoff game.