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• Tatum on White's buzzer-beater: 'That s*** was crazy!'

  Boston Celtics hero Derrick White said "It just had to be won" after his buzzer-beating tip-in forced the Eastern Conference finals to Game 7, as Jayson Tatum added: "That s*** was crazy!"

  From 3-0 down against the Miami Heat, the Celtics have fought back to 3-3 in the series, and are now just one win away from making history.

  White grabbed and then sank the rebound from Marcus Smart's failed three-pointer with 0.1 seconds remaining to seal a 104-103 victory in Miami on Saturday.

  The Celtics are now on the brink of the greatest comeback in NBA playoffs history, needing a win at home in Game 7 on Monday to become the first team to win a series after losing the first three games.

  Boston are only the fourth NBA team to erase a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series to force a deciding game.

  Reflecting on the game-winning moment, Tatum told reporters: "I'm still, like, in disbelief. That s*** was crazy.

  "That felt like the longest 10 seconds ever waiting for confirmation if he made it or not."

  White told TNT: "It had to be won. Whatever it takes, our backs against our wall, it just had to be won.

  "We're a resilient group. We pick each other up, we bond for each other.

  "The job isn't done yet, we've got a tough one Game 7, we've got to find a way to get one more win."

  White had tears sparkling in his eyes, but explained: "I'm just happy. So far, so good."

  It is just the second time in league history that a player has hit a buzzer-beater when his team was down and facing elimination, after Michael Jordan's legendary "The Shot", way back in 1989.

  "Derrick White, like a flash of lightning, just came out of nowhere and saved the day, man," team-mate Jaylen Brown added. "An incredible play."

  The Heat can only lick their wounds as they head to Boston for Monday's winner-takes-all matchup.

  Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said: "It's a seven-game series. There's nothing better than Game 7s.

  "I don't know how we're going to get this done, but we're going to go out there and get it done, and that's what the next 48 hours is about.

  "There's been nothing easy about this season for our group, and so we just have to do it the hard way."

  Jimmy Butler did his best for Miami, with 24 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.

  "We've got to go on the road and do something special, but we've got a special group," Butler said.

• Brown proud of Celtics as Mazzulla says Boston were "angry and p*****'

  The Boston Celtics must take pride in their Game 2 display against the Philadelphia 76ers, and embrace the challenge of a hostile road game, says Jaylen Brown.

  Joel Embiid's return from injury could not inspire the 76ers on Wednesday as Boston cruised to a 121-87 victory to tie the series.

  Brown top scored with 25 points, as Embiid and James Harden, who scored 45 points in the 76ers' Game 1 win, were kept under wraps.

  Next up is a trip to Philadelphia for Game 3, but Brown believes the Celtics have nothing to fear.

  "I think we've just got to take more pride in ourselves. That's it," Brown told the media.

  "I just feel like we underperformed last game. We wanted to come out and play to the best of our ability, and that's what we did.

  "Hostile environment. But it should be fun. We should all be excited to embrace that challenge."

  Coach Joe Mazzulla was blunt in his assessment of his team's reaction to their defeat in Game 1.

  "They were angry, frustrated," he said. "Angry and p*****. Yes [I liked that]."

  While Jayson Tatum struggled to make too much of an impact, Malcolm Brogdon added 23 points from the bench for Boston, tying a playoff record for the Celtics in the process as he sunk six three-pointers.

  "Our strength is our depth," Brogdon told reporters.

  "The way the roster is constructed, we got guys like me, Derrick [White], Grant [Williams] that are playing behind our two superstars and ready to [contribute] when we can."

  Celtics guard Marcus Smart, meanwhile, credited Brown's on-court leadership.

  "We've got to tip our hats to him, he started that whole momentum for us," Smart said. "We just had to follow his lead.

  "When you've got one of your best players setting the tone like that, it's hard for you not to follow. Our defense has been slipping and we wanted to come out and get back to what we do best."

• 'I just needed a different look', says mask-less Brown after leading Celtics to another win

  In the classic 1994 comedy film, Jim Carrey puts on a mask that gives him special powers. In the 2023 NBA playoffs, Jaylen Brown seemingly had the same effect after removing his.

  With nine minutes left in the second period, and having only scored two points, Brown emerged from a timeout without the protective mask he has worn since fracturing his cheekbone in February.

  He went on to finish with 31 points as the Boston Celtics beat the Atlanta Hawks 129-121 at State Farm Arena to go 3-1 up in their Eastern Conference first-round series.

  "I was talking to [Marcus] Smart when JB took his mask off and was like, 'Oh, s***. It's go time,'" Celtics guard Jayson Tatum said, who also put up 31 points. "I knew he was going to turn it up a notch."

  Brown had scored just one from seven field-goal attempts prior to taking off his mask, going on to net 11 from 15 after that.

  "Maybe it was all in my head, but I just needed a different look," Brown said. "As soon as I took it off, things started to turn around a little bit."

  It was an astonishing turn in form from Brown, who is averaging 23.3 points per game in the playoffs so far.

  "I've just started getting comfortable with it since I've been wearing it," he added about the mask. "When I first put it on, I didn't like it too much, and I had to wear it.

  "I just needed something different [on Sunday]. I don't know what it was: Change my shoes, wipe my hands off, take the mask off, whatever it is I needed to do, I needed to do to help our team get a win, and that's what I was trying to do."

  The Celtics can clinch the series in Game 5 when they return to TD Garden on Tuesday.