NBA play-offs as it happened: Miami Heat defeat Boston Celtics in game seven of Eastern Conference finals

The NBA Finals will tip off on Friday at 10.30am when the Nuggets host Miami in Denver.

Nuggets star Nikola Jokic will be the favourite to win finals MVP in Denver’s first trip to the big dance but the Heat cannot be under-estimated.

Jimmy Butler led them to the finals in the 2020 bubble season where they were gallant in losing 4-2 to the Lakers.

They’ve overcome history to make it this far - the Heat cannot be counted out even though they will be massive underdogs.

We will be live-blogging each game so log back in on Thursday morning for the start of an NBA Finals match-up that very few people could have predicted.

They are just the second team in NBA history to make the finals after finishing in the eighth seed after New York managed to do so in the 1999 finals where they were obliterated by San Antonio 4-1.

Miami have advanced to an improbable appearance in the NBA Finals after upsetting the Celtics 103-84 in game seven at Boston.

The Heat qualified for the playoffs in eighth spot in the East after losing their initial play-in game to Atlanta and then only just eliminating Chicago.

For them to then beat top seed Milwaukee, fifth seed New York and now the second-seeded Celtics is a remarkable effort.

They faced the prospect of blowing this series after Boston won the past three games to force a series decider but Miami dominated game seven from the outset, helped by Celtics star Jayson Tatum rolling his ankle in the first possession.

But that was not the difference - the Heat were much stronger all round with Caleb Martin, Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo at the forefront.

Miami will take on Western Conference champions Denver who have been resting for a week after sweeping the LA Lakers.

Miami coach Erik Spoelstra has called a time-out after a mini Celtics resurgence but they still hold a commanding lead at 97-79 with 3:45 left

Duncan Robinson holds his hand up to his ear to mock the silent Boston crowd as a time-out is called after his lay-up puts the Heat up 94-73 with 6:08 left

Sharpshooter Duncan Robinson curls around a screen on an in-bound play to hit a three and Miami have their biggest lead at 18 before Al Horford responds with a triple from the corner. Heat 86-71 with 8:15 left