Wolverines in the NBA: Duncan Robinson, Miami Heat beat Boston in Game 7, advance to Finals
Coming into Monday night, NBA teams were 151-0 when leading a series 3-0. A series that got to 3-0 has only gone to Game 7 four times, including this year with the Eastern Conference Finals between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat. Out of those four, this was the only one in which the team that got down 3-0 got to host Game 7. However, it was former Michigan Wolverines basketball sharpshooter Duncan Robinson and the Heat that got it done in a 103-84 win in Boston Monday evening.
The Heat are headed to their seventh NBA Finals since 2006. They’ll take on the Denver Nuggets, who swept the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals, with Game 1 scheduled for Thursday (June 1) at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC. Miami is the first No. 8 seed to make the Finals in 24 years.
Michigan players have now made the NBA Finals in back-to-back seasons, with Jordan Poole and the Golden State Warriors winning the championship over the Celtics last season. Poole became the first Wolverine to win the Finals since Juwan Howard (now the program’s head coach) with the Heat in 2013.
Robinson — who’s headed to his second Finals in four full professional seasons, with 2020 being the other occurrence — scored 10 points, adding 1 assist, 1 rebound and 2 steals, in Game 7. He shot 4-of-6 from the field and 2-of-3 from three-point range in 20 minutes of action.
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A product of New Castle, N.H., Robinson grew up a Celtics fan. That makes it a bit more special when he plays Boston, especially at the TD Garden, he’s said. The former Michigan standout put his hand up to his right ear after making a fourth-quarter layup in “why so quiet?” fashion.
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In the Eastern Conference Finals, Robinson averaged 11.4 points and 2.6 assists per game, shooting 48.4 percent from beyond the arc. He scored in double figures five of seven contests, including a big 22-point performance (the most points he’d scored in a game in over a calendar year) in a 128-102 Game 3 triumph.
In Game 3, the former Michigan forward broke the Heat franchise record in career made three-pointers during the postseason, passing LeBron James, who had 123 in 87 outings. Robinson is up to 129 triples in just 55 games.
Robinson averaged only 6.5 points per game in the Heat’s Eastern Conference Semifinals series victory over the New York Knicks. He shot 28.6 percent from long range. But he was red hot in the first round, connecting on an incredible 73.7 percent (14-of-19) of his tries from deep.
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