The Miami Heat beat the Boston Celtics 103-84 in Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, on Monday, winning the series 4-3 and advancing to the NBA Finals.

The last eighth seeded team that entered the NBA Finals were the New York Knicks in 1999. Back then, the Knicks, under coach Jeff Van Gundy, defeated the Indiana Pacers led by Reggie Miller in the East Finals. On Monday, Miller and Jeff's older brother, Stan Van Gundy, were commentating the game on TNT.

Déjà vu doesnt end is not over there. Pat Riley, president of basketball operations of the Heat, was the team's head coach when they were upset by the No. 8 Knicks in the Eastern Conference first-round playoffs in 1999.

The Heat drained 14 triples at 50 percent in Monday's game, which was key to their victory. The four undrafted players they have been counting on, Caleb Martin, Gabe Vincent, Max Strus and Duncan Robinson contributed 10 of those 3-pointers. Martin was the best-performing player, not only of the four, but also on the team's entire roster. He made team-high four triples and multiple tough jumpers in the middle range to get 26 points, the second-most on court.

The Heat's role players wouldn't have performed so well without their ace Jimmy Butler distracting most of the Celtics' defensive attention. Though he made three shots from downtown on Monday night, Butler still struggled with his jump shooting touch and missed eight of them in the middle range. Moreover, as the Celtics' defenders were used to his pump fake tricks, it became difficult for Butler to draw fouls. He only shot two free throws and missed one in the game.

In spite of the difficulties he faced, Butler made good use of his opportunities to charge the rim, going 5-for-9 next to the hoop. Meanwhile, he never forgot to pass to open teammates when he saw the mistake in the opponents' defensive rotations. Dropping court-high 28 points was not all of the work done by Butler, he also had three steals.

Compared with his Heat teammates, Bam Adebayo didn't contribute much on the scoring front, but he did everything else well, including protecting the paint, switching to guard nearly every Celtic at least once, feeding teammates who cut in to attack the rim and setting screens at the perimeter.

Adebayo played over 42 minutes on Monday night, the third-longest on the Heat's roster, and would have played even longer if he hadn't been called his third personal foul at the end of the second quarter. Coach Erik Spoelstra used a mini squad of five perimeter players instead of sending Kevin Love or Cody Zeller to the game when Adebayo needed to take a breath. Overloading key players like this and making the team so small is risky, but it is integral for the Heat to avoid exposing deadly defensive weakness like Love or Zeller for the Celtics to exploit.

Of course, playing small could also be a weakness, but the Celtics failed to build their advantage on it. Jayson Tatum, who scored a record 51 points in Game 7 against the Philadelphia 76ers, hurt his left ankle less than 30 seconds into Monday's competition. He still managed to play more than 41 minutes on the court, but the injury apparently held him back on every front, including slashing in to attack the hoop, pulling up to shoot and defensive steps.

That's probably why coach Joe Mazzulla called a timeout in the first quarter when they led 9-5, to make Jaylen Brown the Celtics' first scoring option. Brown has been negotiating a contract extension with the team for months and he reportedly wants a five-year, $295 million deal. If he seized the opportunity by taking the team to victory as the leader in Monday's game, he would add more bargaining chips to his side.

Unfortunately Brown let the Celtics down. He took 10 more shots than Tatum (23-13), but made only three more than Tatum (8-5) to score five more points, not to mention that Brown also committed eight turnovers by himself. The Heat revealed nearly all of the flaws in his skills in dribbling, shooting and passing.

Despite the 19-point loss in the end, the Celtics launched at least three rallies, trying to reverse the situation. None of them had much to do with Brown. In fact, when Robinson stole Brown's ball at 7:13 in the fourth quarter to drive for a fast break that ended as two made free throws by Adebayo, the game was long gone.

Game 1 of the NBA Finals will take place between the Heat and the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, on Thursday.