Derrick White just needed a timely tap to finish off the Miami Heat, netting a buzzer-beating layup off the glass to lead the Boston Celtics to a Game 6 win and extending the Eastern Conference finals Saturday in Miami.
White's quick shot stunned the Heat, who faced a 10-point deficit with 5 minutes remaining, but rallied to take the lead with 3 seconds left on the game clock.
The Celtics are now just one win away from becoming the first team in NBA history to overcome an 0-3 playoff series deficit.
"It starts with the locker room," Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. "Those guys had a choice to make and they chose to believe in each other."
Jayson Tatum scored a game-high 31 points, with 11 rebounds and five assists. Fellow Celtics forward Jaylen Brown totaled 26 points and 10 rebounds.
The Heat's Jimmy Butler -- who made just one of his first eight shots -- logged 24 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists. Fellow forward Caleb Martin chipped in 21 points and 15 rebounds.
The Celtics, who made just 7 of 35 3-point attempts, outscored the Heat 42-32 in the paint. They held a 12-4 edge in fast break points and led by as many as 13 points.
Smart caught the feed and missed a turnaround 3-point attempt. White, who flew toward the rim as the shot went up, snatched an offensive rebound and threw up his last-second shot in the same motion.
The ball left his hands just before the final buzzer, hit the glass and fell through the net to end the game.
"The season was on the line," White said. "We don't want to go home. I'm just happy we got the win."
Game 7 will be at 8:30 p.m. EDT Monday in Boston. Game 1 of the NBA Finals will be at 8:30 p.m. EDT Thursday in Denver.
The Heat's perimeter shooting picked up late in the quarter. The sharpshooters continued to find the net in the second, making three consecutive 3-pointers to cut the deficit to two. The Celtics responded with a 12-3 run to push their lead to 11 about four minutes before halftime.
The Heat went on a 9-3 run late in the second quarter, but still trailed 57-53 at the break. Tatum scored 16 of his 25 first-half points in the second quarter.
Miami cut the lead to two points several times in the third, but the Celtics snatched back control with a 12-2 run. They held a 79-72 edge to start the fourth. The Heat made just 5 of 25 shot attempts in the third quarter.
The Heat started the fourth with an 11-3 run and took their first lead in nearly 35 minutes on a Butler layup with 7:56 remaining. The Celtics bounced back with five unanswered points and later added a 16-5 run to push their advantage back to 10 with five minutes remaining.
The Heat then roared back with a 15-4 run, capped off with three Butler free throws to take a 103-102 edge with seconds remaining.
White inbounded the ball from the left sideline on the next possession. He threw that pass to guard Marcus Smart to start the sequence.