The coveted Game 7, is considered the two best words in all of sports. For sports fans there is nothing like it, but for coaches and players the pressure, magnitude and finality of that particular game is so heavy. This is where all the chips are put in the middle of the table and you do whatever it takes to be in the winner’s circle of this penultimate battle.
The Boston Celtics and Miami Heat weren’t supposed to be here after the undermanned and very surprising Heat squad somehow jumped out to a 3-0 series lead over the No. 2-seeded reigning Eastern Conference champion Celtics.
That was three games and seven days ago. Now tied at 3-3 following Celtics guard Derrick White’s buzzer-beating tip-in in Game 6 to force a Game 7, the scene shifts back to Boston for a right to face the Denver Nuggets in the NBA Finals. And while the Heat face an uphill battle having to travel to Boston after blowing a 3-0 series lead, TNT NBA analyst Charles Barkley doesn’t believe the pressure is on them, but instead it’s on the Celtics.
Barkley Says No One Thinks The Heat Can Win A Road Game 7
Momentum in sports is a real thing, and right now the Celtics have all of it in their series versus the Heat. Even with that, Barkley a former NBA legend and 1993 NBA MVP, still believes all the pressure is on the heavily favorite Celtics to win and advance to their second consecutive NBA Finals. Following Saturday’s epic finish in South Beach, the man who was once dubbed “The Round Mound of Rebound ” and later “Sir Charles” gave his take on the matter.
“There’s not a single person in America right now that thinks the Heat are going to win this game,” said Barkley.
Barkley believes the Celtics will win Game 7, but he also stated that the pressure shifts drastically to them and not the Heat.
“If the Celtics lose Game 7 at home, all this we’re making history is going to be like, ‘yo man, y’all didn’t make no history,’” Barkley said. “Y’all got to Game 7. So all the pressure goes back to the Celtics. I said all the pressure was on the Heat tonight. Now it flips. All the pressure is back on the Celtics.”
Barkley also mentioned the Heat should he confident despite losing three straight games, because their two stars Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo shot a combined 9-for-36 from the field.
“If I’m the Heat, I’m like our two best players played as bad as they can play. That’s what I would say,” Barkley said.
And the Heat was one stop, one put-back at the buzzer from advancing to the NBA Finals and completing their improbable run through the Eastern Conference.
Is This What Everyone Wanted? Shaq Thinks So
While Shaq didn’t exactly agree with Barkley totally, he made the comment that this is what everyone hopes for when a series begins.
“This is what they wanted. Everybody, including Kenny Smith and myself, thought they were a goner. They fought back. You hear Jaylen Brown before the game talking about making history. I’m just wondering for the Heat, can they come back from that?”
“I’m concerned for the Heat because that’s a tough way to lose,” O’Neal said. “It’s not like it was four or five seconds. That was 0.2 seconds.”
Don’t tell that to Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, who firmly believes his team will win Game 7 on the road.
“At this time right now, I don’t know how we are going to get this done, but we are going up there and get it done.”
Butler echoed his coach’s sentiments.
“I don’t give a damn what happens. We’re going to go in there and we’re going to win,” he told reporters.
Butler has been saying this same thing for three games now, but at this point what else is he supposed to say?
