White and the eternal 3 seconds for Celtics
Three seconds was the time marked by the stopwatch in the historic final of the 1972 Olympic Games between the Soviet Union and the United States before the last and controversial play that gave the title to the Soviets and which was described in detail by Osvaldo Orcasitas for El Gráfico. Only three seconds is the title of Paula Bombara’s novel that tells the story of an accident and its protagonists based on a testimony that the writer saw on television. Three seconds, they say, is the time limit to catch the audience and keep them consuming the content you generate in this era of absolute vertigo. But if you’ve made it this far, you’ve already crossed that barrier and we can review what happened between the 3 seconds on the clock from Al Horford’s foul on Jimmy Butler to Derrick White giving the Boston Celtics victory over the Miami Heat at the buzzer at the end of Game 6 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals.
Butler took the ball on what could have been the final play of the game. He dribbled to his right, slowed down and jumped to shoot from the corner. Horford fouled him. Josh Tiven pointed out the infraction indicating the attempt was a two-point attempt. After a couple of minutes of review, the referees corrected the foul and ruled that Butler was shooting a three-pointer, so he was entitled to three free throws. They also changed the time remaining on the clock from 2.1 seconds to 3.
Butler, the Heat’s hero in these playoffs, was taking a deep breath. Jayson Tatum couldn’t understand how a game the Celtics had all but won seemed to slip away. Horford was chewing on his anger. Miami fans were calling for calm in the tense atmosphere at the Kaseya Center. Joe Mazzulla began to draw on his board the last offensive action of his Celtics without knowing what would happen with the free throws. Jimmy converted the first to get closer, the second to equalize, while a fan covered her face with both hands because she couldn’t stand the nerves of the situation, and the third to put her team ahead 103-102. We know: 3 seconds left. Not enough time? No, a lot.
The stadium was buzzing. Timeout called by the Celtics: while Mazzulla was telling his players what he had planned, Butler was asking his teammates for one more defense, just one more and they would be in the NBA Finals where Denver Nuggets is patiently waiting.
All eyes were on Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the likely recipients of the ball for the final shot. White was in charge of rebounding from the wing. Against all odds, he got Marcus Smart and hit a three-pointer. The ball danced with the rim and didn’t go in. No one on the Heat took any notice of White, who ran from outside the lane to the basket, jumped, grabbed the rebound and released the ball with 2 tenths of a second left.
