Heat's Max Strus Says Overturned 3-Pointer 'Changed the Game and Momentum' of Game 7

Frustrations over Max Strus' overturned three-pointer continued to mount for the Miami Heat in the aftermath following their 100-96 loss to the Boston Celtics in Game 7 of the Easter Conference Finals.

Strus spoke with reporters about it Tuesday and provided his thoughts:

"Thank you for pissing me off again," Strus said with a smile. "But yeah, I don’t know how that was called that after I've seen the video." He added:

"...They say they have that rule to take human error out of the game. And then the human error makes an error on the video. So, I don't know. But hopefully I don’t get fined.

"But yeah, I’m obviously not happy about it. But it is what it is at this point. I guess we can't really do anything. But it definitely changed the game and the momentum.

"I think it went from a six-point game to an 11-point game with no time coming off the clock. It is what it is, I guess is the best I can put it. I'm not happy about it, but I guess we've just got to move on."

ESPN's Nick Friedell explained what went down.

"The call in question came with 11:04 remaining in the third quarter, when Heat guard Max Strus knocked down a three-pointer deep in the corner that cut the Celtics' lead, which had been as many as 17 earlier in the first half, to 56-54.

"After several minutes of game action—during which the Celtics put together another run of their own—the call was overturned by the NBA replay center in Secaucus, New Jersey."

Strus was ultimately called out-of-bounds, but it appeared his left heel hovered over the line without touching it.

Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald explained why the call could be looked at well after it happened.

It was a tough decision for the Heat in a four-point loss, and head coach Erik Spoelstra wasn't happy about it either, per Friedell:

"I was in shock. I was asking [assistant coach] [Chris Quinn] about that. The fact that it happened, three to four, five minutes in game time, that does change the context of how you're playing. We were starting to gain some momentum. You feel like it's a seven-, eight-point game and you look up and it's a 13-point game, and there's no other explanation for it other than it's gone back to the league offices. You feel like if it happens like that, it should happen immediately and you can adjust accordingly."

Spoelstra also noted, though, that the Heat didn't lose the game because of the call.

"Look, that's not the reason we lost. We still had plenty of opportunities. We just couldn't get control of the game. A lot of that was Boston. We didn't stop grinding, and we gave ourselves a shot at it at the end. We just couldn't make enough plays during the course of the game. It felt like most of the game we were grinding from an eight-to-10-point deficit."

The Strus three that wasn't came into light postgame because of a near-epic Heat comeback (and Celtic collapse). Miami trailed 98-85 with 3:35 left before going on an 11-0 run to cut the lead to two after a Strus three with 50.7 seconds remaining.

After the Celtics came up empty on their next trip down the floor, the Heat's Jimmy Butler took a transition three that would have given Miami a one-point lead, but it did not fall through. Celtics guard Marcus Smart made two free throws to close out the game and the series.

This was a hard-fought series with many plot twists and notable moments, including the Strus shot. Ultimately, the Celtics are moving on to face the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals, which begin on Thursday.