Jaylen Brown, Celtics Ripped by NBA Twitter in Game 7 Loss to Jimmy Butler, Heat

The Miami Heat put history on hold.

The Boston Celtics entered Monday's Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals at TD Garden trying to become the first team in NBA history to overcome a 3-0 deficit in a playoff series, and all signs suggested they would after three straight wins.

Miami didn't care.

The Heat not only fended off a complete collapse, but they also destroyed the Celtics in shocking fashion during a 103-84 victory to clinch a spot in the NBA Finals against the Denver Nuggets. Jimmy Butler stuffed the stat sheet with 28 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals, while Caleb Martin dazzled in a secondary role with 26 points and 10 rebounds on 11-of-16 shooting.

Boston seemed to be fighting an uphill battle from the opening possession when Jayson Tatum turned his ankle and was less than 100 percent the rest of the way. It needed Jaylen Brown to come through given the circumstances, but he finished with eight turnovers and went 1-of-9 from deep.

He was part of the overall problem for the Celtics, who went 9-of-42 (21.4 percent) from three-point range and drew plenty of criticism from social media:

It was easy to assume the Celtics were going to win at home after taking three straight to force a Game 7, but Miami had different ideas from the start. It went to its zone defense much earlier than usual and held Boston to a measly 15 points in the first quarter while seizing the initial lead.

Throw in Tatum grimacing and the overall ice-cold shooting from the outside, and suddenly the home energy turned into palpable nerves from a crowd that already saw the Celtics lose five previous games at TD Garden in these playoffs.

About the only thing that prevented a 48-minute Miami blowout was Derrick White, who provided a spark with multiple three-pointers, an and-1 and surprisingly strong defense on a struggling Bam Adebayo. Boston ran its offense through him at times, and the crowd responded by serenading him with MVP chants.

Yet Martin, Butler and Co. had an answer for every Celtics' spurt and brought the crowd to stunned silence as the game reached a foregone conclusion during the fourth quarter.

Now the only thing standing in Miami's way of a first championship since 2013 is Nikola Jokić and the Nuggets.