In the New York Times:
On Monday night at TD Garden, the NBA’s Eastern Conference championship trophy had made its way to the other team’s locker room. The trophy, a replica of the basketball in sterling silver, was displayed atop a few packing boxes with metallic trim. The Miami Heat defeated the Boston Celtics, 103-84, in Game 7 of the Conference Finals.
Before a late-night flight to Denver, where they will play the Nuggets for the NBA title starting Thursday, players and staff stood in front of the trophy wearing NBA Finals caps and jerseys to commemorate the team’s heroic struggle.
All but the Heat were stunned by their resurgence as the No. 8 East seed. Coach Erik Spoelstra stayed with his plan even though the team had been struggling throughout the regular season losing as often as winning. They could get better, according to Spoelstra, if they kept their attention on the tasks at hand. It consisted of meeting after discouraging defeats, watching movies and working hard in the gym.
“I think people will probably connect with this team,” Spoelstra said. “Professional sport is just a reflection of life sometimes, and that things don’t always go your way. The inevitable setbacks happen, and how do you deal with that collectively. There are a lot of different ways it can go: it can drain your spirit. It can Lead to the downfall of a team, for any reason.
“With this group, it pulled us together, brought us closer, and made us tougher.”