The Miami Heat have conquered the long odds all postseason and they are on a historic playoff run.

The Heat’s playoff hopes were looking grim when they trailed the Chicago Bulls with just two minutes remaining in their play-in game for the eighth and final seed in the eastern conference playoffs. Miami buckled down and won the game to secure a date with the title favorite Milwaukee Bucks in the first round. The Heat were able steal Game 1 in Milwaukee, but it came at a price. The Heat’s second best scorer, Tyler Herro, went down with ankle injury that has sidelined him to this date. Milwaukee was able to win Game 2, but Miami stormed back and won the next three games and the series, becoming the sixth eight seed in NBA history to defeat a one seed. The Heat came back from double digits in the fourth quarter in each of the last two games. Jimmy Butler poured in 56 and 42 point efforts in the closeout games.

The Heat were matched up against the New York Knicks in the second round, and once again the Heat were underdogs. Despite a valiant effort from Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson, the Heat got past the Knicks in six games with relative ease. Although Jimmy Butler was still fantastic, the Heat role players really began to step up this series.

The Heat went on to face the two-seeded Celtics in the eastern conference finals. The Celtics were heavily favored headed into the series, ESPN analytics only gave the Heat a 3% chance to win the series. ESPN could not have been more wrong, as the Miami Heat surged ahead to a 3-0 series lead. Miami fans were feeling very comfortable as no team has ever comeback from a 0-3 deficit, but the Celtics would not quit as they clawed their way back and took the next three games to tie up the series. As the Heat have done all postseason, they beat the odds and blew out Boston in Game 7, despite being 9-point underdogs. Once again Jimmy Butler was great, but the story of the series was Caleb Martin. Martin averaged 19/6/2 for the series compared to 10/5/2 in the regular season. Martin and others have really stepped up and guided the Heat through the playoffs.

The Heat have become the second eight seed in NBA history to advance to the NBA Finals. The only other team to do it was the 1999 Knicks, but that was a lockout season where they played fewer than the usual 82 games. The Heat have beaten historic odds all postseason and they have engraved themselves in history. Once again the Heat find themselves as big underdogs as they prepare to face the Denver Nuggets, but with the way things are going, who knows?