2012 Eastern Conference Finals — Heat defeat Celtics, 4-3

The 2012 Eastern Conference Finals between the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics lasted seven games and concluded with Miami winning the series 4–3 to advance to the NBA Finals [2]. The series opened with both teams trading competitive games before Miami clinched the decisive Game 7. Game 6 in Boston produced a signature performance by LeBron James, who scored 45 points to keep Miami alive and force the series back to Miami for Game 7 [2]. Game 7 was played in Miami, where the Heat completed the series win and secured the Eastern Conference crown [2]. The series featured heavyweight matchups on the floor and vocal recollections afterward. Kevin Garnett later recounted intense physical play and trash-talk from that period and summarized his post-series feelings on the Bill Simmons podcast by saying, "We broke LeBron," a remark reflecting the competitive bitterness and narrative memory around those meetings [9]. The 2012 series carried extensive media attention because it pitted Miami's newly formed superstar core against Boston's veteran-led squad, and the seven-game arc amplified the rivalry's profile in the early 2010s [2][9].

The 2012 ECF is defining because it matched Miami's emerging superstar trio and Boston's veteran leaders in a seven-game high-stakes series whose key moments—most notably LeBron James' 45-point Game 6—entered the rivalry's lore [2]. The series deepened competitive familiarity between both franchises' cores and produced enduring public recollections, including Kevin Garnett's later comments that framed the emotional intensity of that playoff chapter [9].

Following the 2012 series, Miami advanced to the NBA Finals while Boston's core regrouped; the matchup's physicality and narrative exchanges—captured both in contemporaneous reporting and later interviews like Garnett's—added layers to the franchises' postseason history and helped frame future Celtics–Heat meetings as consequential rematches [2][9]. The 2012 finals served as a reference point in later discussions of the rivalry's 2010s era.