MILWAUKEE (AP) – Jimmy Butler was an extraordinary playmaker while leading the Miami Heat to one of the most stunning first-round playoff upsets in NBA history.
It turns out he also was a heck of a play caller.
Butler scored 42 points and the Heat staged a second straight stunning fourth-quarter rally before winning 128-126 in overtime yesterday in Game 5 to eliminate the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks.
“We’re a resilient group,” Butler said. “We stick together through everything.”
The Heat advanced to a second-round series with the fifth-seeded New York Knicks, who completed their 4-1 series win over the Cleveland Cavaliers earlier. Game 1 is on Sunday in New York.
Miami, which had to win a play-in game with Chicago just to get to the first round, became the sixth number eight seed to beat a number one seed. The last time it happened was in 2012, when a Philadelphia 76ers team featuring current Bucks guard Jrue Holiday capitalised on Derrick Rose’s knee injury to beat the top-seeded Chicago Bulls.
Two nights after outscoring the Bucks 30-13 in the final six minutes of a 119-115 victory in Miami, the Heat came back from a 16-point, fourth-quarter deficit and tied the game on Butler’s layup with half a second left in regulation.
The Heat trailed 118-116 with 2.1 seconds left and called a timeout when coach Erik Spoelstra drew up a play. Butler didn’t like what he saw and spoke up about it. Spoelstra then changed his mind and set up the tying play, which had Gabe Vincent throwing an inbounds pass to Butler, who was waiting underneath the basket to force overtime.
Butler delivered, as he did this entire series. He averaged 37.6 points, including a 56-point effort in Game 4.
The Heat advanced to a second-round series with the fifth-seeded New York Knicks, who completed their 4-1 series win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Bam Adebayo put the Heat ahead for good by dunking in a putback of Butler’s missed driving layup attempt with 4:44 left in overtime. The Bucks trailed 128-126 and had the ball in the closing seconds, but the clock ran out before Grayson Allen could take a shot as he drove to the basket.
The Bucks had timeouts available but didn’t use them in the closing seconds of overtime. Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said he didn’t regret not using a timeout in that situation. He did regret not calling a timeout with half a second left in regulation after Butler’s basket.
Adebayo had 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Gabe Vincent added 22 points.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 38 points and 20 rebounds for the Bucks, though he shot just 10 of 23 on free-throw attempts. Khris Middleton added 33 points.
Milwaukee led 102-86 after three quarters but shot just five of 25 from the floor in the fourth quarter and overtime. This marked the biggest deficit a winning team ever had faced to start the fourth quarter of a series-clinching victory.
The Heat tied the game on two occasions late in the fourth quarter before Middleton made two free throws to put Milwaukee back ahead with 27.8 seconds left. Holiday made two free throws with 14 seconds remaining to make it a four-point game. Vincent made a three-pointer to cut the lead to one with 8.4 seconds left.
After getting fouled with 2.1 seconds left, Holiday missed his first free throw before sinking the second to make it 118-116. But Vincent’s outstanding pass to Butler helped force overtime and eventually send the Heat to the second round.
