![]() ![]() Things didn't get better from there for the Bucks, who went another three minutes in overtime without a made field goal, allowing the Heat to build a seven-point lead.īut after Kyle Lowry, Kevin Love and Bam Adebayo all fouled out for the Heat, the Bucks began to chip away at Miami's interior defense and cut the deficit to two with just under 30 seconds to go on a dunk by Antetokounmpo - who finished with 38 points but went 10-for-23 from the free throw line, including 3-for-9 in the fourth quarter and overtime.Īfter Vincent missed a 3-pointer, Milwaukee had one final chance to push the ball and either tie or win the game. "Yeah, we needed to call timeout ," Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer admitted afterward. ![]() Still, after Butler's bucket, the Bucks had a timeout - but didn't use it, inbounding the ball and sending the game to overtime. That faith, as it was so often throughout this series, proved to be justified. "I just got to throw the ball up there," Vincent said. Vincent lobbed a pass over Antetokounmpo's outstretched arms, and Butler did the rest, muscling the ball into the basket to tie the game. trusted me in that moment, like he has done multiple times." "So I said, 'I guarantee you that when I turn this corner, he's going to be lock-and-trail, he's going to be behind me.'. "You could just tell the entire series that Jrue wasn't taking a body off me," Butler said in explaining his thinking in asking for the play to be drawn up for him. It was then that Vincent, who scored 22 points on the night, had the ball in his hands with Giannis Antetokounmpo in front of him and Butler, having convinced Spoelstra he would be open, scrambling to get to the rim. A Vincent 3-pointer cut Milwaukee's lead to one, and after an errant inbounds pass led to a successful Heat challenge and a jump ball the Bucks controlled, Holiday hit one of two free throws to make it a two-point game with 2.5 seconds left. Butler converted an and-1 layup and a 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions to tie the game with 2 minutes, 11 seconds to go in regulation.Įventually, the Bucks would retake a four-point lead with 14 seconds left after a pair of Jrue Holiday free throws. Instead, that's exactly what happened, as the Bucks, who made only three field goals in the fourth quarter, allowed the Heat to slowly but surely drag themselves back into the game. So when Miami was down 16 at the start of the fourth quarter in Game 5 with Butler resting on the bench, it seemed unlikely the Heat would be able to pull off a repeat performance away from home. Miami was in position to close out this series in Game 5 only because of a stunning comeback in the closing minutes of Game 4, one that saw the Heat overcome a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit behind a staggering 56 points from Butler. One of them was pulling off consecutive remarkable comebacks. In this series, the Heat did a few things. We don't listen to the outside noise, and we will not listen to any outside noise. "We just play hard," said Butler, who again was the dominant player on the court, also contributing eight rebounds and four assists in 46 minutes. In doing so, the Heat claimed a series victory that sent the Bucks, the favorite to lift the Larry O'Brien Trophy for a second time in three years, crashing out of the playoffs in shocking fashion. And Butler delivered, converting a perfect pass from Gabe Vincent to throw in what became a tying bucket for two of his 42 points on the night with 0.5 seconds to go in regulation, a shot that spurred Miami on to an eventual 128-126 overtime victory over Milwaukee. Let me be that guy.'"Īfter watching Butler carry his teammates to the brink of one of the greatest upsets in NBA history, Spoelstra deferred to his superstar. "He looked me dead in the eye," Spoelstra said later with a smile, "and he just said, 'No. When Butler was informed of this plan, however, he had other ideas. MILWAUKEE - As Heat coach Erik Spoelstra was drawing up a play to attempt to tie Game 5 of Miami's first-round series against the Bucks in the final seconds Wednesday night, he initially planned to give the ball to someone other than Jimmy Butler. Jimmy Butler, Heat eliminate top-seeded Bucks in OT stunner You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browser ![]()
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