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Miami Heat Stun Top-Seeded Bucks in OT Thriller to Move On in NBA Playoffs

Jimmy Butler had another playoff masterpiece, Gabe Vincent made clutch plays and the Miami Heat overcame a 16-point fourth quarter deficit to knock off the No.1-seeded Milwaukee Bucks and move on to the next round of the NBA Playoffs.

In Game 5 of the Eastern Conference first-round series on Wednesday (April 26), the Heat went on the road and beat Milwaukee 128-126 in overtime, setting up a matchup with the fifth-seeded Knicks in the semifinals. They are just the sixth eight-seed to beat a one-seed in NBA postseason history and become the first play-in team to win a first-round series.

Nursing a 3-1 series lead, the Heat trailed the Bucks 102-86 at the end of the third quarter and it looked as those Milwaukee would live to see another day. Instead, the Bucks shot just 3-19 in the fourth, allowing the Heat to claw their way back into the game just like in Game 4, when Miami overcame a 14-point deficit in the fourth behind 56 points from Butler. He followed up that performance with 42 points on Wednesday on 51.5% shooting, the first player in Heat history to have back-to-back 40-point playoff games.

The Heat got out to a slim three-point lead after one quarter, but the Bucks broke things open in the second and third to enter the fourth with a double-digit lead. However, they missed their first seven shots of the quarter, allowing Miami to go on an 8-0 run and cut the lead to eight. With 4:39 to go and the Bucks up by nine, Butler would go on to score the Heat’s next 12 points to tie the game at 111 with just over two minutes to play.

https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1651436822621241345?s=20

The last stretch of regulation went back-and-forth, but thanks to a couple free throws from Jrue Holiday Milwaukee grabbed a four-point lead with 14 seconds to go. On the ensuing possession Miami’s Vincent pulled up from 28 feet to cut the deficit back to one, and an errant inbounds pass led to a successful Heat challenge and a jump ball that the Bucks barely controlled. A foul was called, sending Holiday to the line again, where he made one of two to make it a two-point game with 2.5 seconds left.

With the ball now at half-court, Butler told head coach Erik Spoelstra that he would be open and Spoelstra drew up a play. Vincent lobbed the ball over Bucks 7-footer Giannis Antetokounmpo to Butler on the other side of the hoop, who tied the game on an acrobatic layup as he fell to the floor. The Bucks elected not to call a timeout despite having one left, and the game was sent to overtime.

In OT, despite Bam Adebayo, Kyle Lowry and Kevin Love all fouling out for the Heat, the Bucks could not capitalize and failed to get off a shot in the closing seconds. They didn’t make a field goal for six minutes from the end of regulation into OT, allowing the Heat to lead for the entire period. Antetokounmpo had 38 points and 20 rebounds to lead his team, but shot just 10-23 on free throws in the game and 3-9 in the fourth and OT.

Butler had 42, Vincent had 22 and Adebayo had 20, 10 and 10 to lead the Heat past the odds-on favorite to win the NBA Finals. Game 1 of their second-round series against New York is on Sunday.

What did you think of this game? Let us know by leaving a reaction at the bottom of this post or by tweeting us @celebsecrets.

Author

  • Mason Klemm

    Mason Klemm is a sports news and culture writer. He is a junior at Bradley University studying sports communication, so he obviously loves all things sports. When his eyes aren't glued to ESPN or Twitter, he enjoys watching TV and movies. Originally from Minneapolis, he is a self-proclaimed geography nerd and loves the Eagles and Twins.

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Mason Klemm is a sports news and culture writer. He is a junior at Bradley University studying sports communication, so he obviously loves all things sports. When his eyes aren't glued to ESPN or Twitter, he enjoys watching TV and movies. Originally…

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