On Monday night, the Miami Heat stunned the Milwaukee Bucks 119-114 to put the NBA’s top overall seed on the verge of early elimination. Jimmy Butler scored a Miami playoff-record 56 points, and the Heat came back from 14 points behind in the fourth quarter to win the game.
Moreover, Butler set a new career best in scoring with 56 points. Eighth-seeded Miami, which is playing the Bucks in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, gained a 3-1 lead over the Bucks thanks to the performance of the player who had a field goal percentage of 19 for 28, a free throw percentage of 15 for 18 and nine rebounds.
The Heat was led in scoring by Bam Adebayo with 15, Caleb Martin with 12, and Gabe Vincent with 10 points. Wednesday marks the beginning of Game 5 in Milwaukee.
Brook Lopez led Milwaukee with 36 points and 11 rebounds while playing for the Bucks. Giannis Antetokounmpo returned after missing two games with a strained back and produced a triple-double in his first game back. He scored 26 points, grabbed ten rebounds, and dished out 13 assists.
The Bucks were in the lead for the entire game, but the Heat made a furious comeback in the closing minutes.
Even though Butler scored 21 of his team’s total points in the fourth quarter, the Heat was still down 101-89 after Lopez made a basket with 6:09 remaining.
At that point, a 13-0 run, which was finished off by a dunk by Butler off of a mistake by the Bucks, gave Miami the lead for the first time all night with 3:17 remaining to play, 102-101.
After those four lead changes, Miami finally took the lead on a 3-pointer by Butler with 1:20 remaining in the game.
After adding a step-back jumper on Miami’s following possession and celebrating with a punch to the air, the Heat was certain they would soon be able to leave the court with a 3-1 advantage.
Due to a damaged lower back, Antetokounmpo could not play in Games 2 and 3 of the series and for a significant portion of Game 1. He worked out on Sunday, then went through a shootaround with the Bucks on Monday, after which he was given the green light to play and seemed to be in excellent shape.
Yet Butler performed at a higher level than ever before.
He set the tone for the game early on by having the greatest scoring quarter of his entire career. He was responsible for 22 of Miami’s 28 points in the first quarter, including a stretch of 5 minutes and 45 seconds late in the first in which he scored 20 consecutive points.
In the fourth, he added 21 more points, spearheading an incredible comeback for his team.
TIP-INS
Bucks: During the regular season and the playoffs, Milwaukee has made 138 3-pointers in eight games played versus Miami. There has never been a club that has scored more points against the Heat in a season; Boston scored 126 points against the Heat in only ten games last season. The three triple-doubles Giannis Antetokounmpo recorded during the playoffs have all occurred away from Milwaukee — two in Miami and one in Boston.
