Heat topple Bucks, make East finals
Keeping an eye on the world of sports during the pandemic:
Jimmy Butler and the Heat are headed to the Eastern Conference finals.
Giannis Antetokounmpo could only watch.
The fifth-seeded Heat finished off an upset of the NBA’s best regular-season team Tuesday, topping the Bucks 103-94 in Game 5 of their East semifinal series at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida — while Antetokounmpo, the league’s reigning MVP, couldn’t play because of a sprained right ankle.
Butler, above, and Goran Dragic each scored 17 points for the Heat, who won the series 4-1 and will face either the Celtics and Raptors when the NBA’s final four gets underway next week.
It’s the Heat’s first time in the East finals since 2014, and the first time Butler has gotten to the NBA’s final four.
Jae Crowder scored 16, Tyler Herro scored 14, Bam Adebayo had 13 and Kelly Olynyk had 12 apiece for the Heat.
Khris Middleton had 23 points for the Bucks, who also got 15 points and 14 rebounds from Brook Lopez. Donte DiVincenzo added 17 points.
Antetokounmpo did what he could — cheering from the bench throughout, rebounding for teammates during pregame warmups and again at halftime, offering words during timeouts.
And the Bucks were inspired from the jump.
But the NBA’s No. 1 overall seed in these playoffs — a league-best 56-17 in the regular season — just didn’t have enough.
This is Heat’s seventh trip to the conference finals since 2005, the most of anyone in the East and matching the most of any team in the NBA in that span; The Spurs also has seven such trips since 2005.
The NBA went to the 16team playoff in 1984 and this is only the sixth time in those 37 seasons that the No. 1 seed didn’t make the East finals.