Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Heat edge Bucks 116-114 in Game 2
Butler’s free throws with 0:00 left hold off Bucks’ rally, give Heat 2-0 series lead
This time Jimmy Butler waited for his moment of truth. With the clock reading 0:00. Up nine with 1:45 to play, the Miami Heat blew all of that lead, creating a desperation possession with 4.3 seconds left in a tie game Wednesday night against the Milwaukee Bucks.
So Butler got the ball, just as he did so often at the end of the Heat’s Game 1 win, when he scored 15 of his 40 points in the fourth quarter.
Fouled by Giannis Antetokounmpo just as time expired, Butler was sent to the line with no time remaining — and no one on the court.
Good and good.
Game.
Heat 116, Bucks 114.
Somehow.
The victory moved the Heat to a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series in Orlando, with Game 3 at 6:30 p.m. Friday on the same neutral court amid the new coronavirus pandemic.
Butler this time did not score in the fourth until 3:32, when he got to the foul line.
No matter, even with Butler
limited to 13 points.
Because the Heat ensemble approach again proved efficient, getting 23 points from Goran Dragic, 17 from Tyler Herro, 16 from Jae Crowder, 15 from Bam Adebayo, 13 from Duncan Robinson and 11 from Kelly Olynyk.
Going in, Butler said he didn’t need it to be his night, but rather, “I hope it’s Goran tonight or I hope it’s Tyler or Duncan, or somebody like that. As long as we get a dub, I couldn’t care less.”
It’s exactly what happened and what he got — until he finished it off.
The Bucks ultimately had the game’s leading man, with Antetokounmpo closing with 29 points and 14 rebounds, but not enough otherwise, beyond 23 points from Khris Middleton.
The Bucks trimmed the Heat’s lead to 111-107 with 1:17 to play on an Antetokounmpo 3-point play. But Adebayo then countered with a short jumper with 54.5 seconds left to put the Heat up 113-107.
Antetokounmpo then fouled out Adebayo with 43.9 seconds left, but missed both foul shots.
But still it wasn’t over, with an Antetokounmpo basket, a Butler turnover and a Brook Lopez layup leaving the Heat with a mere 113-111 lead with 8.5 seconds to play.
That put Butler to the line with 7.7 seconds to play. Butler made only the second of the two foul shots, to put the Heat up 114-111.
From there, the worst of all outcomes, with Dragic fouling Middleton on a 3-point attempt with 4.3 seconds to play, with Middleton’s foul shots tying it.
Then Butler drew the foul and made the free throws.
Five degrees of Heat from Wednesday night’s game:
1. Dragic does: Dragic again set the tone for the Heat, this time with nine first-quarter points, as the Heat took a 38-29 lead into the second period, with the veteran guard up to 17 points by halftime.
“He’s been doing this the entire time here [at Disney],” Spoelstra said in his televised interview at the end of the opening period. “For that matter, the whole season.”
It was Dragic’s sixth consecutive 20-point game, his longest such streak as a member of the Heat, and his longest streak since 2014, while with the Suns. The only Heat players with longer 20-point playoff streaks were Dwyane Wade and LeBron James.
With his second basket, Dragic passed Eddie Jones for ninth on the Heat’s alltime playoff scoring list.
“He just settles us,” Spoelstra said, “but obviously there’s an aggressiveness.”
2. Challenging times: Spoelstra burned his lone allowed officiating challenge just 2:49 into the game, on an Adebayo foul on a successful 3-pointer by Lopez.
The ruling went against the Heat, with Spoelstra hopeful of a four-point swing on the play, with Lopez converting the ensuing free throw.
Then, in the third period Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer utilized his challenge when Antetokounmpo was called for his fourth foul just 2:38 into the second half.
The Bucks won that block-charge challenge, with Butler instead called for a blocking foul. Antetokounmpo, reset back to three fouls, converted a dunk on the possession. Antetokounmpo went into the fourth with those three fouls.
3. Rotation change: Spoelstra again opted for a nine-man rotation, with Kendrick Nunn still in and Derrick Jones Jr. out.
That approach, however, changed with 1:36 left in the third period, when Andre Iguodala landed on the foot of Korver while attempting a 3-pointer.
Korver was called for a flagrant foul, with Iguodala making two of the ensuing free throws, but also forced to leave the game, with a sprained right ankle.
That brought Jones into the mix, after he was held out of Game 1, following a regular rotation role in the first round against the Indiana Pacers. Jones then provided seven needed minutes before Butler’s return.
4. Bledsoe back: The Bucks had Eric Bledsoe back in their starting lineup, after he missed the series opener due to a strained right hamstring. That had Game 1 starter George Hill playing off Milwaukee’s bench.
Budenholzer had said pregame of Bledsoe, “He’s making progress. We’re hopeful.”
Hope arrived in the form of 14 first-half points from Bledsoe, leading Milwaukee in scoring at the break.
5. In the crowd: Dwyane Wade was among the virtual fans in the “stands,” with Butler going over to the video screen for a virtual fist bump after the first quarter. Chris Bosh had been a face in the virtual crowd in the previous Heat bubble game.
In the fourth quarter, Wade then posted, “Man, if you don’t love watching this Miami Heat team play, you don’t really like basketball.”