NBA playoffs: Butler keys fightback as Heat oust top-seeded Bucks in shocker
Jimmy Butler scored 42 points and the Miami Heat staged a second straight stunning fourth-quarter rally before winning 128-126 in overtime on Wednesday night in Game 5 to complete an upset of the top-seeded Bucks in their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.
Two nights after outscoring the Bucks 30-13 in the final six minutes of a 119-115 victory in Miami, the Heat produced another huge comeback and tied the game on Butler’s layup with half a second left in regulation.
Miami went on to become the sixth No 8 seed to beat a No 1 seed. The last time it happened was in 2012, when a Philadelphia 76ers team featuring current Bucks guard Jrue Holiday capitalized on Derrick Rose’s knee injury to beat the top-seeded Chicago Bulls.
The Heat advanced to a secondround series with the fifth-seeded New York Knicks, who completed their 4-1 series win over the Cleveland Cavaliers earlier Wednesday. Game 1 is Sunday in New York.
Bam Adebayo put the Heat ahead for good by dunking in a putback of Butler’s missed driving layup attempt with 4:44 left in overtime. The Bucks trailed 128-126 and had the ball in the closing seconds, but the clock ran out before Grayson Allen could take a shot as he drove to the basket.
Adebayo had 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Gabe Vincent added 22 points.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 38 points and 20 rebounds for the Bucks, though he shot just 10 of 23 on freethrow attempts. Khris Middleton added 33 points.
Milwaukee led 102-86 after three quarters but shot just 5 of 25 from the floor in the fourth quarter and overtime.
The Heat tied the game on two occasions late in the fourth quarter before Middleton made two free throws to put Milwaukee back ahead with 27.8 seconds left.
Then things really got interesting.
After calling a timeout, the Heat got the ball to Butler, whose three-point attempt missed with 18 seconds left. Holiday made two free throws with 14 seconds remaining to make it a fourpoint game, but Vincent’s -pointer cut the lead to one with 8.4 seconds left.
The Bucks had the ball in the backcourt when Holiday threw an errant pass that eluded Middleton. Miami’s Kyle Lowry initially was called for a foul as he chased the loose ball, but the Heat
successfully challenged the call and it was ruled a jump ball.
Brook Lopez tipped the ball to Antetokounmpo, whose pass nearly went out of bounds before Middleton saved it to Holiday. After getting fouled with 2.1 seconds left, Holiday missed his first free throw before sinking the second to make it 118-116.
After the Heat called timeout, Vincent stood in front of the Bucks bench and threw an inbounds pass to Butler, who was waiting under the basket to make the tying score.
New York Knicks 106-95 Cleveland Cavaliers
Jalen Brunson scored 23 points, RJ Barrett added 21 and the New York Knicks downed the Cleveland Cavaliers 106-95 in Game 5 on Wednesday night to advance to the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs for the first time since 2013.
The Knicks easily controlled a series that was more one-sided than expected, even after Julius Randle aggravated his left ankle injury and missed the second half.
New York won the opener at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, overpowered the Cavs twice at noisy Madison Square
Garden and then returned to Cleveland to finish the job. The fifth-seeded Knicks will meet Miami next.
Brunson was the consistent ingredient throughout the series for the Knicks, who signed the stocky guard as a free agent last summer before their attempt to acquire Donovan Mitchell in a trade from Utah fell apart and he landed in Cleveland.
Brunson averaged 24 points in the series and led New York in scoring all four wins while outplaying Mitchell for the second straight postseason. Last year, Brunson was with Dallas when he got the best of Mitchell.
Golden State Warriors Sacramento Kings
Stephen Curry scored 31 points, Draymond Green had his highest-scoring game in more than five years and the Golden State Warriors won the first road game of their series against Sacramento, beating the Kings 123-116 Wednesday night to take a 3-2 lead.
Green had 21 points and seven assists in his first game back in Sacramento since getting ejected and later suspended for stepping on Domantas Sabonis’ chest in a Game 2 loss.
Desmond Bane had 33 points and 10 rebounds, Ja Morant added 31 points and 10 boards, and the Memphis Grizzlies staved off elimination Wednesday night, beating the Lakers 116-99 to force their first-round Western Conference series back to Los Angeles.
Jaren Jackson Jr, the NBA Defensive Player of the Year, had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Grizzlies, who improved to 5-0 in Game 5s played in Memphis and cut the seventh-seeded Lakers’ series lead to 3-2. Memphis earned a second straight No 2 seed by posting the NBA’s best home record at 35-6.
Game 6 is Friday night in Los Angeles.
LeBron James started 1 of 7 from the field but finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds, a modest follow-up after the 38-year-old played 45 minutes in Monday night’s overtime win in Los Angeles and became the oldest player in NBA history to post at least 20 points and 20 rebounds in his 270th playoff game.
Anthony Davis led the Lakers with 31 points and 19 rebounds. Austin Reaves had 17 points and D’Angelo Russell scored 11. Davis stayed on the court for a few seconds after a layup with 6:01 left that pulled the Lakers within 106-91. When he got up, Davis grabbed at his back as he walked down the court.