In a constructing the place Dwyane Wade dazzled, Shaquille O’Neal dominated and LeBron James devastated, Jimmy Butler outdid all of them Monday evening.
Scoring 56 factors, essentially the most in Miami Heat playoff historical past, Butler led a heart-stopping fourth-quarter rally from 12 down with 5:57 to play to place the Heat inside one victory of eliminating the No. 1-seeded Milwaukee Bucks from the postseason.
Even with Giannis Antetokounmpo getting back from a again damage to shut with a triple-double, there was no stopping Butler and the Heat from transferring to a 3-1 lead within the best-of-seven Eastern Conference playoff collection.
Simply put, Monday evening’s 119-114 Heat victory at Kaseya Center was pure Butler, a single-minded participant placing his imprint on a playoff evening in a means the Wade, O’Neal and even James had not earlier than.
He merely refused to lose.
So he didn’t.
“My teammates kept feeding me the ball,” he stated, “telling me to attack.”
Butler’s 56 have been seven off Michael Jordan’s all-time playoff report of 63, tied for the fourth-highest complete in playoff historical past.
“We’re witnessing a guy who continues to be in his prime,” teammate Kyle Lowry stated.
Not even Antetokounmpo, along with his 26 factors, 13 assists and 10 rebounds, his third profession playoff triple-double, may cease the freight practice that was Butler.
“There’s a brilliance about how he competes at the game of basketball, and I think that probably sums it up the best,” coach Erik Spoelstra stated.
Butler was elegant for the Heat, setting the tone with 22 factors within the first quarter. It was his seventh 40-point playoff sport for the Heat, tying Wade’s franchise report.
Antetokounmpo, again from his lower-back contusion, was merely, effectively, himself.
And on this evening, that was not adequate.
Beyond Butler, the Heat acquired 15 factors from Bam Adebayo, 12 from Caleb Martin and 10 from Gabe Vincent.
No, not a lot else.
So Butler merely did all of it.
Antetokounmpo was supported by 36 factors and 11 rebounds from middle Brook Lopez.
The collection continues with a 9:30 p.m. Eastern sport on Wednesday evening at Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum, earlier than a potential return to Kaseya Center for Friday’s Game 6. Should a Game 7 be wanted, it will be Sunday in Milwaukee, the benefit of the Bucks being the No. 1 seed within the East, the Heat the No. 8.
“We still have work to do,” Spoelstra stated, “so I don’t need to say an excessive amount of. There’s no time to exhale, in any respect.
“The series is still going and we have great respect for the championship DNA that that group has.”
Five Degrees of Heat from Monday’s sport:
1. Closing time: The Bucks pushed to an early 12-point lead, took a 33-28 edge into the second interval and moved to a 57-50 halftime lead.
From there, the Bucks pushed to a 15-point lead within the third interval after the Heat had closed inside seven within the quarter, with Milwaukee up 89-78 going into the fourth.
The Heat then opened the fourth quarter with neither Butler nor Adebayo on the ground.
Butler returned with 8:11 to play and the Heat down 98-87.
Back in assault mode, Butler then scored 5 consecutive Heat factors to attract the Heat inside 101-96 with 4:42 left.
Five consecutive factors from reserve ahead Martin adopted to get the Heat inside 101-100, with a Butler transition dunk placing the Heat forward 102-101 with 3:17 left, the Heat’s first lead of the evening.
“Caleb,” Spoelstra stated, “you can’t say enough about him.”
Antetokounmpo adopted with a 3-point play with 3:03 left for a 104-102 Milwaukee lead, with a Jrue Holiday 3-pointer then offsetting a Martin 3-pointer, leaving the Bucks up two.
A pair of Butler free throws have been then offset by a Lopez dunk, leaving Milwaukee up 109-107 with 1:32 left.
But again got here Butler with a 3-pointer for a 110-109 Heat lead with one other Butler jumper, overturned from a 3-pointer, placing the Heat up 111-109 with 58.2 seconds left.
Two Butler free throws adopted for a 114-109 Heat lead, the Heat driving it out from there.
“It’s a game of runs. We withstood theirs,” Butler stated.
Spoelstra stated the pushback didn’t come as shock.
“It’s the makeup of this group,” Spoelstra stated. “We have great competitors in this locker room, and you keep on just plugging away.”
2. Opening assertion: Butler scored 22 factors within the first quarter on 9-of-10 capturing, together with 2 of two on 3-pointers, scoring 20 consecutive Heat factors in a single stretch.
It tied Wade for the highest-scoring quarter in Heat playoff historical past and surpassed Butler’s earlier profession excessive of 21 factors in any quarter, playoffs or common season.
It gave Butler 66 first-quarter factors by the collection’ first 4 video games.
“I’m just hooping, playing basketball the right way,” Butler stated.
Butler turned the fifth participant of the previous 25 postseasons to attain 20 consecutive factors for his group, becoming a member of Tracy McGrady, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Ja Morant, who did it this previous Saturday.
“It always helps,” Spoelstra stated, “to have a guy like Jimmy Butler.”
Along the best way, Butler handed Tom Heinsohn for 58th on the NBA all-time playoff scoring record and Steve Nash for 57th.
Butler had been listed as questionable earlier within the day with a gluteus bruise.
What Spoelstra stated shouldn’t be neglected was Butler’s doing all of it whereas taking part in lockdown protection.
“In this game,” Spoelstra stated, “Jimmy guarded every single player on their roster, at some point.”
3. Giannis again: Antetokounmpo crammed the field rating early in his return, with 9 factors, 4 assists and 4 rebounds within the first quarter, as much as 17 factors, seven rebounds and 6 assists at halftime after which inside two assists of his triple-double getting into the fourth.
The Bucks considerably eased Antetokounmpo again into the combo, giving him the preliminary defensive project in opposition to Kevin Love.
They then protected him from his third foul within the second interval, profitable a problem on what initially was known as a blocking foul on Antetokounmpo.
“His physicality and his ability to get to the rim is otherworldly,” Spoelstra stated. “He has a way of breaking your defense down.”
4. Adebayo’s struggles: With Adebayo known as for his second foul simply 3:28 into the sport, it put the shorthanded Heat in an extra bind.
That had Haywood Highsmith getting into and taking the defensive project on Antetokounmpo.
Adebayo’s first foul got here on a driving Antetokounmpo 3-point play. His second got here needlessly on the perimeter in opposition to Bucks guard Grayson Allen.
The early substitution left Love because the lone power-rotation participant on the court docket, with Cody Zeller then compelled into early minutes.
Adebayo closed 6 of 16 from the sector, with eight rebounds.
“Biggest thing I could do was try to put the ball in the basket a couple of times,” Adebayo stated. “It was one of those things where shots weren’t falling.”
5. Robinson’s run: Duncan Robinson once more displayed a revived 3-point stroke for the Heat, with three by the intermission.
Robinson acquired an early name when Max Strus was known as for a pair of first-quarter fouls.
With his 9 first-half factors, Robinson joined Butler as the one Heat gamers with greater than six over the opening two intervals.
Robinson then performed at closing time over Strus, as effectively, going 30:19.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com