NEWSLETTER
DOWN GOES MILWAUKEE.
In shocking fashion, the 8-seeded Miami Heat sent home the 1-seeded Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night. They took the series in a swift five games, booking a first-class ticket to New York to face the Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Jimmy Butler practically single-handedly pushed the Heat over the hump. The ice-cold scorer dropped 56 points in Game 4 before posting 42 points in tonight’s Game 5 victory. He shot 17-33 from the field, including the game-tying bucket with just 0.5 seconds left in regulation.
For the Bucks, it will go down as one of the more startling first-round exits in NBA history. Not only did Milwaukee claim the most regular season victories, but they held the league’s 5th-best net rating compared to Miami’s 21st-ranked net rating (the lowest of any playoff team).
The Bucks do have at least a small excuse with Giannis Antetokounmpo banked up after a hard fall in Game 1 and missing the next two contests. However, there is no denying this was a series where they held the upper hand and simply crumbled. Nothing represents that better than the final possession of the game, where Grayson Allen seemingly forgot to even get a shot off to attempt to tie the game.
I wish I could say felt bad for him … but nope!
As the Heat now head toward a surprising matchup with the Knicks, questions will flood the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee. Will Khris Middleton return? What about coach Mike Budenholzer? After an embarrassing first-round exit, one of the league’s most recently dominant teams could be in for quite the offseason.
