Jimmy Butler was this Wednesday the main protagonist of the victory of the Miami Heat against the Milwaukee Bucks (126-128). A victory that made it 4-1 in the series of the first round of the playoffs and where the Miami team knocked out the first seed from the East and the team with the best balance in the NBA.
After scoring 56 points in Game 4, Butler put in a brilliant performance this Wednesday with 42 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals, and forced overtime with an acrobatic play with 0.5 seconds remaining. In addition, the forward became the first player in franchise history to chain two games with more than 40 points.
The Heat rallied from 16 points behind in the fourth quarter against a Bucks who made a series of game-costing errors, including one on the final play when Grayson Allen missed the final shot after not learning time was running out.
The unstoppable Butler was accompanied by Bam Adebayo, also the protagonist with a triple double of 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists and a Gabe Vincent of 22 points and four triples. The top scorer for the Milwaukee team was Giannis Antetokounmpo who finished with 38 points, 20 rebounds and three assists. The Greek, however, choked on free kicks and only scored 10 of 23.
In overtime the Bucks had the last shot, but Grayson Allen didn’t realize his timer was running out and couldn’t hit the shot before the buzzer. It was the final sentence for them, who lost the series 4-1 against the Heat who will play the second round against the Knicks.
The Golden State Warriors, for their part, took Sacramento and are already close to the West semifinals after beating the Kings (116-123). With a 2-3 in favor in the series, on Friday the Warriors will have the option of closing the qualification to the next round on their court. Stephen Curry (31 points and 8 assists) was the leader of those from San Francisco, who had a very complete game.
The great collective work of the reigning NBA champions (33 assists from the entire team for 50 baskets) was also led by Klay Thompson (25 points), Andrew Wiggins (20 points), Draymond Green (21 points and seven assists) and Kevon Looney (22 rebounds, seven of them offensive, in addition to seven assists).
For the Kings, De’Aaron Fox, in his first game after breaking his left index finger, had 24 points (9-of-25 shooting, 3-of-10 3-pointers), seven rebounds and nine assists. After the defeat against the Warriors, those from Sacramento are forced to win two games in a row if they want to fight for a place in the semifinals.
At the FedExForum in Memphis, the Grizzlies forced Game 6 after beating the Lakers 99-116, thanks in part to the 64 points contributed by Desmond Bane (33 points and 10 rebounds and five assists) and Ja Morant (31 points and 10 rebounds and seven assists), both with a double-double. The Lakers were unable to finish off the Grizzlies and will have a new opportunity on Friday in Los Angeles before their fans with the series 3-2 in their favor.
The Spanish Santi Aldama played 14 minutes in which he had an outstanding performance, with seven points, five rebounds and three assists in addition to a steal. For his part, the controversial Dillon Brooks only made eight points after 15 shots. The Lakers had veteran Anthony Davis as their best player with a double-double of 31 points and 19 rebounds after playing 35 minutes. His teammate LeBron James also had a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds.
The Cavaliers and the Spanish Ricky Rubio, who has only played 17 minutes in three games in the series (4-1), said goodbye to the playoffs. The Cleveland team fell at home to the New York Knicks (95-106), who are past a first round of playoffs for the first time in 10 years and will face the Miami Heat in the Conference Semifinals.
