The Miami Heat pulled to within two wins of the Eastern Conference Finals with a 116-114 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night.
After scoring 18 points in Game 1, Giannis Antetokounmpo registered 29 on the night while the Bucks held Jimmy Butler to just 13 points. But Erik Spoelstra’s men had the wherewithal to grind out another victory through contributions from the likes of Goran Dragic and Bam Adebayo. Dragic led all scorers for the Heat with 23 points; Adebayo scored 15 and hauled nine boards. Jae Crowder, Duncan Robinson, Tyler Herro and Kelly Olynyk all came up big for Miami at different points, with Herro, in particular, showing nerves of steel despite his lack of experience.
The Heat led throughout the contest, only surrendering the lead in the fourth quarter and quickly went back ahead heading towards crunch time.
Bam Adebayo fouled out with 43.9 seconds to go in the quarter yet not before hitting a clutch jumper to put the Heat up six with just under a minute left on the clock. The resulting foul shots were both missed by Giannis.
Milwaukee cut the lead to just two points with less than 10 seconds to go following a quick basket from Giannis and a costly turnover by Butler in his own half. However, the latter was able to hit a free throw to give the Heat a three-point cushion with 7.7 seconds left. Khris Middleton tied things up at 114 with three free throws after Goran Dragic was adjudged to have fouled him on a three with 4.7 seconds to go.
The Bucks appeared to have forced overtime as Butler would miss a jumper with no time left on the clock but Giannis was whistled for a foul, leaving the Heat star needing to sink one of his two free throws to win it for Miami. Butler’s first shot took its time rolling off the front of the rim and into the net to hand the Heat an automatic win, but he hit the other for good measure.
The Bucks’ loss marks the first time both the No.1 and No.2 seeds have been down 2-0 in conference semis since seeding began in the NBA, with the Toronto Raptors also trailing in their series with the Boston Celtics.
