Butler scores 40 points, Heat overtakes Bucks and leads series 1-0

09/01/2020 Entertainment, Health, Sports

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Jimmy Butler (22) of the Miami Heat dives the ball after beating Donte DiVincenzo (0) of the Milwaukee Bucks during the second half of a semifinal game of the NBA basketball conference, Monday, August 31, 2020, in Lake Buena Vista, Florida (AP Photo / Mark J. Terrill)

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida – Jimmy Butler continued to hear the same message from his teammates in every conversation Monday night.

“Win the game.”

He listened to them and handed them over.

Butler scored 14 of his 40 career playoff points in the fourth quarter, Goran Dragic added 27, and the Heat cracked down on defense in the final three quarters to beat the Milwaukee Bucks 115-104 in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series on Monday. night.

“I felt like I leveled up in the fourth quarter,” Butler said. “If that has to happen in every game, I have to be able to do it. But we have so many guys who can do it for us. “

Bam Adebayo had 12 points, 17 rebounds and six assists for the fifth-seeded Heat, who are 3-1 overall against the Bucks, the top seeds this season. Tyler Herro added 11 points for Miami, which improved to 5-0 in the postseason.

Butler was joined only by LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, the first person to text Butler after the game Monday night, as players with a 40-point effort in the playoffs for Miami. He was 13 of 20 from the field, 12 of 13 from the line and 2 of 2 from 3-point ground.

“He wants these kinds of moments,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

Khris Middleton scored 28 points for Milwaukee, which also lost Game 1 of its first-round series against Orlando. Brook Lopez had 24 points on 8 of 10 shots, and Giannis Antetokounmpo had 18 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists for the Bucks.

But Antetokounmpo’s night will probably be best remembered for what he did at the free throw line: The reigning MVP was 4 of 12 from the line, the worst performance of anyone with at least 12 free throw attempts in a playoff game since. that Andre Roberson finished 2-for-12 for Oklahoma City on April 23, 2017 against Houston.

“He just has to get on with his routine, stick with what he’s been doing, keep being very confident, keep attacking, keep hitting the free throw line,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “He is going to do them. We have total faith in him. “

Kyle Korver added 11 for the Bucks, who scored 40 points on the way to an 11-point lead after the first quarter, then had 64 the rest of the way. The Bucks played without point guard Eric Bledsoe due to a strained right hamstring.

“We have been here before,” Antetokounmpo said. “Going 0-1 against Orlando, we did the same thing last year against Boston… We have to go out and play Game 2, man. It’s a great game. Our season is at stake. We have to go out there, play hard, watch the tape, make the adjustments, be aggressive, make the right play and hopefully we can win the game. “

Miami led 92-86 after three quarters, after losing most of the game to that point, then had just three points in the first 6:09 of the fourth quarter.

The Bucks didn’t exactly exploit that drop.

Marvin Williams’ three-point play with 7:40 to play put Milwaukee within 95-93, and they held onto a one-possession game for nearly five minutes. Antetokounmpo scored for a 96-95 lead midway through the fourth, before Butler drove and got a baseline float down on Miami’s next possession to put Miami back on top forever.

Butler’s 3-pointer with 3:03 left pushed the lead to 102-96, and Herro, after Adebayo extended possession with an offensive rebound, hit a 3 with 1:34 left to put the score at 109-101 .

Game 2 is Wednesday.

“Just as they will study your film to improve, we will do the same,” Butler said.

TIP-INS

Heat: Miami is now 24-20 in Game 1. … Duncan Robinson, a big part of Miami’s success this season, had only one field goal: a triple. … Butler’s previous mark in a Heat uniform was 38 points. The best of his career in the playoffs was 36, for Philadelphia last year.

Bucks: Milwaukee is now 20-32 in Game 1.… Antetokounmpo’s son Liam was one of the first fans in bubble history; Monday was the first day that some NBA players were able to have family members join them on the restart. … Lopez committed two fouls at the half, then two more in the first 40 seconds of the third quarter. … Middleton and Lopez combined for 40 points in the first half, 12 in the second.

RILEY ARRIVES

Heat president Pat Riley was at the game, though he is not allowed near the team or his hotel due to restart health and safety rules. Spoelstra said he was glad that Riley and general manager Andy Elisburg, who was also in a few first-round games, could see the “historic” bubble. “It’s still enough to be able to feel the emotions of the playoffs and where we are at,” Spoelstra said.

VOTING PLACE

Fans will be able to go to the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee this fall to vote. The city of Milwaukee announced Monday that the Bucks’ home stadium will be an early voting site for the 2020 general election, open from October 20 to November 1. Election day is November 3. Miami is also looking to turn its local stadium into an early voting site this year.

UNTIL NEXT TIME