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LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida: Jimmy Butler sent the ball to Jae Crowder, then started celebrating before his teammate even fired.
He knew what was about to happen.
The Miami Heat did it again, and they have the Milwaukee Bucks, the No. 1 seed in the NBA playoffs, poised to leave the bubble weeks earlier than they anticipated.
Butler scored 17 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter, the Heat outscored the Bucks 40-13 in those final 12 minutes, the largest fourth-quarter margin in NBA playoff history, and edged Milwaukee 115- 100 to take a 3-0 lead. in the Eastern Conference semifinal series.
“No, I’m not surprised,” Butler said. “I think everyone else in the world could be. But not us here. Not if you wear a Heat jersey, if you’re one of these coaches, if you’re part of this organization, if you’ve been watching what we’ve been doing all year, that doesn’t surprise us. “
No team in NBA history has won after going down 3-0.
“It can be us,” current MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo said. “It can definitely be us.”
Bam Adebayo had 20 points and 16 rebounds, and Crowder had 17 points to help the Heat improve to 7-0 this postseason. Brook Lopez scored 22 points for Milwaukee, which had 21 points, 16 rebounds and nine assists from Antetokounmpo, who sprained an ankle in the first quarter and seemed to struggle at times.
Said it was fine afterwards.
The spirit of the Bucks has to be hurting. They led by 14 at the end of the third, and by 12 going into the fourth. Then disaster: Milwaukee shot 6 of 23 from the field, 0 of 10 from 3-point range and was outscored 17-13 by Butler alone.
“They made all the plays,” said Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer. “And obviously we didn’t earn enough.”
The Heat made their biggest return to the playoffs in the fourth quarter. They were 10 down in the fourth quarter of Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals against San Antonio, the game Ray Allen sent him into extra time with a 5.2-second 3-pointer en route to Miami’s most recent title. .
Milwaukee led 87-75 in the fourth quarter, 12 up with 12 minutes to go in a game the Bucks knew they almost certainly had to win to keep alive any realistic hope of winning a championship.
Miami had other ideas.
Tyler Herro opened the fourth with a triple, Goran Dragic made another three about three minutes later to cut the deficit to four, and the Heat got on the move. Butler had Miami’s next nine points as the Heat returned to the top, setting Adebayo for a short basket with 4:20 remaining to restore a 100-99 lead.
And Butler could have given the dagger with a pass; he found Jae Crowder for a left triple with 2:15 left to put Miami up 107-100.
Butler knew it was good: he was running the other way, arm in the air, before Crowder’s shot even reached inside the net.
“It just shows how good Jimmy is as a basketball player,” “It’s not just about his score. … He does whatever it takes to help his team have a chance to win and that’s on both ends of the floor. “
Crowder’s 3 was part of a 17-1 run to end the game.
Milwaukee needed less than five minutes to complete a 21-6 run that put the Bucks up 87-73 at the end of the third. Lopez and George Hill combined for the first 11 points of that race.
But the fourth, all of Miami.
“We are still here in the bubble,” Hill said. “He is not the first to win three games. He is the first to win four games. We still have basketball to play. “
TIP-INS
Bucks: Milwaukee fell to 0-7 against Miami in postseason games. … Antetokounmpo’s struggles from the line continued, going 3-for-8 in the first half, leaving him at 19 in his last 42 in the playoffs. It was 4 of 4 after halftime. … The Bucks missed their last 10 shots.
Heat: With Kelly Olynyk (bruised knee) out, Meyers Leonard got his first few minutes of the playoffs. Leonard started much of the season before spraining his ankle in early February; Friday marked his third appearance in the past seven months. … Miami took 47 triples (making 18). The 47 triples were a playoff team record and the second-most in team history overall.
GIANNIS 1K
A dunk in the fourth quarter gave Antetokounmpo 19 points on the night and 1,000 in his 42-game playoff career. He is the 32nd player to score at least 1,000 points in his first 42 NBA playoff games; Michael Jordan has the most in that span, 1,495.
HEAT DENIED
Miami’s plan to turn its local stadium into an early voting location starting next month was rejected Friday by elections officials in Miami-Dade County. “(If) the forces involved in making this decision think that this will silence our voice on the critical importance of voting, they must know that we will not be discouraged,” the team said. Many NBA teams are trying to host polling stations this fall, in part due to the agreement reached last week when players chose to continue the season.
UNTIL NEXT TIME
The fourth game is on Sunday (Monday in Manila)
