The last time a five seed made it to the conference finals was seven years ago when the Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder. On Tuesday, Sept. 8, the Miami Heat broke the seven year drought defeating Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks in a series that ended in five games.
While on the verge of elimination, the Bucks finally managed to catch a win in game four with Khris Middleton leading the team with 36 points and Antetokounmpo contributing with a solid 19. Antetokounmpo suffered an ankle injury in the second half but shook it off and finished the game. However, he was unable to play in game five due to his ankle. Many thought the Bucks would be better off without Antetokounmpo considering how well the team played during his brief absence in game four. Head coach Mike Budenholzer and the Bucks’ coaching staff made the decision to sit their star for game five in hopes of sneaking out another win without their usual main source of scoring.
While the Bucks struggled to get going, Jimmy Butler and the Heat came out stronger than ever. Butler did what he does, putting up 40 points in the first game accompanied with a big performance from Goran Dragić with 27. In game two, Butler finished with only 13 points, but the Heat had seven players with 10 or more points with the biggest contributions from Dragić (who led the Heat in scoring with 23), Tyler Herro and Jae Crowder. Throughout the series, the Heat continued to dominate. Butler seemed to have infinite help on the offensive side with Dragić, Bam Adebayo, Crowder and rookie Tyler Herro all averaging over 13 points per game in the series. The widespread scoring distribution for the Heat proved that teamwork is the key to winning as an underdog or just winning in general.
Fans across the nation thought this series would be an easy win for the Bucks. They had the former MVP and current defensive player of the year in Antetokounmpo, the highest percentage three-point shooter in George Hill and the best record in the NBA for the second year in a row. As it turns out, the power of the Heat’s swarming defense, multiple offensive weapons and teamwork proved to be too much for the Bucks, and will likely cause similar problems for the Celtics in the conference finals.