FOX Sports writers are providing takeaways from games throughout the NBA playoffs. Here are his thoughts on Wednesday.
Heat 128, Bucks 126 (OT): Send heat top-seed bucks packing
Jimmy Butler scored 42 points and the Miami Heat staged their second straight fourth-quarter rally before winning 128-126 in overtime on Wednesday night to upset the top-seeded Bucks in their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series. .
Two nights after outscoring the Bucks 30-13 in the final six minutes of a 119-115 win in Miami, the Heat mounted another huge comeback and tied the game on Butler’s layup with half a second left in regulation.
Miami beat the No. 1 seed to become the sixth No. 8 seed. The last time that happened was in 2012, when a Philadelphia 76ers team featuring current Bucks guard Jrue Holiday capitalized on Derrick Rose’s knee injury to beat the top-ranked Chicago Bulls.
The Heat advanced to a second-round series with the fifth-seeded New York Knicks, who won the series 4-1 against the Cleveland Cavaliers earlier Wednesday. Game 1 is Sunday in New York.
Bam Adebayo put the Heat ahead by dunking in the putback of Butler’s missed driving layup attempt with 4:44 left in overtime. The Bucks trailed 128-126 and had the ball in the final seconds, but the clock ran out before Grayson Allen could take a shot when he drove to the basket.
Adebayo had 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Gabe Vincent added 22 points.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 38 points and 20 rebounds for the Bucks, though he shot just 10-of-23 on free-throw attempts. Khris Middleton added 33 points.
Milwaukee led 102-86 after three quarters but shot just 5-of-25 from the floor in the fourth quarter and overtime.
The Heat tied the game on two occasions late in the fourth quarter before Middleton made two free throws to put Milwaukee behind with 27.8 seconds left.
Then things got really interesting.
After a timeout, the Heat got the ball to Butler, whose 3-point attempt missed with 18 seconds left. Holliday made two free throws with 14 seconds left to make it a four-point game, but Vincent’s 3-pointer cut the lead to one with 8.4 seconds left.
The Bucs had the ball in the backcourt when Holliday threw an errant pass that eluded Middleton. Miami’s Kyle Lowry was initially called for a foul as he chased down a loose ball, but the Heat successfully challenged the call and it was ruled a jump ball.
Brook Lopez tipped the ball to Antetokounmpo, whose pass almost went out of bounds before Middleton saved it in Holiday. After being fouled with 2.1 seconds left, Holliday missed his first free throw and sank another to make it 118-116.
After a Heat timeout, Vincent stood in front of the Bucks bench and threw an inbounds pass to Butler, who was waiting under the basket to score the tying score, before the Heat went on to win in overtime.
– Associated Press
Grizzlies 116, Lakers 99: Grizzlies put pressure on Lakers again
The Memphis Grizzlies took advantage of LeBron James’ fatigue.
After playing 45 minutes in the Lakers’ overtime win in Game 4, James was clearly not in Game 5, finishing with just 15 points and 10 rebounds on 5-for-17 shooting in nearly 37 minutes.
The Grizzlies capitalized on The King’s off-night, winning Game 5 in Memphis, 116-99. Now, the Lakers have a 3-2 lead with Game 6 set for Friday Crypto.com the arena
Ja Morant and Desmond Ben set the tone early as the Grizzlies jumped out to a 17-point lead in the first half.
But the Lakers came back to cut their deficit to just one point, 61-60, after D’Angelo Russell made a 3-pointer with 10 minutes and 18 seconds left in the third quarter.
With their season on the line, the Grizzlies eventually responded with a ferocious 19–2 run, pushing their lead to 25 points in the fourth quarter.
The Lakers cut their deficit to 12 points with just under three minutes remaining, but could not complete the comeback.
Bane had 33 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Ja Morant, who did not speak to reporters after Game 4, had 33 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.
Meanwhile, Anthony Davis was the only Laker to score more than 17 points. Davis finished with 33 points, 19 rebounds and two blocked shots, a strong comeback from the 12-point, 11-rebound performance he had in Game 4.
In his walk-off interview with TNT after the win, Morante thanked the fans on FedExForum.
“It’s our home floor, the home crowd, we feed off their energy,” he said.
But now the series shifts back to Los Angeles, where Morant and the Grizzlies will try to avoid elimination in front of a Lakers home crowd that is witnessing its first postseason at capacity in 10 years.
For the Grizzlies, it will be the ultimate test to keep their season alive and prevent the 7-seed from eliminating the 2-seed, which only five 7-seeds have accomplished since 1984, when the playoff field expanded from 12 to 16. teams
– Melissa Rohlin
Knicks 106, Cavaliers 95: Beats Cavs to advance
Jalen Brunson scored 23 points, RJ Barrett added 21 and the New York Knicks defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 106-95 in Game 5 on Wednesday night to advance to the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs for the first time since 2013.
Even after Julius Randle aggravated his left ankle injury and missed the second half, the Knicks easily handled a more one-sided series than expected.
New York won the opener at Rockets Mortgage Fieldhouse, swept the Cavs twice at raucous Madison Square Garden and then returned to Cleveland to finish the job. The fifth-seeded Knicks will next face the Miami-Milwaukee winner.
Brunson was a consistent component throughout the series for the Knicks, who signed the stocky guard as a free agent last summer before their attempt to acquire Donovan Mitchell in a trade from Utah collapsed and he landed in Cleveland.
Brunson averaged 24 points in the series and led New York to all four wins, beating Mitchell for the second straight postseason. Last year, Brunson was with Dallas when he got the best of Mitchell.
Mitchell scored 28 and Darius Garland 21 for the Cavs, who won 51 games during the regular season but whose inexperience showed during their first playoff series in five years. The Cavs weren’t ready.
A bigger problem, however, seemed to be Cleveland’s toughness. The Cavs were pushed around and led in all four losses, including 48-30 in the clincher.
New York center Mitchell Robinson finished with `18 rebounds — 11 offensive — in Game 5, and the 7-footer didn’t shy away from calling out the Cavs for being soft after Game 3, saying they looked shaken.
Cleveland hoped to recapture some of its 2016 magic and overcome a 3-1 deficit to LeBron James and the Cavs in the NBA Finals to shock Golden State. But Brunson, Barrett and the rest of the Knicks had other plans.
They shut down the Cavs in the second half without Randle.
The All-Star forward left late in the second quarter with a sprained left ankle and did not return. Obie Toppin started in his place and scored 12 points in the third quarter as the Knicks opened an 18-point lead.
New York never let Cleveland get closer than six in the fourth, much to the delight of several Knicks fans who celebrated behind their bench.
Randall was moving the same way she was in the series before going down.
After trying to block Caris LeVert’s jumper, he landed awkwardly and remained on the floor for several minutes while being checked. Randle was helped to his feet but limped off the floor and into the locker room for treatment.
Turns out, the Knicks don’t need him.
New York’s depth was also a huge factor in the series. Whenever coach Tom Thibodeau turned to the reserves, they responded.
That wasn’t the case for the Cavs and coach JB Bickerstaff, whose bench was a problem all season and was more exposed when the games meant more.
One sequence in the first half underscored Cleveland’s desperation.
Isolated on the wing opposite Brunson, Isaac Okoro refused to bite on the move and kept New York’s guard in front of him and came up with a steal before knocking it out of bounds with two seconds left on the 24-second shot clock.
New York inbounded and Emmanuel Quickley hit a 3-pointer to put the Knicks up by 12.
G Quentin Grimes missed his second straight game with a right shoulder injury. He has been out since absorbing a hit in the first half of Game 3. … New York improved to 13-2 in the postseason against Cleveland, winning all four series (1978, 1995, 1996 and 2023).
With 23 points and 10 assists in Game 4, Garland became the second Cleveland player 23 or younger to post those totals in a playoff game. James did it eight times with the Cavs. … Cleveland is 46-15 at home in the playoffs since 2008, losing elimination games at the arena in 2015, 2018 and 2023.
– Associated Press
Rick Butcher is an NBA writer for Fox Sports. He previously wrote for Bleacher Report, ESPN The Magazine and The Washington Post, and has authored two books, “Rebound,” about NBA forward Brian Grant’s early-onset battle with Parkinson’s and “Yao: A Life in Two Worlds.” He also has a daily podcast, “On the Ball with Rick Butcher.” Follow him on Twitter @Rick Butcher.
Melissa Rohlin is an NBA writer for Fox Sports. She previously covered the league for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Times, the Bay Area News Group and the San Antonio Express-News. Follow her on Twitter @Melissa Rohlyn.
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