Giannis Antetokounmpo sat on the bench in disbelief while Jimmy Butler sank a couple of free throws with an empty lane and no time on the clock Wednesday night.
Moments earlier, the Milwaukee Bucks and Miami Heat had been knotted at 114 after Khris Middleton sank all three free throws after being fouled in a 3-point attempt. It set a wild ending, which saw Antetokounmpo embarrass Butler in a shot attempt after the ball left his hands – a call confirmed by review – and allowed the Heat to come out with only one win in the third NBA playoff game. to finish with free throws when time runs out, according to data from Basketball-Reference.com.
Antetokounmpo, the MVP in charge, wasn’t sure what to do with it.
“I tried to make things difficult for Jimmy,” he said after a 116-114 defeat in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, which left seeded Bucks behind 2-0 in the Eastern Conference semifinals. “The referees said there was a contact there. Maybe there was, I have to watch the game. That’s what it is. I tried to contest the shot, but they said there was a contact there so I have to watch [the] play.”
Butler’s memory was crystal clear.
“It was an iso, Goran [Dragic] made a hellish pass in, then just waited for time to go out, “Butler said after scoring 13 points with six assists. I can’t deny it, and then I realized I had to do one out of two so I’m done, I think we did both and we won. “
Reflecting on the final whistle, Bucks manager Mike Budenholzer said: “I would say we are disappointed with the judgment, the decision, the timing.
“It’s hard work. I have a lot of respect for the officials and the crew tonight. It’s not an easy job, and of course we have our own way of seeing things and we won’t agree, but we need to shift our focus to Game 3 and get ready. Understand that this is the most important thing right now. “
Crew chief Marc Davis said the wrong call was correct.
“He must be allowed space to land and Giannis contacts him with his left hand on his torso and I felt that this affected his balance and didn’t allow him the space to land in a normal basketball position,” Davis told a snooker reporter after the game. . “Consequently I felt that this was a shooting foul.”
Middleton, who finished with 23 points, 8 assists and 6 rebounds, said he had never seen a game played that way.
This is because it hadn’t happened since the first game of the 1979 NBA Finals, when Larry Wright made the free throws. Middleton wasn’t born until 1991.
“It’s definitely hard to go out like that, where we haven’t even had a timeless chance,” Middleton said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him in a regular season or playoff game before. So, it’s definitely a hard way out.”
Antetokounmpo finished with 29 points and 14 rebounds out of 10 out of 18, but the Heat made it difficult. His main defensive post was Jae Crowder, who finished with 16 points
Even after losing twice to Miami in the regular season and now twice in the postseason, Antetokounmpo still sees his team as the only thing that can hold the Bucks back.
“It’s about us. It will always be on us. This is why we train. This is why we follow our game plan. This is why we have to go out and play more. This is why we have to make more shots. It will always be on us,” Antetokounmpo said. . “It’s not about what the other team will do. It could be the Miami Heat now, the next round could be a different team, next year it could be a different team. It will always be on us. How can we improve? How not? Can we repeat the same mistakes? How not to make turnovers? How can we create easier shots? Will it always be for us? It will never be for the other team we’re playing. “
The Bucks are the 12th team to follow 2-0 in a best-of-seven series after hitting the best record in the NBA during the regular season, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. The previous 11 teams have all lost that playoff series, and only one of those series has played seven games.
ESPN’s Nick Friedell contributed to this report.
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