On the floor of Milwaukee, Miami begins its meeting particularly well. Customary to a good start to the match, Duncan Robinson quickly found his rhythm with three 3-point baskets, unlike Trevor Ariza and Kendrick Nunn who sent bricks. On the other side, Giannis Antetokounmpo (26 points) imposes his physical strength on Trevor Ariza but already leaves a few throws on the line (13-8).
Limited to 37% on this first quarter, the two teams foil offensively. Jimmy Butler has still not settled the sights as the Bucks end this first round 1/12 away. Fortunately, the latter dominate the battle of the rebound because Goran Dragic is at ease out of the bench to place his team in the lead (24-22).
Jimmy Butler in trouble
Failing to offer an offensive spectacle, the two formations reward us with beautiful defensive sequences. Organized around an efficient Bam Adebayo on Giannis Antetokounmpo, Miami held on thanks to Kendrick Nunn, who recovered well with 5 points in a row but Bobby Portis responded with good aggressiveness at mid-distance.
Among the stars, everyone tries to find their rhythm in attack. Giannis takes advantage of the Heat’s rare defensive errors to rush to the circle while Butler provokes the faults of the opposing defense to finally open his points counter. However, under the leadership of his Middleton-Giannis-Lopez trio, Milwaukee physically wears out the men of Erik Spoelstra, which allows them to return to the locker room with a slight advantage (50-53).
If Milwaukee restarts foot to the floor thanks to a defense causing a lot of loss of ball, and an increasingly domineering Giannis Antetokounmpo in the painting of the Heat, the Robinson-Nunn duo maintains its franchise in contact following three new successes award-winning.
Duncan Robinson true to himself
Without Giannis Antetokounmpo on stand-by on the bench, Milwaukee is losing track of his attack a bit. The Miami racquet breathes and sits on Dragic’s interesting second pass, whether it’s 3-point or mid-distance. This is why Mike Budenholzer recalls the double MVP in title two minutes after his exit to replace a Jrue Holiday (20 points) cutting and author of the last 9 points of his team (78-80).
The Heat bench continues its momentum during the first moments of the last quarter. Tyler Herro finally scores a shoot to counter the Middleton-Antetokounmpo duo. Almost always neck and neck in this inaugural playoff match, the two teams embark on the money-time on the same line (90-90).
Khris Middleton as a liberator
Khris Middleton confirms his status as the most skillful Buck of the night by scoring on the head of Trevor Ariza before sending Duncan Robinson to the 3-point free throws. Frustrated, Giannis Antetokounmpo wants to take the blow but the Greek leaves a lot of throws in the last moments, so much so that the Heat, two points behind, equalizes through Jimmy Butler at the buzzer (99-99).
The overtime perfectly highlights the tension in the ranks of each team. The stars do not fit anything, Adebayo defends cleanly against Giannis, Butler plunges back into his offensive galleys but 20 seconds from the end, Dragic equalizes at 3-points. We then think we are heading for a new extension … except that Khris Middleton snatches this first victory thanks to a decisive shoot 0.5 seconds from the buzzer!
The Bucks therefore take this first game (109-107) despite a far apocalyptic address (5/31) compared to that of the Heat (20/40) and a Giannis Antetokounmpo (26 points in 27 shots, 18 rebounds, 5 assists but 5 stray bullets) still embarrassed facing the Florida wall. Opposite, the duo Jimmy Butler – Bam Adebayo was also in great difficulty in terms of address (8/37 in aggregate) and will have to do much better in the next meeting.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
