It was stunning and similar.
For the second consecutive game the No. 8 playoff seed in the Eastern Conference stormed back from a double-digit fourth-quarter deficit against the No. 1 seed.
So the Milwaukee Bucks, the team with the best regular-season record in the NBA, are done.
And the Miami Heat, again fueled by Jimmy Butler, move on, this time after a 128-126 overtime victory Wednesday night at Fiserv Forum.
It is just the sixth time a No. 8 has defeated a No. 1 in the NBA playoffs.
“We’re a resilient group,” Butler said. “We stick together through everything.”
Up next for the Heat?
Another chance to make history, this time against a familiar playoff opponent: Heat vs. New York Knicks, in the Eastern Conference semifinals, opening Sunday at 1 p.m. at Madison Square Garden.
“It’s always good for the league when there’s a Heat-Knicks playoff series,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
With Butler following up his 56 in Monday’s Game 4 home victory with 42 this time, the Heat ultimately needed only five games to take down the Bucks, even while losing guards Tyler Herro and Victor Oladipo in the series.
Butler was supported by 22 points from point guard Gabe Vincent, with center Bam Adebayo adding 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, and power forward Kevin Love adding 15 points and 12 rebounds.
The Bucks got 38 points and 20 rebounds from forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, whose absence for 2 1/2 games in the series with a lower-back contusion, certainly changed the face of the series. Milwaukee also got 33 points from Khris Middleton and 18 points and 10 rebounds from center Brook Lopez.
“Our guys earned their ice tonight, for sure,” Spoelstra said.
Of the game and the season to this point, Vincent smiled and said, “It makes for a hell of a story.”
Five Degrees of Heat from Wednesday’s game:
1. The overtime. The Heat took an initial two-point lead in the overtime on an Adebayo putback dunk.
But adversity then set in, with Kyle Lowry fouling out with 3:15 to play after Love had fouled out late in regulation.
Butler, though, persevered, with his 21-foot jumper putting the Heat up three with 2:44 to play and then an Adebayo putback putting the Heat up 124-119.
But that is when Adebayo also fouled out with 2:03 to play.
The Heat would go up seven from there, with the Bucks trimming their deficit to 126-124 with 59 seconds to play on an Antetokounmpo jumper.
From there, after uneven possessions both ways, the Bucks failed to get a shot off at the final buzzer, ending their season.
“It feels like this was the finish of our second-round series,” Spoelstra said, having to endure the play-in round and then these five emotional games. “All these experiences have brought this team closer together.”
2. All the way back: From 16 down at the end of the third quarter, the Heat rallied all the way back to a 118-118 tie at the end of the regulation.
The tying points at the end of regulation came off an inbounds pass from Vincent to Butler in the paint, with Butler scoring on a scooping layup, similar to their connection earlier this season to defeat the Houston Rockets.
“He just said, ‘No, let me be that guy,’ " Spoelstra said when he discussed other play options with Butler in the preceding huddle.
The Heat were down nine with 4:47 to play in regulation as they found their way back, taking advantage of a missed free throw by Bucks guard Jrue Holiday with 2.1 seconds to play.
“It was like an unspoken,” Vincent said of finding a way in the fourth quarter and beyond. “We wanted to close this thing out.”
3. Butler’s night: Butler stood with 16 points at the intermission.
Holiday again took the defensive assignment against Butler, as he did Monday night.
Butler again took his game to the 3-point line, converting three.
Butler was up to 26 points through three quarters.
Butler’s fifth point moved him past Jeff Hornacek for 55th on the NBA all-time playoff list, with his 11th moving him past Pau Gasol for 54th.
“I’ve said a lot about how I feel about Jimmy,” Spoelstra said, “about he is us and we are him. I just respect him so much about him being such an elite, world-class competitor.”
4. Adebayo fills box: After addressing the balky hamstring that has had him on the Heat injury report, Adebayo closed the first half with three points on 1-of-7 shooting and two rebounds.
Adebayo at times appeared to be grabbing at his left hamstring early on in the game.
Adebayo’s second point moved him past Shaquille O’Neal for eight place on the Heat all-time playoff list.
From there, he found his way to his triple-double.
“For me, any way I can impact winning,” Adebayo said, “and tonight it was a triple-double.”
For Adebayo it was the second consecutive game with a strong, needed finish.
“For me it isn’t really about the doubts and haters,” he said. “We did something a lot of people thought we couldn’t do.”
5. Haslem minus 1: Despite not being in the game, Heat captain Udonis Haslem was called for a technical foul with six minutes left in the second period when he got into it in front of the Heat bench with Bucks forward Bobby Portis during a timeout.
Bucks guard Grayson Allen converted the free throw for a 55-50 Milwaukee lead.
Haslem, in playing mop-up duty in Game 3, made his first playoff appearance since 2016 in that game.
The 20-year Heat veteran is retiring after this season.
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