Jimmy Butler’s walk-off free throws rescue Heat after Miami blows late lead to Bucks
Jimmy Butler tugged on the net and tried to ready himself for some of the biggest free throws of his career. There was no time on the clock and the score was tied, and Butler would get to shoot two with no one in his vicinity. He needed to make one to give the Miami Heat a second straight win against the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Heat had played exceptionally well and then exceptionally ugly. Miami got extraordinarily unlucky and then extraordinarily lucky. Khris Middleton had tied the game with three free throws after a questionable foul call with 4.3 seconds left. Butler got to seal the 116-114 win with a pair of walk-off free throws after another questionable call as time expired.
“I knew I had to make one out of two,” Butler said. “I think I made both of them.”
His teammates crouched behind him at midcourt like they were watching penalty kicks to decide a soccer match. The Bucks crept as close as they could to the shooter, praying the All-Star wing would miss both and send Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals to overtime.
Butler’s first attempt rattled all over and hung on the front of the rim. It sat there for close to a second before it finally tilted in. The second shot was a mere formality — Butler was right; he did hit it — and the No. 5-seed Heat seized a stunning 2-0 series lead on No. 1-seed Milwaukee in Lake Buena Vista despite a meager 13-point performance from Butler.
“We got the ball to our best player,” rookie wing Tyler Herro said, “and he made a play.”
Miami knows it shouldn’t have needed such an ending, though. The Heat led by as much as 13 in the first half and trailed for less than 30 seconds in the fourth quarter. Miami had seven players score in double figures at Walt Disney World’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.
With 1:56 left, All-Star post player Bam Adebayo went 1 of 2 at the free-throw line to push the Heat’s lead up to 111-102. Miami spent most of the next two minutes melting down.
Superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo scored five straight points after two free throws and an and-one, and Adebayo, who finished with 15 points, answered with a midrange jumper to push the lead back to 113-107.
The Heat clung to its six-point lead until 15 seconds remained and Antetokounmpo, who led all scorers with 29, flushed home a dunk. The BUcks immediately went to trap Butler in the right corner and he threw an aimless pass back to his own basket. Brook Lopez picked him off and finished an easy layup over guard Goran Dragic to trim the lead all the way to 113-111.
“I tried to shoot it in their basketball, obviously, and I almost made it,” Butler joked. “It’s a terrible IQ play. You should never throw the ball toward the other team’s basket. I had a lapse in judgment.”
Miami took a timeout to advance the ball to midcourt and nearly turned it over again. Dragic lobbed a pass inbound and Butler won a jump ball against Milwaukee wing Wesley Matthews to draw a foul. He went 1 of 2 at the line to give the Bucks a final shot.
With 4.3 seconds left, All-Star wing Khris Middleton fired from deep and Dragic contested without leaving his feet. A whistle blew and the Heat groused. Middleton made three free throws to tie the game at 114-114.
Even after leaning so heavily on its depth throughout the game, Miami went to its most established star with the game on the line.
Last year, the Heat made Butler its biggest free-agent acquisition since LeBron James in 2010, envisioning moments like these. He has been Miami’s leading scorer throughout the postseason and delivered one of the best postseason performances in franchise history Monday when he dropped 40 points in Game 1.
For most of Wednesday, his performance wasn’t close. He scored just five points in the second half and didn’t make a field goal in the fourth quarter. He did grab three steals, though, and hand out six assists, and, when the clock was running out, Miami had no hesitation in asking him to win the game.
He sized up Matthews in the left corner, and rose for a jumper as the clock wound down and Antetokounmpo came for a double team. Antetokounmpo touched Butler as he let the potential game-winner fly and the referees sent him to the line.
Dragic scored 23, Herro added 17 and forward Jae Crowder chipped in 16, but Butler, with all of 13 points, was once again the hero the Heat needed.
This story was originally published September 2, 2020 at 9:46 PM.
