The Miami Heat went into Friday’s Game Three on high alert after winning the first two games of the series. The Bucks just had to take this one, right?
The Miami Heat went up 3-0 on the Milwaukee Bucks in their second-round series on Friday.
Let that sink in. After ringing off wins in the first two games on the team with the best record in the entire league during the regular season, the Miami Heat overcame themselves again, the referees again, and even a double-digit late-game deficit in Game Three.
On the referees, they were awful. This isn’t the slightest bit of homer behavior but the way that they have called these last two cames, including those last two despicable calls of Game Two, it is almost a disgrace to officiating.
That’s strong, but they were obviously calling the game lopsided. They missed more travels on Giannis than all the refs in the world have combined stripes on their total shirt collections.
Enough on them though. They weren’t the stars of the game, although they tried to make it that way.
Jimmy Butler did what he does. That is why the Miami Heat now sit 3-0 in this series.
The Miami Heat are a game away from a sweep over Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks. Who would have ever thought it?
After going back and forth for most of the game, with the Bucks actually getting the better of that back and forth throughout, the Miami Heat closed the gap and ultimately, the door. The Bucks maintained a 5-7 point lead for almost the entire game, until they exploded through that to make it a 12 point deficit early in the fourth period.
At that point, Playoff Jimmy activated. He went to the free-throw line time and time again, forcing his way there while simultaneously forcing the Bucks into the bonus early.
It was his efforts in that area, along with a few timely three-point shots by him and his cohorts, that had a huge part in this victory. The other thing that really did it was the fact that the Miami Heat finally got back to doing the little things late in the game.
In the fourth quarter, you saw the plays like Jae Crowder knocking away an easy Giannis Antetokounmpo offensive rebound that would have been a sure easy score had he got a handle on it. You also saw plays like the team swarming offensive rebounds off of misses, tapping it back even, to get more opportunities for the team.
Those were the types of little things they had been missing for the first three quarters. They found their effort and it won them the game.
The only thing that matters from here is this. History, that’s it.
What history tells us is that no team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a series in the playoffs. Again, let that sink in.
The Miami Heat will take a day off, before doing it all over again. Hopefully, we can get this one over with on Sunday and rest up for the Raptors or Celtics.
Life’s good right now in Miami Heat land. Real good.