The Miami Heat pulled off an upset for the ages by defeating the No. 1 seed Milwaukee Bucks. Miami will play in their first Eastern Conference Finals this year since 2014.
What We Know:
- Miami defeated Milwaukee 103-94 in Game 5 on Tuesday, ending the series 4-1. The Bucks were without their MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was out with an injured ankle. Milwaukee fought hard, getting 23 points from Khris Middleton and 17 points from Donte DiVincenzo, but Miami took advantage of them missing Antetokounmpo.
- The Heat got contributions from everywhere on their roster in their Game 5 victory. Six players scored in double digits for them, with Goran Dragic and Jimmy Butler leading the way with 17 points each. The rookie Tyler Herro showed up big with 14 points and he hit some timely baskets down the stretch to put the game away.
- This series has to go down as one of the greatest upsets in NBA history because of how great this Bucks team was and how easy the Heat made it look to beat them. The Bucks were far and away the best team during the regular season and looked like title favorites. They had the league’s best defense and outscored teams by an absurd 9.6 points per 100 possessions.
- Not only were they the better team on paper, but they also had the best player in the series with Giannis. Giannis won Defensive Player of the Year and is the presumptive MVP for the 2019-2020 season. Even with all of that in their favor, the Bucks were still no match for the Heat. Miami was in the driver’s seat the whole series, playing phenomenal defense and getting value from everyone on their roster. They made Giannis look human, limiting him to only 21 points game and forcing him into bad shots and early fouls.
- On the other hand, Jimmy Butler looked like the best player on the court and Miami’s three-point shooters barely missed. It’s not often that the best team with the best player gets bounced in the second round, and in five games no less. The NBA hasn’t announced the 2019-2020 MVP yet, but it sure would be awkward if Giannis wins and he has to accept it from his living room instead of in the bubble.
- With another season over and no finals appearance, there are questions about Giannis’ future in Milwaukee. He’s entering the final year of his contract and could leave the team in free agency next summer. Typically, transcendent players of Giannis’ caliber try to compete for championships and they’ll leave if they don’t think they can win with their current team. We’ve seen LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Anthony Davis all leave in free agency or request trades because they couldn’t get over the hump with their original teams. Milwaukee has done their best to put a championship-level team around Giannis and only he can decide if he wants to run it back or ask for a way out. For what it’s worth, Giannis has always said publicly that he wants to stay in Milwaukee and he confirmed it again after the loss.
Giannis Antetokounmpo: “Hopefully, we can learn from this and get better as a team … come back and hopefully build a culture in Milwaukee for many years that we can come out here and compete every single year for a championship.”
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) September 9, 2020
- Even though they are out of the playoffs, the Milwaukee Bucks have already left their mark on the sports world this year. In addition to having a historically great season and a historically great player, the Bucks became the first NBA team to sit out a game in protest since 1961. The Milwaukee Bucks’ action in the wake of Jacob Blake’s shooting started a ripple effect in which athletes from every sport sat out in strike. During their strike, the Bucks players were able to speak with the Wisconsin attorney general and lieutenant governor and NBA players forced the league to take action against racial injustice. It’s not a championship, but this Bucks team proved they were special on the court and off the court.
The Miami Heat have only lost one game in the playoffs so far and are looking great. This will be their first Eastern Conference Finals appearance since 2014 when they had the Big 3 with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. They will play the winner of the Boston Celtics-Toronto Raptors series.
