Jimmy Butler dresses as Jordan to eliminate Antetokounmpo’s Bucks

2023-04-27 12:44:12

The Miami Heat signed at dawn this Wednesday the biggest surprise of the season in the NBA. The Florida franchise won in Milwaukee 126-128 and closed the series 4-1 in their favor, leaving the best team of the regular season, Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Bucks, first seeded in the East, out of the ‘playoffs’. It is the sixth time in NBA history that the eighth-ranked player has lowered the best conference record at the first exchange. The Nuggets (1994), Knicks (1999), Warriors (2007), Grizzlies (2011) and Sixers (2012) did it before.

An achievement achieved thanks to an incontestable Jimmy Butler. The Miami forward signed an outstanding game with 42 points, forcing overtime with an implausible basket 0.5 seconds from the final buzzer. The Heat rallied from 16 points in the fourth quarter. Bam Adebayo, protagonist with a triple-double, and Gabe Vincent helped search for that equalizer in the final stretch, but Butler was the one who orchestrated a feat that will go down in NBA history.

For his part, Giannis Antetokounmpo did not have his best game, especially in overtime. The ring winner in 2021 scored 38 points and grabbed 20 rebounds, but missed 13 free throws that would have sealed the victory for the Bucks to bring the series closer to that seventh and final game, going 10 of 23 from the free throw line in what which has become his particular Achilles heel.

At the end of the match that confirmed the early elimination of one of the favorites for the title, Antetokounmpo left a reflection to remember. A journalist asked him if he considered this defeat a failure, and the Greek argued: “You asked me the same question last year. Do you get a promotion every year at your job? No, right? So every year you work is a failure? Yes or no? No, every year you work to achieve something, to achieve a goal: a promotion, taking care of your family…»

Next, he gave the example of the most important player in basketball history: «Michael Jordan played for 15 years and won six championships. Were the other nine a flop? There is no failure in sport. There are good days and bad days, sometimes you succeed, other times you don’t. That’s what sport is about,” concluded the Greek power forward.

The Knicks return to a semifinals

The Knicks also sealed a pass to the semifinals that they had not achieved since 2013. They dominated the series from start to finish against the Cleveland Cavaliers of a Ricky Rubio who did not play by technical decision, and closed the overall result in a resounding 4-1.

Also highlight the victory of the Memphis Grizzlies against the Lakers by 99-116, which puts the series in a tight 3-2 in favor of the Californian franchise. The Golden State Warriors also defeated the Sacramento Kings 123-116, putting the global contest in another balanced 3-2.