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A series of key mistakes by the Miami Heat in the final minute of Game 2 nearly allowed the Milwaukee Bucks to come back from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit and force overtime on Wednesday.
The chaos unfolded shortly after Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo cut the Heat’s lead down to four points following a dunk. From there, the end result will be dissected on sports talk shows for hours on Thursday following a string of questionable foul calls.
Following the dunk, Jimmy Butler caught the ball near the corner and was immediately trapped by the Bucks. Butler attempted to pass out of the double team but was intercepted by Brook Lopez, whose layup with 8.5 seconds left cut the lead to two points.
Butler was fouled next but made just one of two free throws to extend the lead back to three points. On the next possession, Goran Dragic was whistled for a foul on a 3-point attempt by Khris Middleton, who drained all three free throws to tie the game with 4.3 ticks left.
With the ball for the final play of regulation, Butler was sent to the line on, another, questionable call. The officials ruled that there would be no time remaining on the clock and Butler eventually drained both shots to send the Heat to the 116-114 win and a 2-0 series lead.
Jimmy Butler wins Game 2 at the line after a last second foul. WOW. pic.twitter.com/4LfyRqCL3T
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 3, 2020
The controversial ending even got a bit more bizarre. Butler took the foul shots with no other players from either team lined up and it was just the third playoff game to end with a game-winning free-throw, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
Dragic led the Heat with 23 points while rookie Tyler Herro had 17 points, Jae Crowder added 16 points and Butler and Duncan Robinson each chipped in 13 points. The Heat are now the first No. 5 seed to lead a No. 1 seed 2-0 in a playoff series.
Meanwhile, the Bucks are the 12th team to trail 2-0 in a series after having the best record during the regular season. Antetokounmpo recorded a team-high 29 points and 14 rebounds while Middleton had 23 points and Eric Bledsoe had 16 after missing Game 1 due to a hamstring injury.
The talk on Thursday will surely be how the referees officiated the closing seconds of the game. The controversial calls resulted in a sloppy ending to an otherwise entertaining game that may have robbed the Bucks of an opportunity to even the series.
Game 3 is scheduled to tip-off Friday at 6:30 p.m. ET on TNT.
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