Milwaukee Bucks v Miami Heat (Heat leads 1-0)
The Bucks still haven’t been able to figure out the Heat this season, but they need to fast. Once the Heat take the second game, they will take control of the series. This would be the second straight season the Bucks would not get past Miami in the playoffs. Miami has been the surprise of the league this season, but they shouldn’t be taken lightly. It can play, has great players who all know their roles, and great coaching and this game two should be an all-out war.
The Heat, still riding high from their game one win, stormed the first quarter and jumped out to a 9 point lead. The Bucks defense, which is their calling card, slept through the first half of the game. The score heading into half was 60-66, with the Heat leading.
The Bucks seemed to build up momentum coming out of half time and cut into the lead some more and had their best defensive quarter of the whole game, and the score heading into the fourth, 86-90. Miami was clinging to the lead.
We did get one quarter of crazy action. The Bucks even managed to take their first lead since the first quarter. The game went back and forth for a while, but just when it looked like the Heat had the game in the bag, Bam Adebayo hit a jumper to put the Heat up 113-107 with 54.5 seconds left. Giannis Antetokounmpo missed two free throws with 43.9 seconds left, and the Heat were able to keep their six-point lead as they kept grinding down the clock.
The Bucks were able to get a quick dunk to Antetokounmpo with 15 seconds left. The score was 113-109, and then inadvertently, Jimmy Butler tossed his inbound pass right into the hands of Brook Lopez. Lopez put it directly in the basket to make it 113-111 with 8.5 seconds left. The Bucks fouled Jimmy Butler with 7.7 seconds left. He only had one free throw, leaving the door open for the Bucks.
The Bucks ran a play for Khris Middleton to shoot a three, but the refs called a foul, and Middleton went up and hit all three free throws to tie the game, 114-114. The Heat had 4.3 seconds to get a shot off. The Heat looked to Jimmy Butler, but he was having an awful game and missed it.
A foul was called on the missed shot with no time left on the clock. Butler and the Heat won the game at the line 116-114 to put the Heat up 2-0 in the series.
The Bucks were led by Giannis Antetokounmpo (10-18FG 0-1 3PT 9-13FT 29PTS 14REB 3AST 1BLK 2TO 36MIN). He came alive in that crazy fourth quarter to give the Bucks a chance of stealing this game. Khris Middleton, Brooke Lopez, and Eric Bledsoe (55PTS) also played pretty well for the Bucks. The Bucks were also able to take Butler out of the game after his monstrous career playoff-high off high in game one.
The whole team led the Heat. Seven players (Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Jamison Crowder, Goran Dragic, Duncan Robinson, Kelly Olynk, and Tyler Herro) scored in double figures to give one of the most balanced attacks in any game this postseason. The Heat did a great job of getting to the charity stripe as they made 25 out of 32 free throws on Wednesday. They also did a great job of limiting their turnovers to ten.
The Heat have the lead and the Bucks’ number. I won’t cut the Bucks out, but having to win four of the next five will be an uphill battle.
Houston Rockets v Oklahoma City Thunder(Series tied at 3-3)
I thought this series would be a seven-game series when the playoffs began, and here we are game seven. This game was epic with one of the most exciting climaxes of any of the playoff games.
The game started with both teams matching intensity on both ends of the court. Neither team was going to be pulling away in this game-seven matchup. The Thunder held a one-point edge, with the score being 30-29 to end the first quarter. The second quarter was as closely contested as the first quarter. Houston was able to sneak out a lead going into the half with the score being 59-61.
This game was everything you could want in the first half of a winner take all matchup. Once the second half started, Houston came out with slightly more energy and determination than the Thunder in the third quarter and added to their lead headed into what was going to be a wild fourth quarter. Rockets held it at 85-80, going into the final 12 minutes of the game.
This fourth quarter was brutal. Each bucket was matched by another; one team got a turnover, and the other team would take the ball right back. This game had last possession written all over it.
With 2 minutes to go, the Thunder were trailing 101-99. After solid defense against two shots by the Rockets, Dennis Schroeder was able to find Shai-Gilgeous Alexander in the corner for the go-ahead three and drained it. The Thunder took the lead 102-101 with 1:42 left in the game.
The Rockets were able to get a bucket on their next possession. PJ Tucker scored on a drive with a dish from James Harden to give the lead back to Rockets 103-102 with 1:25 left in the game.
This was when things started to get sloppy. The Thunder couldn’t get any offense going, so Dennis Schroder threw up a desperation three-point shot that clanked off the rim with 1:01 left. The Rockets grabbed the rebound then turned the ball over to the Thunder. Chris Paul got a great look at a runner, but it just didn’t go down. The Rockets got the ball and called a time out with 41 seconds left on the clock.
Russell Westbrook drove to the lane but missed, and Steven Adams grabbed the rebound for the Thunder with 25 seconds left. The Thunder didn’t call a timeout. They ran a play straight off the rebound.
The Rockets’ defense held firm, but Luguentz Dort opened up for less than a second and James Harden came out of nowhere and blocked his shot. Dort was forced to throw the ball off of Harden but just threw it out of bounds with 2.7 seconds left.
The game looked like it was but over, but two straight fouls by Dort put Robert Covington on the line for two shots. He made one and dropped one. The Rockets led 104-102. The Thunder got the rebound and called timeout with 1.1 seconds left.
On the inbounds for their last-second shot, Thunder got an off the ball foul on James Harden. They got one free throw then the ball back. Shockingly they didn’t put Chris Paul on the line. Instead, they let Danilo Gallinari take the shot, and he missed it.
The score was still 104-102 with the Thunder having one last chance to win or tie the game. The Rockets’ defense came up huge and forced a turnover on the inbounds pass to end the game and send the Thunder home.
The Thunder were led by their veteran PG Chris Paul (5-11FG 3-6 3PT 6-6FT 19PTS 11REB 12AST 2STL 6TO 40MIN), who became the oldest player in NBA history to record a triple-double in a game 7. Paul left it all on the court against his former team, but what the Thunder got from Danilo Gallinari and Dennis Schroder (16PTS) left something to be desired. The Thunder came up just short as they committed 21 turnovers but only forced the Rockets to have 12.
The Rockets got an awful game from their leader James Harden (4-15FG 1-9 3PT 17PTS), but he made great defensive plays down the stretch to win the game. Russell Westbrook, Eric Gordon, and Robert Covington (62PTS) made up for Harden’s deficit and helped take down this game seven for the Rockets.
The Rockets advance to take on the Los Angeles Lakers, and it’s going to be a dogfight. The Rockets need Russell Westbrook to get back to 100% fast. The Lakers boast two of the league’s top five players. They have been getting extra rest just waiting for this series to be over.,If the Rockets can keep this defensive intensity, they might steal game one and gain some early momentum.