It was stunning and similar,
For the second consecutive game the No. 8 playoff seed in the Eastern Conference stormed back from a double-digit fourth-quarter deficit against the No. 1 seed.
So the Milwaukee Bucks, the team with the best regular-season record in the NBA, are done.
And the Miami Heat, again fueled by Jimmy Butler, move on, this time after a 128-126 overtime victory Wednesday night at Fiserv Forum.
It is just the sixth time a No. 8 has defeated a No. 1 in a seven-game series.
Up next for the Heat?
Another chance for the Heat to make history, this time against a familiar playoff opponent.
Heat vs. New York Knicks, in the Eastern Conference semifinals, opening Sunday at 1 p.m. at Madison Square Garden.
With Butler following up his 56 in Monday’s Game 4 home victory with 42, the Heat ultimately needed only five games to take down the Bucks, even while losing guards Tyler Herro and Victor Oladipo in the series.
Butler was supported by 22 points from point guard Gabe Vincent, with center Bam Adebayo adding 20 points and 10 rebounds and power forward Kevin Love adding 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Five Degrees of Heat from Wednesday’s game:
1. The overtime. The Heat took an initial two-point lead in the overtime on an Adebayo putback dunk.
But adversity then set in, with Kyle Lowry fouling out with 3:15 to play after Love had fouled out late in regulation.
Butler, though, persevered, with his 21-foot jumper putting the Heat up three with 2:44 to play and then an Adebayo putback putting the Heat up 124-119.
But that is when Adebayo also fouled out with 2:03 to play.
The Heat would go up seven from there, with the Bucks trimming their deficit to 126-124 with 59 seconds to play on an Antetokounmpo jumper.
From there, the Bucks failed to get a shot off at the final buzzer, ending their season.
2. All the way back: From 16 down at the end of the third quarter, the Heat rallied all the way back to a 118-118 tie at the end of the regulation.
The tying points at the end of regulation came off an inbounds pass from Vincent to Butler in the paint, with Butler scoring on a scooping layup, similar to their connection earlier this season to defeat the Houston Rockets.
Butler fueled a fourth-quarter comeback for the second consecutive game.
The Heat were down nine with 4:47 to play in regulation as they found their way back, taking advantage of a missed free throw by Bucks guard Jrue Holiday with those 2.1 seconds to play.
3. Butler’s night: Butler stood with 16 points at the intermission.
Holiday again took the defensive assignment against Butler, as he did Monday night.
Butler again took his game to the 3-point line, converting three.
Butler was up to 26 points through three quarters.
Butler’s fifth point moved him past Jeff Hornacek for 55th on the NBA all-time playoff list, with his 11th moving him past Pau Gasol for 54th.
4. Adebayo off, Love on: After addressing the balky hamstring that has had him on the Heat injury report, Adebayo closed the first half with three points on 1-of-7 shooting and two rebounds.
Adebayo at times appeared to be grabbing at his left hamstring.
Adebayo’s second point moved him past Shaquille O’Neal for eight place on the Heat all-time playoff list.
5. Haslem minus 1: Despite not being in the game, Heat captain Udonis Haslem was called for a technical foul with six minutes left in the second period when he got into it in front of the Heat bench with Bucks forward Bobby Portis during a timeout.
Bucks guard Grayson Allen converted the free throw for a 55-50 Milwaukee lead.
Haslem, in playing mop-up duty in Game 3, made his first playoff appearance since 2016 in that game.
The 20-year Heat veteran is retiring after this season.
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