Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, the one-two punch of the Miami Heat (below), led the team to victory.
Miami defeated Milwaukee by 128-117 and 11 points in the first game of the NBA Eastern Conference playoffs held at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA on the morning of the 17th (Korean time).
Miami, which consistently kept the score within 10 points, showed Jimmy Butler with 35 points, 5 rebounds and 11 assists, Bam Adebayo with 22 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists, and Kevin Love with 18 points and 8 rebounds, including 4 3-pointers.
Milwaukee had Chris Middleton with 33 points, 온라인바카라9 rebounds and 4 assists, Bobby Portis with 21 points and 8 rebounds, and Georges Halladay with 16 points, 7 rebounds and 16 assists.
Miami, which started to drive from the first quarter, brought the atmosphere perfectly with an 11-3 score run 5 minutes before the end of the quarter. Then, Butler, who started to heat up, took over the field by putting all four possessions in a row. In response, Antetokounmpo attempted a layup following the breakthrough, but complained of pain as he landed on his back. In addition, as the play was recorded as an offensive foul, Miami still led by 33-24, 9 points.
Antetokounmpo briefly brightened the court in the second quarter, but soon escaped to the locker room. Therefore, the shoulders of Middleton and Portis, who took responsibility for the attack, became heavy. However, Struss, who was sluggish in the play-in tournament, made a runaway score with a series of three-pointers, and Butler and Lowry also added to the scoring offensive and were pushed back in the firepower fight. In the midst of this, Hiro injured his wrist, and Miami faced the bad news of his injury and finished the first half with a 68-55, 13-point lead.
With Lopez’s strong defense of the paint zone, Milwaukee once chased the score by 3 points. However, Miami pulled back a point with Lowry and Caleb Martin running away by 10 points again. In addition, Love, who was free from the shackles of Antetokounmpo, showed off his outside shooting skills to the fullest. Amidst the veterans’ performance, Miami, who had a 3-point shot from ‘Golden’ Robinson, entered the fourth quarter with a 102-88, 14-point lead.
Milwaukee produced points in pursuit of Halladay’s stable reading, but Miami’s one-two punch did not give up the game easily. In the end, the two teams continued the seesaw game until 2 minutes before the end of the game with a difference of around 10 points. When Wesley Matthews hit a 3-point shot and chased the team by 8 points, Vincent responded with a corner 3-point shot. Later, Miami, who added Martin’s wedge free throw, won 130-117, 13 points over Milwaukee.