The Heat is On!!!

We have just witnessed the biggest upset in the NBA playoffs this year, as the 8th seeded Miami Heat outlasted the top-seeds Milwaukee Bucks 128-126 in an epic nail-biting overtime Game 5 struggle, thereby eliminating the East’s top team in the playoffs 4-1!

This is just the 6th time ever in the NBA that an underdog 8th seed has defeated a huge top-seed favorite, and it sent the unfancied Heat to the 2nd round of the playoffs against the 5th-seed New York Knicks, themselves the product of a mild upset against the 4th seed Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Heat’s journey couldn’t have been any more dramatic. First, they had to go through a cliffhanger play-in where they lost to the Atlanta Hawks, relegating them to a 1-game elimination clash against the Chicago Bulls. Trailing all the way to the last 2 minutes, the Heat extended their season with a masterful endgame flurry of baskets to win 102-91. And finally making it as the last team to make the bus in the east. But only to face the season’s top team, the Milwaukee Bucks.

Against the Bucks, the Heat would lose 2 significant players in former 6th Man of the Year awardee, Tyler Herro; and former all-star, Victor Oladipo, to injuries. The Bucks would lose their MVP candidate, Giannis Antetokounmpo, in Game 1 as well. His absence in Games 2 and 3 would lead to a 2-1 Heat lead in the series. But with Giannis returning for Game 4, the Bucks were now at its most formidable, and it looked like the end was near for the undersized, undermanned, underdog Heat team.

Enter: the under-appreciated Jimmy Butler. Butler would carry the Miami Heat team in game 4, scoring 56 points in a savage display of buckets from outside and in, taking control of the game in which the Bucks led by 12, 101-89, with just 6 minutes to play. Butler would ignite the Heat to overcome that seeming insurmountable lead, to win going away 119-114.

Game 5 was another epic come-from-behind win for the over-Heated squad. Falling behind by 16 at the start of the 4th quarter, the Heat overcame a wild ‘Fear the Deer’ hometown crowd, to win in overtime 128-126. Butler’s spectacular alley-oop basket with less than a second remaining in regulation time would bring the game to overtime, where a now-mesmerized Bucks team would finally wilt under pressure.

Coach Eric Spoelstra deserves credit for concocting that defense that stifled Giannis and forced the Bucks to try to beat the Heat through ways other than Giannis. The rest of the Heat crew – Bam Adebayo, Gabe Vincent, Kevin Love and the veteran Kyle Lowry in particular – played crucial roles as well, particularly on the defense. In that fateful final game, Adebayo, Love and Lowry all fouled out, leaving the Heat woefully undermanned in the end; but their contributions on the defensive end were truly invaluable.

But it was playoff Jimmy, the same guy who lifted the Heat all the way to the 2020 Finals; who almost stole the show from no less than that cage god himself, Lebron James; who had journeyed from Chicago to Minnesota to Philadelphia to Miami searching for the right team; who would once again wield his own style of cage wizardry. Jimmy ‘Buckets’ would regale his Heat faithful, making them believe that 16-point leads, 12 point leads – whatever – are nothing, if you dig deep and play your hearts out. Jimmy has spoiled the Heat fans with game after game of hard, blue-collar work and last second thrillers. And so, they now march off to the Conference Semifinals.

Where they will match up against another tough-as-nails team in the New York Knicks. How Coach Eric deals with this fast-and-furious team will be a sight to watch. The Heat – Knicks rivalry is considered one of the fiercest in the NBA, with the Knicks taking 3 of 5 face-offs in the past. This time, the Knicks are once again favored to win the series. But for Jimmy’s fans and the Miami faithful, the Heat is on!!!

Cover pic courtesy of Draftkings Nation. Other pics courtesy of San Diego Union-Tribune, Yahoo Sports, YouTube, The New York Times, SBNation.com, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, Brew Hoop, Reuters. For a closer look, just click on the pics.