Author: Monojit Mandal
The Milwaukee Bucks suffered a devastating defeat in the fifth game of the first round against the Miami Heat, ending their season. Despite having a big lead, the Bucks allowed the Heat to come back and win the game 128-126 in overtime, thanks to a remarkable performance from Jimmy Butler.
For the second game in a row, Butler led the Heat to victory, scoring 42 points, grabbing 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.
This followed his heroics in Game 4, where he scored an astonishing 56 points to put the Bucks on the brink of elimination.
Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer opted to have Jrue Holiday mark Butler, one of the, with the help of Giannis Antetokounmpo. However, despite the efforts, Butler continued to dominate and Antetokounmpo expressed his frustration at the lack of adjustments made by the team to curb Butler’s play. “I don’t think we did the right thing as a team, or we didn’t make as many adjustments as we could against him” he said.
Antetokounmpo himself put in a remarkable effort in Game 5, scoring 38 points and grabbing 20 rebounds. However, his mistakes at the free throw line ended up being very costly for the game, hitting 10 of 23 at the line in such a tight game.
The Bucks’ early exit from the playoffs is a big disappointment, given that they were the number one seed in the Eastern Conference. The defeat also makes them only the sixth number 1 to be eliminated in the first round, leaving them with a lot to think about during the off-season.
The Bucks will no doubt be thinking about what they could have done differently to avoid an early exit. They will also have to consider the future of some of their key players, including Antetokounmpo, who is expected to become a free agent in the post-season.
All in all, it was a disappointing end to the season for the Milwaukee Bucks, who had high hopes of a good run in the playoffs. However, they will have to regroup and come back stronger next season if they want to fight for the championship.