The Miami Heat are most of the way to progressing to the following round of the NBA playoffs.
Jimmy Butler sank a couple of free throws with no time left on the clock and Goran Dragic’s 23 points led the Heat to a 116-114 triumph against the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. They lead the top-seeded Bucks 2-0 in the best-of-seven series.
The No. 5-seeded Heat have now won four of the five meetings between the teams this season, with the solitary misfortune coming a month ago during the NBA restart in Orlando.
Dragic scored at least 20 points for a 6th consecutive playoff game. The Heat had seven players in double figures, including Tyler Herro (17), Jae Crowder (16), Bam Adebayo (15), Duncan Robinson (13), Jimmy Butler (13) and Kelly Olynyk (11).
The Heat led by numerous individuals as in the 13 first half before the Bucks revitalized in the second from last quarter. A Brook Lopez layup with 4:22 staying in the quarter tied the score at 78.
The Bucks got their lone second-half lead on a Kyle Korver 3-pointer that made it 91-90 with 11:44 left. The Heat reacted with a Dragic 3-pointer and layup by Jae Crowder on the following two possessions to regain control. A Tyler Herro basket capped a 7-0 run.
The Heat are only two successes from progressing to the conference finals for the first time since 2014, the last year of the LeBron James period. Milwaukee is at risk for a second back to back disillusioning year as the top seed. In the wake of winning the initial two games of a year ago’s conference finals, they lost four directly to the possible champion Toronto Raptors.
