MILWAUKEE (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks found themselves in danger of suffering one more devastating playoff loss to the Miami Heat.
Khris Middleton made sure it didn’t happen.
Middleton broke a tie with a jumper with 0.5 seconds left in overtime and had 27 points to help the Bucks beat the Heat 109-107 on Saturday in Game 1 of the first-round series.
“I have confidence in myself,” Middleton said. “You miss a lot of shots. You make a lot of shots. You just have to trust all the work you put in during the season and practice.”
KHRIS GAME WINNER!!!!! pic.twitter.com/AaajE4IMv4
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) May 22, 2021
The nip-and-tuck nature of this game — nobody led by more than four points in the fourth quarter and overtime — exemplified the competitive nature of this playoff rematch. Game 2 is Monday night in Milwaukee.
Milwaukee was the No. 1 overall seed in last year’s playoffs but lost 4-1 to Miami in the second round. Milwaukee is seeded third and Miami sixth in the Eastern Conference this time.
“The pressure was all on them,” said Miami’s Goran Dragic, who scored 25 points and tied it with a corner 3-pointer with 20.6 seconds left. “They need to win at home. It was a close game. I feel like we had our chances, but unfortunately we didn’t take them.”
Milwaukee squandered opportunities to seal the victory before the final second of overtime.
Over the last 1:06 of regulation, Antetokounmpo was 2 of 5 from the line and had a 10-second violation that prevented him from getting another free-throw attempt.
Antetokounmpo wore a sleeve on his left arm late in the game after appearing to grab his elbow late in the fourth quarter. He still had 26 points, 18 rebounds and five assists but shot 10 of 27 overall and 6 of 13 on free-throw attempts.
“I just tried to stay aggressive the whole game,” Antetokounmpo said. “That’s what I’m going to try to do the whole series, miss or make.”
Milwaukee’s struggles from the line enabled Miami’s Jimmy Butler to force overtime by making a buzzer-beating driving layup past Antetokounmpo.
Dragic tied it again in the final minute of OT. Milwaukee opted against calling a timeout afterward and instead went right to its offense.
“It shows the trust we have in one another,” Middleton said. “On the fly, sometimes we don’t have to call a timeout. We can execute our sets and everyone get to their spots and get the best shot out of it.”
Middleton dribbled toward the free-throw line, then cut to his right and made a 19-footer while being closely guarded by Duncan Robinson.
“In that situation, you’ve got to make somebody miss,” Robinson said. “Could it have been better? For sure. I will be. I’ll learn from it. This obviously stings a lot, but we’ve got to have a short memory - learn from it and move forward.”