There will be basketball at the Miami Heat’s arena beyond Monday night’s Game 4 of this best-of-seven opening-round Eastern Conference playoff series against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Saturday night’s 121-99 Jimmy Butler-powered victory assured as much.
It might be a Game 6 on Friday night against the Bucks or it might be, as unfathomable as it previously might have sounded for the No. 8 seed Heat, a second-round game against either the New York Knicks or Cleveland Cavaliers.
For now, the unexpected reality for Erik Spoelstra’s team is a 2-1 lead series lead over top-seeded Milwaukee, which finds itself on shaky ground, with Giannis Antetokounmpo missing a second consecutive game with a lower-back bruise.
“We stayed aggressive,” guard Kyle Lowry said, “and made sure we were the team firing on all cylinders.”
Unable to take advantage of Antetokounmpo’s absence in their Wednesday night blowout loss at Fiserv Forum, the Heat this time seized the moment behind sizzling 16-of-33 3-point shooting and a fiery 30-point performance by Jimmy Butler.
With Duncan Robinson, Lowry and several other complementary pieces stepping up to offset an uneven, foul-plagued night from center Bam Adebayo, the Heat had enough to allow a banged-up Butler to sit out the fourth quarter.
Adebayo closed with 12 points and 11 rebounds, with Robinson scoring 20 and Lowry 15.
Khris Middleton scored 23 for the Bucks, with teammate Jrue Holiday adding 19.
The victory even included an appearance by Udonis Haslem, the first playoff appearance for the retiring 42-year-old Heat captain since 2016. He played the final 2:28.
The only sour Heat note was guard Victor Oladipo having to be helped off the court in the fourth quarter after appearing to hurt his left knee.
“It was a great win,” Spoelstra said, “but when you see a player go down like that . . . that’s definitely not a good feeling to see.
“I feel like throwing up right now.”
Oladipo has a history of major knee issues and surgeries.
“Hate to see that happen,” Robinson said. “He worked so hard to get back from where he’s been.
“Obviously it’s a mix of emotions.”
Five Degrees of Heat from Saturday’s game:
1. From the start: Butler got the Heat off to a solid start, with his 17 first-quarter points fueling the Heat to a 29-21 lead going into the second period. The Heat then pushed their lead to 18 in the second period before going into the intermission up 66-53.
From there, the Heat extended their lead to 20 in the third period, taking a 94-79 lead into the fourth.
The Heat lead again was in the 20s by the midpoint of the fourth quarter, with all three games of the series decided without any late-game dramatics.
“We’re playing a really good team, so it’s going to be punch for punch,” Robinson said. “They kind of gave it to us in Game 2.”
2. Butler takeover: Butler scored 12 consecutive points at one stretch in the first quarter as part of an initial statement that saw him drain three 3-pointers in the opening period and draw a three-shot foul on another attempt.
“It’s a great feeling to have a player like that wearing the same jersey as you,” Robinson said. “His impact is way beyond a box score. He definitely set the tone in that first quarter and we tried to follow suit.”
Butler’s 16th point moved him past Bob Cousy for 62nd on the NBA all-time playoff scoring list. He was up to 21 at halftime. His 25th point moved him past Kevin Johnson for 61st.
After draining his season-high fourth 3-pointer to get to 30 points, Butler then took a hard tumble beneath the Heat basket with 5:47 left in the third period after a missed layup and after another tumble that had him grabbing at his back was subbed out with 3:29 left in the third, retreating to the locker room.
Butler returned to the bench early in the fourth quarter, closing 12 of 19 from the field, including 4 of 4 on 3-pointers, with five rebounds and four assists in his 28:11.
The injury was diagnosed as a bruised glute, with the Heat saying he could have returned.
“I was going to insert him back into the game if it broke 15,” Spoelstra said.
3. No Giannis: The Bucks were without Antetokounmpo for the second consecutive game due the lower-back contusion sustained in Game 1.
“I think we’ll continue to monitor him through the day tomorrow, through the day the next day,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said, with Game 4 at 7:30 p.m. on Monday night. “These things, I don’t think it’s always just this linear thing. He’s not in a place where he can go, so we’ll just continue to monitor him, work with him and hope for the best.”
Sixth-man Bobby Portis again started in place of Antetokounmpo, who again was acting as a cheerleader on the Bucks bench.
4. Revised lineup: In the wake of Bucks 7-foot-1 center Brook Lopez punishing the Heat with his height at the start of Game 2, the Heat opened with Kevin Love in place of Robinson.
“It made sense,” Spoelstra said.
Love closed with six points and seven rebounds.
“It helped,” Adebayo said of the lineup change.
Max Strus remained in the lineup as the replacement for sidelined Tyler Herro, who is out with a broken hand sustained in Game 1.
“There’s a lot of different levels to this,” Spoelstra said of his lineup change. “With GA out it creates something different. With Tyler out, it creates something different.
“It worked tonight.”
Even with his team with only one game over the previous five days, Spoelstra went nine deep in the first quarter, Caleb Martin, Lowry, Robinson and Oladipo off the bench, in that order.
With Adebayo in foul trouble, center Cody Zeller made it 10 deep.
5. Bench boost: The bench boost was significant.
“The second unit came in with a mindset that they wanted to impact this game,” Spoelstra said.
Robinson converted all three of his first-half 3-point attempts, with his third moving him past Dwyane Wade for third on the Heat all-time playoff list, doing it on his 29th birthday.
He closed 7 of 9 from the field and 5 of 6 on 3-pointers.
“Just trying to do what I always do, just be aggressive, do my job,” Robinson said. “My teammates put me in situations to be successful, so just let it fly.”
The Heat shot 12 of 19 on 3-pointers in the first half, the 12 matching the franchise record for any playoff half.
Lowry, who had struggled in the first two games, scored 11 points in the second quarter and was up to 15 points entering the fourth.
Lowry’s second 3-pointer tied Scottie Pippen and Michael Finley for 23rd on the NBA all-time playoff list, and also was the 200th of his playoff career.
“The second unit gave us such a boost,” Spoelstra said.
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