For as much as Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler accomplished in capping his 56-point night with 21 fourth-quarter points in Monday’s 119-114 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks, he at least was afforded a breather in that decisive final period.
Kyle Lowry wasn’t. He played all 12 minutes.
Caleb Martin barely was, going all but five seconds in the period.
Even Duncan Robinson and Bam Adebayo played more in the fourth than Butler’s 8:11.
The point being that even as Butler led, there was a support system that also had the confidence of coach Erik Spoelstra.
“They had their fingerprints all over that fourth quarter,” Spoelstra said of Butler’s closing cast, as the Heat now take their 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference playoff series into Fiserv Forum for Wednesday night’s Game 5.
By the numbers, Lowry’s fourth quarter was mundane, with four points, three rebounds and two assists. But his defensive feistiness proved game changing.
“Kyle’s toughness and disruptiveness, I literally have no idea what his stat line was, but I know in that fourth quarter he had his imprint on so many possessions,” Spoelstra said. “Defensively, he was just tough, physical, active hands, speeding guys up, and then really helped us get organized on the other end.”
Monday was the first time in more than a month that Lowry was not listed on the Heat injury report with the knee soreness that had him out for a month before his March 11 return.
“We got stops and we continued to play with pace,” Lowry said of the Heat’s rally from 14 down in the fourth. “We got pressure. At the start of the game, they were physical. In the fourth quarter, we got physical and got our mojo on the defensive end going.”
Martin’s contribution was more statistically tangible, with 10 points in the fourth on 3-of-3 shooting from the field, including 2 of 2 on 3-pointers, as well as five rebounds. He was the only Heat player other than Butler to score more than four points in the fourth.
“Caleb,” Spoelstra said, “you can’t say enough about him. This season, he’s been willing to sacrifice and do whatever we felt was best for the team.”
Martin now has his four highest-scoring career playoff games in the series.
After recording a series-best +31 plus/minus in Game 3, Martin closed at +16 Monday night, with the Heat outscoring the Bucks by 75 points when he has been on the court in his 112:09 in the series.
“Any way I can contribute,” he said. “I just felt comfortable in those moments.”
Backs against wall
Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said the next challenge for his team is simple and to the point.
“We just gotta go home and win a game,” he said, with the Bucks tying for an East-best 32-9 home record this season before splitting the first two games of this series at Fiserv. “We talked about it in the locker room. We gotta go to Milwaukee and win a game. Life is not complicated. That’s what we gotta go do.”
Heartening for the Bucks was All-Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo returning from two missed games due to a lower-back bruise and responding with his third career playoff triple-double, closing with 26 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds.
“I thought Giannis was mostly phenomenal,” Budenholzer said. “Thirteen assists. I thought he found guys and made the right play. He got to the basket and finished. I’m not sure what more Giannis could’ve done. I thought his passing and playmaking was fantastic.
“So, we’ll look at the film and see where everybody could be better. But for Giannis to come back and play [Monday] and play the way he did is very encouraging.”
Scoring binge
After finishing the regular season last in scoring of the NBA’s 30 teams, at 109.5 points per game, the Heat have averaged 123 in the series, with at least 119 points in each game.
Their ultimate scoring burst came when they scored 30 points over the final 5:45 Monday night.
The Heat’s 41 fourth-quarter points and their 69 second-half points were franchise playoff records.
Record pace
With Monday’s victory, Spoelstra moved into sixth-place tie with legendary Celtics championship coach Red Auerbach, with 99 playoff victories, passing Jerry Sloan, who had 98.
Spoelstra has coached 165 career playoff games; the late Auerbach coached 168. Fifth on the all-time list is Larry Brown, with 100 playoff victories in 193 career playoff games.
The all-time leader is Phil Jackson, with 229, with current Heat President Pat Riley second at 171.
Injury report
Adebayo is listed as probable on the Heat injury report for Game 5 with a strained left hamstring. The only other players on the Heat injury report are Tyler Herro (hand) and Victor Oladipo (knee), who are out. Herro underwent surgery last week, with Oladipo expected to undergo surgery this week.
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