Khris Middleton saves the day for Milwaukee against Miami in Game 1 classic
Game 1 is in the books. But by all indications, this thing is going seven.
The third-seeded Milwaukee Bucks defended their home court by the skin of their teeth Saturday, emerging with a 109-107 win over the sixth-seeded Miami Heat in Game 1 of their first-round series.
Let's take a look at how this wild win for the Bucks transpired:
Key performer: Jrue Holiday
The biggest difference from last season's playoff matchup between Miami and Milwaukee was the infusion of Holiday, who made his presence felt immediately Saturday.
Holiday finished the day with 20 points, 11 rebounds and three assists. More than that, it was his hounding defense on Goran Dragic, Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat guards that made the difference.
Holiday is often regarded as one of the best on-ball defenders in the NBA, and he racked up three steals on the day to fuel that claim.
He also sealed the game for Milwaukee in the waning moments by blocking Butler's game-winning 3-point attempt.
Said Hubie Brown during the broadcast, "Holiday has been spectacular on both ends of the floor today."
Turning point: A wild final 20 seconds
Saturday brought what you might call a helluva game.
After Butler sent the game to overtime with a driving layup past Giannis Antetokounmpo in the final seconds of regulation, overtime came down to the wire as well.
With 20 seconds to go, Dragic tied the game with a corner 3, meaning Milwaukee could hold the ball and take the final shot. On that possession, star guard Khris Middleton drove right into the key and pulled up for what proved to be the game-winning bucket, leaving the Heat just 0.5 seconds on the other end.
Middleton ended the day with 27 points, six rebounds and six assists.
X-factor: Giannis' struggles at the line
The last 66 seconds of regulation were wild.
With 1:06 left in the game, Heat forward Duncan Robinson fouled Antetokounmpo, who went to the line for two free throws with the Bucks leading 97-96.
Giannis missed the first free throw and then was called for a 10-second violation prior to attempting the second free throw.
On Miami's next possession, Butler was hit hard by Brook Lopez and fell to the ground before making his way to the free-throw line, where he connected on one of two attempts to tie the game.
Antetokounmpo was fouled on both of Milwaukee's following two possessions but converted on only two of four free throws, allowing Butler to score a game-tying layup as time expired in regulation.
For the day, Giannis was 6-of-13 from the line, something to keep an eye on the remainder of the series, considering that Miami proved it won't be shy about sending the reigning NBA MVP to the line.
Did you know?
Dating to 1998-99, the Bucks are 2-11 in playoff series in which they lose Game 1. The last time Milwaukee won the first game in a series (before Saturday) was the 2019 Eastern Conference finals, when it won Games 1 and 2 against the Toronto Raptors before losing four straight. The Bucks did not win a Game 1 in their two postseason series in 2020.
Twitter's take:
What's next?
Game 2 between the newly-minted Eastern Conference rivals is set for 7:30 p.m. ET Monday in Milwaukee, with the Heat looking to rebound from Saturday's heartbreaker.
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