Jimmy Butler came up big for the Miami Heat to pull off a surprise win against the Milwaukee Bucks, in the first game of their Round 1 series. The passer had one of his classic postseason performances to make Spoelstra’s men smile. 130-117in a match marred by injuries: Giannis Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee, Tyler Hero in Miami.
Butler’s was masterful throughout the game and in addition to the excellent defenders, perimeter and interior, that Milwaukee has, the homeowner had no way to stop his attacks Playoffs Jimmy. The former 76ers finished with 35 points and 11 assistswithout scoring a single three-pointer.
This is the 11th time Butler has scored at least 35 points in the playoffs and 10 of those 11 games came during his time in Miamibetween the 2020 and 2023 seasons.
Aside from a small advantage for Milwaukee in the early moments of the game, Miami dominated the match from end to end. Visit won the first period 33-24 and didn’t look back the rest of the night, blocking any response from the Bucks.
Milwaukee tried to get into the game on several occasions, but John’s loss ended up being too much for his ambitionsbeyond its excellent performance Khris Middleton: 33 points. Without Antetokounmpo, the Bucks needed better play jrue holidaysbut the point guard was not accurate: 16 points, 16 assists but a Court 6-18.
In addition to Butler, Miami found a very good version of Bam Adebayo, coming off of two games to forget in the Play-In: 12 and 8 points against Atlanta and Chicago respectively, combining for a 6-21 field. This time Bam’s was much closer to his usual output: 22 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists.
In turn, the visit found a surprise contribution off the bench from Kevin Loveturning back time, to end with 18 points and 8 rebounds. love what He hadn’t played in the Playoffs since 2018 with LeBron’s Cavsposted his career-high 22 games with Miami.
Bobby Portis was his counterpart in Milwaukee, contributing 21 points from the Bucks’ second unit, despite missing all five of his 3-point attempts.
The future of the series likely rests in the hands of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s health and back. If the Greek is serious and cannot return, this Sunday it appeared that Miami has arguments to prevail. Even more so with 1-0 already in their favour. But if Giannis bounces back quickly, albeit at a disadvantage, Budenholzer’s men have already managed to overcome a poor start to the Playoffs on several occasions and will continue to be favourites.
The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of the NBA or its organizations.
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Denver Nuggets announced Nikola Jokic He will miss at least four weeks due to a left knee injury.
Star center was diagnosed with left knee hyperextension. At the same time, tests confirmed that the three-time NBA MVP’s knee ligaments remained intact.
Jokic was injured in the final seconds of the first half of the 123-147 loss to the Miami Heat and limped heavily on his way to the locker room. He did not return to the site after a long time.
Before his injury, Nikola managed to produce 21 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds in just 19 minutes on the field.
Losing Jokic could be a big blow for Denver, as starters Christian Braun (ankle injury), Aaron Gordon (hip issue) and Cam Johnson (knee injury) remain sidelined.
Jokic averaged 29.9 points, 12.4 rebounds and 11.1 assists per game this season.
Injury Update: Nikola Jokić suffered a Hyperextension injury in his Left Knee in last night’s match against Miami Heat. Nikola will be re-evaluated in four weeks. pic.twitter.com/NIDmlKAN81
I am a sports journalist who has written for various websites and magazines. I currently work as an author at Sportish, a news website that covers sports news. My main focus is writing about soccer, rugby and other sports in the world.
11 games were played in the NBA regular season on the night of December 29-30.
Miami hosted Denver and earned a landslide victory.
The home team was ahead by 12 points with 41:29 to play in the first quarter, but the Nuggets were able to slowly win back in the second quarter. The teams entered a long break with the score tied at 63:63. The decisive factor in the match was the third quarter, when the Heat made an 11:0 move and led by 15 points at 84:69. After that the home team completely controlled the course of the game and only increased their advantage, achieving a crushing victory – 147:123.
The most productive player of the match was Powell, who brought 25 points to Miami, while Jaques (20 points + 11 assists) and Adebayo had double-doubles with 13 points + 10 rebounds.
San Antonio hosted Cleveland and suffered a sensational defeat.
Three-quarters of the meeting was fought evenly, with the teams responding to each other’s pushes with their own pushes and often staying within a shot or two of each other. That changed in the fourth quarter, as the Cavaliers went on a 15-2 run to take a 10-point lead, 94-84. They then maintained their advantage and won with a score of 113:101.
Cleveland’s main hero in this game was Allen, who had a double-double with 27 points and 10 rebounds. Garland can achieve the same success with 15 points and 11 assists.
Toronto beat Orlando at home.
Magic started the match better and made a 14:2 move at the start. Afterwards, they took control of the course of the game and increased the advantage completely to +21 – 51:30 in the second 12 minutes. After that, the home team slowly started to close the gap and entered the long break with a score of 11-11 at 54:65. The third quarter was tied, so Orlando still had a double-digit advantage ahead of the final: 94:84. At the beginning of the match the play followed the same scenario but in the middle Toronto made a move with 15:0 and not only won it back but also took the lead with 105:102. The fate of the game was decided by Barnes’ free throws, which set the score at 107:106 with 1 minute and 27 seconds left in the quarter.
Barnes could not make a triple-double this time, but he did a double-double and got 13 points and 11 rebounds, while the most productive name in the victory was Shead with 19 points.
I am a sports journalist who has written for various websites and magazines. I currently work as an author at Sportish, a news website that covers sports news. My main focus is writing about soccer, rugby and other sports in the world.
Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo He gave a harsh response to the question about a possible trade to another NBA club:
“I’m here. Don’t ask me that question. It’s disrespectful to me and my teammates. I wear this jersey every day.
To say I don’t want to be here is disrespectful to the organization, the coaching staff, myself and everyone who worked hard to get me on the field. Don’t ask me this question. I am her. I’m going out in this uniform. And as long as I’m here, I’ll give it my all until the last second of the match.”
On the night of December 27-28, Antetokounmpo returned to the field after his calf muscle injury and became the most productive player of the game with the Chicago Bulls – 112:103.
I am a sports journalist who has written for various websites and magazines. I currently work as an author at Sportish, a news website that covers sports news. My main focus is writing about soccer, rugby and other sports in the world.
