Jamal CollierESPN
MILWAUKEE — Giannis Antetokounmpo took a deep breath and ran his palms via his hair sooner than answering a query at his information convention Wednesday evening following the Milwaukee Bucks‘ splendid 128-126 time beyond regulation loss to the Miami Heat in Sport 5 in their first-round playoff layout.
The Dollars, who owned the NBA’s ideally suited file right through the common season with 58 wins, turned into the fourth Incorrect. 1 seed to lose to a Incorrect. 8 seed in a best-of-seven layout in NBA historical past, however Antetokounmpo took factor with a query about whether or not Milwaukee’s season was once a failure.
“It’s not a failure; it’s steps to success,” Antetokounmpo mentioned. “There’s always steps to it. Michael Jordan played 15 years, won six championships. The other nine years was a failure? That’s what you’re telling me?
“It’s a fallacious query; there’s deny failure in sports activities. There’s excellent days, evil days. Some days you’re in a position to achieve success, some days you’re no longer. Some days it’s your flip, some days it’s no longer your flip. And that’s what sports activities is set. You don’t all the time win. Occasionally alternative family win. And this date any person else goes to win, easy as that.”
The Bucks began the postseason as the betting favorites to win the NBA championship but fell to the Heat in perhaps one of the biggest upsets in playoff history. No 1-seed had lost in the first round to an 8-seed since 2012, when the Chicago Bulls misplaced to the Philadelphia 76ers following a season-ending shock to Derrick Rose.
Milwaukee led by 16 points entering the fourth quarter in Game 5, but Miami rallied and prevailed in overtime for the largest fourth-quarter comeback in a series-clinching win.
The Bucks were just 5-for-25 on field goals in the fourth quarter and overtime and finished with more turnovers (7) than made shots. Antetokounmpo shot 3-of-12 in the fourth and overtime, which included going 3-of-9 at the free throw line, for nine points and three turnovers.
Meanwhile, the Bucks had no answer for Heat star Jimmy Butler. Butler scored the game-tying field goal with half a second left in regulation to force overtime and finished the series averaging 37.6 points (a Heat franchise record) on 59.7% shooting, with 6.0 rebounds and 4.8 assists.
Antetokounmpo was critical of the Bucks’ approach to defending Butler, saying that he would have liked to have guarded Butler more often one-on-one and that the Bucks should have made more adjustments.
“I don’t know, double-team him extra, attempt to manufacture him go the ball,” Antetokounmpo said. “Possibly transfer the matchup for a tiny bit, give Jrue [Holiday] a fracture. I don’t suppose as a group we made the appropriate [adjustment] or we didn’t manufacture as many changes as we will have towards him.”
The Bucks rarely double-teamed Butler. According to ESPN tracking data, Butler was double-teamed for a total of seven plays in the entire series — four of which came in Game 4. In Game 5, he did not face a single double-team.
Holiday was the Bucks’ primary defender on Butler throughout the series, guarding Butler in the half court 244 times, nearly six times more than any other player on the team, per Second Spectrum tracking. Antetokounmpo missed Games 2 and 3 with a lower back contusion, but he matched up with Butler in the half court just 10 times in the first round.
“Out of admire, you’ve were given to let the lecturer manufacture the adjustment,” Antetokounmpo said. “We’ve our ideally suited defender on him, however clearly there’s dialog, every time he will get drained, I will be able to shoot him. … On the finish of the future, I want I may just’ve upheld him extra.”
The Bucks had a pair of opportunities to win the game on the final possessions of the fourth and overtime, but coach Mike Budenholzer elected not to use his final timeouts in either scenario.
Budenholzer acknowledged he should have called timeout to advance the ball following Butler’s game-tying shot in the fourth. But he also did not call timeout before the final possession in overtime, allowing Antetokounmpo to push the pace after grabbing a defensive rebound with 5.1 seconds remaining.
The Bucks never got a shot off on their final possession.
“That’s how we all the time play games,” Budenholzer said after the game. “It’s been superb for us. And we weren’t in a position to transform it this night.”
The unexpected first-round exit begins what could be a monumental offseason in Milwaukee.
Brook Lopez will become an unrestricted free agent this summer. Khris Middleton has a $40 million player option for the 2023-24 season. The roster around Antetokounmpo is filled with veterans, but the Bucks began the season as the oldest team in the NBA. And Antetokounmpo will become extension-eligible in September before the start of next season. He has two years and a player option remaining on the five-year super max extension he signed in September 2020.
However, on Wednesday, the sting of another postseason disappointment was still fresh with Antetokounmpo. The Bucks entered the season with championship aspirations but are now forced to collect themselves.
“This must be the worst postseason ever,” Antetokounmpo said. “We’ve a host in [the locker room] and we have been caught on 15 [wins to the NBA Finals] … which is more or less dehydrated to do business in with. However on the finish of the future, I think like they have been enjoying to overcome us, and we have been enjoying to win a championship.”
