Staggeringly, Friday, the team with a one-game lead in the series played with more desperation in the second match. That’s the same outfit that, before the first meeting, was rejected by the sportsbooks as not having a chance against the reigning eastern champs. The Heat is presently up 2-0 with the following games set in Miami.

In quarter one, the Green restrained the White and Red’s paint finishing to four of 13 attempts. Regardless, Jimmy Butler still recorded a putback off Bam Adebayo’s miss, a jumper in the post when the Celtics blew up Miami’s pick and roll, and layup in drop coverage.

After getting gashed by the Celtics on a 17-4 run, the Heat returned the favor with a 16-8 burst to close the half. Caleb Martin was the leading scorer with 14 points, followed by Jimmy Butler’s dozen.

The Heat held a four-point lead at intermission, but the Celtics charged out of its locker room, snatching command. Jayson Tatum detonated for an extra 15 on his scorecard while the Celtics doubled Miami’s production on the glass and held the visitors to 16% shooting from deep.

The dreaded turd quarter had returned, as the Heatles were outscored by 12 in frame three. Butler played every minute, gathering six points with three boards, two assists, a block and a steal. Martin logged seven, and Adebayo dropped 6 points, but the Celtics were at the firing range.

The Celtics entered the lane on impulse and finished seven of nine interior tries in the third quarter. Jaylen Brown supplied three baskets for the Green, hitting shots in the corner, in transition and euro-stepping past Kyle Lowry for a layup.

With over 10 minutes left, the hosts lead by 12, intoxicating its supporters with premature joy. But then, Miami went on a 34-16 point avalanche to seize the game. In crunch time, Butler and Grant Williams had to be separated while standing dome-to-dome. JB took the General (G. Williams) off the dribble from the left wing to the paint and hit a turnaround jumper before both got in each other’s grills.

Butler logged his next three field goals guarded by G. Williams, including the baskets to tie and take the lead for the Heat. From the right side, #22 dribbled past Party City Batman (G. Williams) and nailed a floater over his head. Then he motioned towards his hip, signaling his man was too small. At the elbow, Butler canned a jumper and fadeaway on the baseline before Celtics coach Joe Mazzula sat his backup forward.

With a minute to go and the Heat up three, Adebayo tracked Butler’s missed jumper in between multiple Celtics and went back up for a thunderous slam. Tatum came back the other way, hoisting up a shot from the top when Miami flashed its 2-3 zone. Gabe Vincent foolishly didn’t give him landing space. Next, Tatum converted three freebies.

Making amends for his infraction, Vincent dusted Tatum on the left side, burying a jump shot from 20 feet out.

In the last period, Miami held Boston to 38.9% shooting from the field. The Heat pulled down four offensive rebounds and committed two fewer turnovers, allowing it to take four additional attempts over the Celtics in the final quarter in a game that was decided by six points.

Mazzulla forgot to use his final timeout for Boston so it could advance the ball upcourt in the last five seconds. The Heat won 111-105.

On Boston’s bench, players wore warm-up shirts that said “Unfinished Business” on the front, referencing the squad getting two games shy of a title the previous season. The Green’s mission is likely staying that way after conceding home-court advantage.

The flight to Miami is a perfect opportunity for the Celtics to educate G. Williams about not upsetting the Beast of the East. Butler engaged because he caught some trash talk while Miami was coming up court with the ball.

At the postgame presser, coach Erik Spoelstra praised his group’s perseverance.

“Defensively, in the second quarter, we were really good to get back into the game,” Spoelstra said. “Same thing in the second half. And then Jimmy [Butler] and Bam [Adebayo] really anchored us offensively. It’s great when your two best players can lead you, and you have a place where the ball can go, and everyone else is playing off those guys…”

Butler said the fourth quarter is about getting buckets.

“It’s all about getting shots on goal,” Butler said. “I can only tell y’all so many times how much confidence that my teammates put in me, the coaching staff puts in me to just go out there and hoop, play carefree, and as we like to say in our locker room ‘take us there.’”

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The Celtics couldn’t stop Jimmy Butler from maneuvering left. In the first quarter, he logged a dozen points, unbothered by his matchup, with two dimes, two rebounds and two steals.

In the first quarter, the Heat converted 52.4% of its attempts and half from deep. Yet, the visitor’s issue throughout the first half offensively was ball security. Three poor passes and an illegal pick resulted in four turnovers to Boston’s three.

The Celtics also picked up five offensive rebounds in the opening frame. This resulted in the hosts taking six more shots to start, but they only had a two-point lead to show for it.

Kyle Lowry kicked off the second quarter by attacking Robert Williams III in drop coverage. He logged every minute of the interval and made five straight buckets off the dribble or in a stationary position on the wing.

Without Lowry’s contributions before halftime, Miami would have been toast. He was the only Heatle to register more than one field goal in the second quarter while the defense reacted slowly to rim pressure. In a six-minute stretch, the Celtics went on a 25-10 run that included eight paint finishes without a miss.

Jayson Tatum repped the hosts with 18 points on 53.8% shooting with five rebounds in the first half. His partner Jaylen Brown had 11 coming from putbacks, transition attacks, two floaters and a cutting layup through the middle. Williams, too, was problematic for Miami, hitting five shots off putbacks and rim runs.

The Heat was down 57-66 at halftime. The White and Red made 53.7% of its tries, but the Green had taken five more shots from the field and six extra at the charity line.

In the third quarter, the Heat stormed back into the match, outscoring the Celtics 46-25. Five consecutive baskets by Max Strus, Kevin Love, Gabe Vincent and Adebayo ignited the group and cut its deficit to a point after being down 12 a minute into the frame.

Butler logged another dozen points, plus a steal. He took three trips to the line, making all five freebies, nailing buckets on the baseline and in the corner.

Strus led for the Heat with 13 on his scorecard for quarter three. Mad Max splashed two pull-up triples on the wings and one catch-and-release banger in the corner.

Miami entered the fourth quarter up 12 points, but the offense cooling down allowed Boston to get within four.

Tatum didn’t register a field goal attempt for the Celtics in the fourth, but he was fouled on three drives and scored six points at the line. Brown punctured the lane three times, taking advantage of Miami’s willingness to switch. Brown’s only misses late were behind the arc.

Yet the Heat had Butler. With over six minutes left, #22 stripped Brown and picked up two interceptions in the passing lanes, bringing his total to six takeaways. Shockingly, Al Horford tried a cross-court pass from corner to wing that Butler stole. Unsurprisingly, Tatum’s tunnel vision blinded him from seeing Butler camped out at the elbow as a spy, waiting for the dish to Brown.

In crunch time, Butler isolated White on the right wing and darted into the paint for a turnaround jumper. Next, he targeted Malcolm Brogdon on a switch and dribbled down to the baseline for a 13-footer. His last basket was a right-wing triple contested by Brogdon that briefly extended the Heat’s lead to 10 points with a minute left.

The Heat won Game 1 123-116.

At the postgame presser, coach Erik Spoelstra said there wasn’t much said at halftime regarding the nine-point deficit.

“Our guys knew,” Spoelstra said. “Playing against a very good basketball team in the first half, we had 11 turnovers, and they had 40 in the paint. I can’t say that’s just all us. That’s what they are capable of doing if we are not really on top of our game… We’ve been in a lot of these situations where we have to battle back from deficits even on the road. So, we started to chip away at it and finally got the lead and were able to take control from there.”

When Butler was asked about taking away home-court advantage from the Celtics, he said, “We are just playing really good basketball. More than anything, we are staying together through the good and through the bad. It is a game of runs, and we can talk to one another. I think that’s what ultimately makes me smile is the fact that when things aren’t going our way, we can look at each other eye-to-eye and know when somebody is messing around. And we can fix it…”

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As the seconds ticked away on the Heat’s 96-92 win over the Knicks at home, Pat Riley assuredly grinned with contentment.  Not just because his club embodied his image and personality, as coach Erik Spoelstra said postgame, but because his group bounced his old employer.

Jimmy Butler was in good spirits, too, after sending home his former coach of the Bulls and Timberwolves, Tom Thibodeau.  He sat next to Kyle Lowry at the presser, shirtless.  When asked what set the Heat apart from the typical eighth seed, he answered, “We got Kyle Lowry,” making his partner blush beside him.    

The dub advances the Heatles to its third conference finals since Butler arrived in 2019.  With JB in command, the squad has competed in 10 playoff series, winning seven.  In those four seasons, Miami has the most playoff wins with a 33-21 record, is second in games logged and has the third-highest winning percentage at 61.1% behind the Lakers and Warriors.  

Spoelstra is now seven postseason dubs behind Doc Rivers for fourth place all-time in playoff coaching wins.

The Butler experience is one of the best rides the Heat’s ever been a part of.  The group now waits until Sunday afternoon after Game 7 between the 76ers and Celtics to see who it will play next.  Judging from afar, Philadelphia seems like a tougher matchup for Miami.

What? A Doc Rivers-led team? I’m afraid so.  There is no doubt that Joel Embiid would pose a significantly greater problem than Boston’s frontline of Al Horford and the shell of Robert Williams III.  Bam Adebayo could defend any of the Celtics’ bigs in single coverage.  Marking Embiid in some spots might require a double team, exposing an area of the floor.

Adebayo on Embiid is the only option that works.  It wouldn’t be an easy face-off for #13 because Embiid is drawing 9.8 free throw attempts per game in the postseason, and he is a perpetual flopper.  If Adebayo gets into foul trouble, it would require a superhero effort from Butler and Co. to prevent Philadelphia from abusing the interior.

In the Playoffs, Embiid is recording 37.3 minutes and dropping 24.8 points per game on 45.2% field goal efficiency. It’s not close to his regular season average of 33.1 points on 54.8% shooting, but he’s been banged up since Game 3 of round one.  Regardless, Embiid is still making half his catch-and-shoot attempts, swatting 2.9 shots per outing, and holding his matchup to 40.7% of its tries from the field.

I am not underestimating the Celtics, either.  Fortunately for the Heat, the Celtics are like Geroge Romero’s living dead and refuse to go away, biting off chunks of flesh before the round’s over. Boston’s ball movement has also exposed Philadelphia’s defense up top, splashing 39.3% of above-the-break triples.  But Embiid has been a solid second line of defense and the main reason why Philadelphia’s rivals are scoring just 39 points in the paint in the Playoffs.

Game 7 in Boston could go either way, but it’s probably best for the Heat if it sees the team that beat it last year on its home floor instead of the group that’s hungry to avenge last season’s round-two loss to Miami.

Amelia Earhart will come back before the Knicks in round two. Game five is at Madison Square Garden Wednesday, but New York has no answer for Jimmy Butler.

Through eight playoff games, Butler has the third-highest scoring average in the postseason (33.5) but is fifth in total points logged. Stephen Curry, Devin Booker, Nikola Jokić, and Kevin Durant have more, but Butler has played fewer games than each.

The first half of Game 4 belonged to Bam Adebayo. He was invigorated like Frankenstein‘s monster fresh off the operating table. Adebayo looked for the ball after shielding handlers with a screen to get inside. Following two quarters, he had 16 points and seven rebounds.

On one early connection, Kevin Love beat Randle off the dribble from the wing to the lane, forcing New York’s shot blocker to leave Adebayo open for a hook. It was the best impersonation of Tim Hardaway and Alonzo Mourning all evening.

Max Strus added eight points through two quarters, nailing two triples as the trailing guard in transition, plus a slam after a pick.

On the Knicks’ side, Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson were the main culprits dealing damage. Both had efficiently recorded double figures in the score column. Randle identified mismatches and navigated past Adebayo and Butler on rim attacks. Brunson found separation through his dribble or baiting Heatles into biting on his fake for a runway to the cup.

At intermission, the Heat was ahead 56-48. New York recovered seven offensive rebounds, turning into seven second-chance points, and picked up five loose balls. But its bench had six points. Miami was in target practice, shooting 52.4% from the field and 44.4% behind the arc. The Heat’s reserve crew had 17.

*****

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*****

Butler was on cruise control until the second half, but he had nine points with four rebounds and four assists. On one of his scores, Love launched a full-court outlet pass that turned into a dunk for JB.

In the third frame, Butler lost Grimes behind Adebayo’s pindown and seized the baseline for a layup plus the foul. Then, he cut left into the paint, assisted by #13’s ghost screen and finished with his left hand as Mitchell Robinson was on his back hip. Under a minute left in the quarter, he isolated Josh Hart in the mid-post and escaped into the paint for a three-foot basket.

In this interval, Butler had five more dimes. He exploited the Knicks ball watching on defense, finding cutters or delivering the pass after double teams.

The visitors logged 76.5% of their attempts in the third quarter, mainly behind RJ Barrett’s four consecutive baskets and Don Julio’s three field goals. Defensively, Randle picked up his third and fourth fouls.

In the fourth quarter, Randle played nearly nine pointless minutes before crashing into Strus and fouling out in crunch time with the Heat up seven.

Both offenses fell apart in the final period. The difference late was the Heat recovering seven offensive rebounds that morphed into seven backbreaking second-chance points and the Knicks couldn’t defend without fouling. Nine penalties sent the hosts to the line for 10 tries, making seven.

Brunson (13) and Barrett (7) were the only Knickerbockers to score in the fourth quarter. Miami only allowed four New York bench points in the second half, too, coming in the third quarter.

The Heat won 109-101 behind Adebayo and Butler’s strongest playoff game together this year.

At the postgame presser, coach Erik Spoelstra praised his leading duo’s production and said they are at the top of the food chain as two-way competitors.

“They can impact and put their fingertips on playoff games, on any given possession, defensively or offensively,” Spo said. “They’ve played in a lot of playoff games together, so we’re following them.”

In the visiting press room, the atmosphere was doom and gloom. Randle was asked about the Knicks getting beat in the offensive rebounding battle. He responded, “Maybe they want it more. That’s been who we are all year, and we got to find a way to step up and make those plays if we want to keep this season alive.”

Paul Castellano had a better chance of being revived outside of Sparks Steak House than the Knicks currently do.

It’s a shame the basketball gods aren’t real to curse the Milwaukee Bucks with decades of misery.

Thursday, the op canned coach Mike Budenholzer. In his service, the group earned a 39-26 playoff record in five seasons, which included a championship. In that span, his outfit won 271 games in the regular season, third most in franchise history, and lost 120. He was let go while grieving the loss of his brother, who died in a tragic car accident.

Round one against the Heat ended on April 26. It was an unceremonious finale that will haunt the Bucks and its supporters for years. The squad had the top record of 30 teams, led by a man who resembles a demi-god more than a mortal on the court. But he only logged 38% of the minutes in the series. In contrast with Miami’s Jimmy Butler, who recorded 77.5% of the allowed time in round one.

The Bucks are now the sixth first seed in NBA lore to lose to the eighth spot. I suspect future generations won’t be kind to Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bud when dusting off the history books and spewing an ill-informed take about something they never saw. Damn them, from now.

There are people today, scribes, TV personalities, fans and ex-leaguers, ripping the Bucks’ racks off—especially Giannis’s answer when asked if the season was a failure.

“Do you get the promotion every year at your job? So every year your work is a failure? Yes or no? No. Every year you work, you work towards a goal…”

It doesn’t seem like Milwaukee’s’ execs took what he said seriously. The Bucks only permitted Budenholzer eight days before telling him to clean his office. Never mind Giannis was hurt. Budenholzer lost family. When people suffer a loss like that, it takes a long time to recover and think clearly.

Firing him now was classless. Budenholzer treated the team like his blood by not taking off to be with his kin. It wasn’t enough for management. Perhaps they, too, are brainwashed by the toxic ring culture in the league, or a sacrifice was needed for the blame of losing in a historic fashion.

Good coaches don’t grow on trees. Budenholzer was adequate enough and achieved the peak of the profession with the team that hadn’t done it in 50 years. It’s revolting that significant accomplishments are easily forgotten in Milwaukee.

Fun fact: Budenholzer is the first NBA coach to get axed when the one seed loses to the eighth. George Karl (1994), Pat Riley (1999), Avery Johnson (2007), Gregg Popovich (2011) and Tom Thibodeau (2012) all kept their jobs.

In his five years as coach, Budenholzer’s team won the most regular season games of 30 groups at 271. Those 39 playoff wins as a coach are the second-most in Bucks history after Don Nelson. Following Budenholzer in regular season wins is Michael Malone of the Denver Nuggets with 248 dubs.

I don’t expect Budenzholzer to stay on the market long, unless it’s by his choosing. Apart from coaching, he’s a well-rounded dude who can discuss politics, philosophy and economics with anyone.

Budenholzer deserved better from the Bucks. Hopefully, his next team will be more grateful.