Miami (USA), May 29 (EFE) .- Greek power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, with a triple-double, led the overwhelming game of the Milwaukee Bucks, who beat the Miami Heat 103-120 at home in the fourth game of the first round tie of the NBA Eastern Conference they swept the best of seven 4-0 and advanced to the semifinals.
In addition, they got revenge for the elimination they suffered last year in the semifinals of the Eastern Conference at the Orlando Bubble, where the Heat reached the NBA finals.
This time, Antetokounmpo, who played the most complete game of the series, finished with 20 points, 15 assists and 12 defensive rebounds, without any Heat defender being able to control his power and dominance in and out of the paint.
In addition to Antetokounmpo, the Cuban American center Brook López achieved 25 points, team leader, in addition to capturing eight rebounds and completely eliminating Bam Adebayo, the great defeated of the Heat in the individual section.
Forward Khris Middleton also finished with a double-double of 20 points, 11 rebounds and three assists.
While guard-forward Bryn Forbes emerged as the new undisputed sixth player for the Bucks by scoring 22 points after scoring 7 of 14 3-pointers.
Another reserve, center Bobby Portis, reached 13 points with three triples from seven attempts, in addition to grabbing three rebounds.
The Bucks became the first team to advance in the playoffs this year, and they await the winner of the tie between the Brooklyn Nets against the Boston Celtics (2-1) to meet their next opponent in the semifinals.
Although Adebayo finished with a double-double of 20 points and 14 rebounds as leader of the Heat, who also had the support of point guard Kendrick Nunn with 18 and guard Tyler Herro who reached 14 points, in the fourth period he did not they were able to put up with the hellish pace the Bucks imposed on their attack.
Slovenian point guard Goran Dragic had 13 points, while forward Jimmy Butler finished with a triple-double of 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists that could not avoid defeat either.
The Heat became the second team in this playoff format to go from sweeping in the first round one year to being swept in the first round the next.
The only other team to put up with that were the then New Jersey Nets, who swept the Knicks in 2004 and lost 4-0 to Miami in 2005.
Once Milwaukee took the first three games, history said the result was inevitable.
NBA teams leading 3-0 in the series now have a 141-0 record in those matchups, and these Bucks become the 88th of those teams to finish the tie with a sweep.
The Bucks will not play again until at least next Saturday after the outcome of the tie between the Nets and the Celtics is known, who after losing the first two games of the tie in New York won the third in Boston thanks to the 50 points from power forward Jayson Tatum.
Their Eastern semifinal series against second-seeded Brooklyn or seventh-seeded Boston will begin June 5 if the Nets advance five games; In any other scenario, the Bucks will play on June 7.
The victory left the Bucks 6-1 this season against the Heat and they have already secured $ 995,797 of the $ 20.8 million prize that the NBA distributes in the playoffs.
While the Heat finished the season with a 40-36 mark, the 15th best mark in the franchise’s 33 seasons, and they took home a prize of $ 592,385.
The Heat sweep is the third in a row suffered by a team that came off a loss in the NBA Finals and then failed to win in the playoffs either. Cleveland Cavaliers lost the 2019 playoffs and the Golden State Warriors lost the 2020 playoffs.
(c) EFE Agency