The Golden State Warriors eliminated the Los Angeles Clippers from playoff contention in the play-in tournament game.

The Warriors won 126-121. The Warriors scored 43 points in the fourth quarter to mount a double-digit comeback.

With fewer than a minute left, Stephen Curry hit a step-back three to give the Warriors a 120-117 lead. The Warriors held the lead the rest of the game.

Curry led the Warriors in scoring with 35 points. 27 of those points came in the second half. Gui Santos also had a strong game with 20 points and six rebounds.

The Clippers got good games from their trade deadline additions. Benedict Mathurin (23 points) and Darius Garland (21 points) kept the Clippers in the game. Mathurin was acquired in the Ivica Zubac trade, while Garland was acquired in the James Harden trade. 

Along with keeping their playoff hopes alive, the Warriors also got good news regarding Jimmy Butler’s injury. Butler is out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL. During pregame, he was seen on the court. Although he was moving slowly, he was off his crutches and was able to take a few shots. He also stayed and watched Curry do his warmups, where he showed visible amazement at Curry’s abilities. 

For the Clippers, even making the play-in tournament felt like an accomplishment. They started the season 6-21. They recovered well in January with a record of 11-4. However, Harden’s trade request stunted their momentum. Regardless, the Clippers went 12-6 in March and clinched the play-in spot. 

The Clippers 2026 first-round pick is owned by the No. 1-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder. This means the Thunder will draft in the lottery despite being a top team. 

The Warriors will play the Phoenix Suns on April 16. The winner of that game will get the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference. 

The Golden State Warriors completed a four-team trade Wednesday night to acquire star forward Jimmy Butler from the Miami Heat. Butler will reportedly sign a two-year, $121 million extension with Golden State, cementing a long-term partnership with Steph Curry.

The Detroit Pistons and Utah Jazz were also included in the trade. To get Butler, Golden State sent away Andrew Wiggins, Dennis Schroder, Kyle Anderson and a protected first-round pick. Reports suggest that the Warriors were originally in talks to make a similarly splashy trade with the Suns for Kevin Durant, but Durant reportedly shot down the deal. 

Butler’s trade to the Warriors finally ends months of rapid speculation and drama connected to Butler’s future. The Heat suspended him twice in January while stating publicly that it would not trade him, but tensions seemed to grow stronger each week. With Butler’s free agency looming, it became imperative for Miami to get something by ending the relationship that had long gone sour. 

With a 25-24 record, Miami is in line for a playoff berth in the Eastern Conference, and Butler’s extended absences this season suggest that the team can compete without him. Still, losing a star player in the middle of the season will certainly limit the team when playoffs begin in the spring.

Butler’s extension with the Warriors suggests that he believes he has landed on a playoff contender, even as Curry struggles to keep them competitive in the midst of a minor rebuild. Golden State is currently 25-25, 11th in the Western Conference, struggling to perform consistently despite several big wins.

Losing Wiggins, Schroder and Anderson shakes up the Warriors’ roster in a meaningful way, but Butler could be a key contributor down the stretch. Jonathan Kuminga, Draymond Green and Kevon Looney all survived the expansive trade and should continue to thrive in supporting roles.

The Phoenix Suns announced last week that they had acquired three first-round picks from the Utah Jazz in 2025, 2027 and 2029, in exchange for their own 2031 first-round pick.

The three picks coming from Utah to Phoenix will be the least favorable of the picks from the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Jazz. In essence, Utah general manager Justin Zanik is betting on the Suns to be a bad team in six years – and he’s likely right.

The Suns’ marquee players are aging. Kevin Durant turns 37 this year, and Devin Booker, currently in his prime, turns 29. Phoenix is pursuing more firepower in the hopes of chasing the championship window, which will likely cut down even further on their draft capital. No one knows what the NBA will look like in six years, but the odds of the Suns being in the midst of an arduous rebuild seem high.

And it’s that same firepower that likely led the Suns to this trade. The Miami Heat recently suspended star Jimmy Butler for missing his flight to a road trip – another hiccup in what has recently become a soap opera of a season for Butler. Trading him seems increasingly to be the only option, and one that teams looking to capitalize on its seasons will be keeping an eye on.

Phoenix, which currently sits tenth in a tough Western Conference with a 22-21 record, certainly expanded their trade capital with the first-round swap. The Jazz, meanwhile, consolidated their picks from the Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell trades, and still have 11 first-round picks in the next seven years.

“The three picks we traded have no chance to be the No. 1 pick, and this one does,” Zanik explained. “We’ve always talked about bites at the apple or more swings in the draft, but it is also about the quality of the swings, and [the Suns’ pick] is, in my opinion, the most valuable asset on the market right now.”

As for the Suns, it remains to be seen whether the pick swap will help them land Butler – and whether that move, if it occurs, will elevate them to contender status.

The Miami Heat announced Wednesday that it was suspending forward Jimmy Butler for two games after the disgruntled star missed a team flight. After serving a seven-game suspension earlier this month, Butler only played in three games before returning to the shelf.

“We have suspended Jimmy Butler for two games for continued pattern of disregard of team rules, insubordinate conduct and conduct detrimental to the team, including missing today’s team flight to Milwaukee,” the Heat said in a statement.

Butler and Miami have been at odds all season, as multiple trade rumors and reported locker room issues seem to reflect deeper differences between the two sides. After Butler’s agent Bernie Lee and Heat President Pat Riley both vehemently denied reports of trade talks, Miami suspended Butler for insubordinate behavior and an apparent disinterest in playing.

The star forward’s return was enthusiastic even as he struggled to get back into mid-season form, but Wednesday’s suspension is yet another misstep in the working relationship. Butler reportedly arranged his own travel plans for the Heat’s road trip, something he has done in the past. In this instance, the team has taken a stand and punished him for it.

Based on the existing drama between Butler and Miami’s front office, this second suspension could be enough to sever whatever semblance of a relationship the two sides still have. Butler was almost certainly leaving at the end of the season anyway, but as the 21-21 Heat continue to tumble down the Eastern Conference standings, it could soon be prudent to finally capitulate and trade him away.

Since arriving in Miami in 2019, Butler has led the Heat to the playoffs four times, including two upset NBA Finals appearances in 2020 and 2023. Known as a solid player in the regular season, he has developed a reputation for extraordinary play in the postseason, which has lifted otherwise average Heat rosters well beyond expectations. At age 35, there could still be time for another meaningful stint. The chances of that happening in Miami are increasingly unlikely.

Jimmy Butler has returned to the Miami Heat’s lineup after serving a seven-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the team. In his return against the Denver Nuggets, he scored 18 points in the 133-113 loss. Despite his return, reports have indicated that there are ongoing tensions between him and the organization.

Butler reiterated his desire to be traded during a meeting with team president Pat Riley last week. He was also upset by the duration of his suspension, and if the NBPA’s grievance is not successful, he will lose over $2.3 million in salary.

Sources close to the Heat suggest that it’s not just Butler that wants to leave, the feeling is mutual with the organization no longer wanting him there either.

“I don’t know how he can come back to this locker room,” one team source team.

Another source said, “We don’t want him back.”

Players, coaches, and staff have become tired of Butler, while he is also frustrated with Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo taking on more offensive responsibilities, feeling that it’s diminished his own opportunities. A source that’s close to him said, “if they’re doing this transition to Bam and Tyler, Jimmy’s like, ‘Fine, do your transition.'”

The Phoenix Suns are reportedly eager to trade for Butler, but acquiring him would be difficult without moving Bradley Beal, who has a no-trade clause included in his contract and is set to be paid $57.1 million in 2026-27. A third team would be needed to absorb Beal’s contract, and he would have to approve the trade for it to go through.

This situation has come at a very challenging time because trades, particularly those involving hefty salaries like Butler’s $48.8 million contract this season and his $52.4 million player option for 2025-26 are tougher to execute now due to the league’s new collective bargaining agreement.

Under the updated collective bargaining agreement, teams exceeding certain salary thresholds face major restrictions. These include limits on trading players, signing players and using certain financial exceptions. This makes it harder to trade players with big contracts.

Miami Heat president Pat Riley issued a statement Thursday saying that the team does not plan on trading forward Jimmy Butler. Butler has been the subject of numerous trade rumors over the past year, with the most recent report Wednesday stating that he wished to be traded by the NBA’s deadline on Feb. 6.

“We usually don’t comment on rumors, but all this speculation has become a distraction to the team and is not fair to the players and coaches,” Riley said in a team statement. “Therefore, we will make it clear – We are not trading Jimmy Butler.”

Earlier this month, Butler’s agent, Bernie Lee, vehemently denied a report from The Athletic‘s Shams Charania that Butler was intent on being traded to the Phoenix Suns. It is unclear if Lee was denying the trade rumors or the destination in that instance, but in any case, Charania doubled down Wednesday, reporting that Butler wanted out of Miami by the trade deadline. 

Charania did not say that Butler formally requested a trade, but simply reported that he was ready to depart. This time, it was Riley who undermined Charania, stating that the team had no interest in making the move. Though Riley’s update did not address whether Butler wanted a trade, as Charania reported, it does seem to put an end to the idea of the star forward leaving. At this point, it would likely require a formal trade request for Butler to escalate matters further.

The speculation surrounding Butler’s potential departure stems from the Heat’s failure to build around him. After leading the team to a surprise run to the NBA Finals in 2023, Butler and the Heat regressed back to an also-ran last season. The team is similarly stagnant in the 2024-25 season, holding in sixth place in the Eastern Conference with a 14-13 record.

Butler, a 35-year-old veteran, has stated his desire to win an NBA Championship in his career, and with time running out, it seems increasingly unlikely that the Heat can build the team necessary to win one. Despite all the rumors tied to this motivation, however, Butler has not submitted a formal trade request and the Heat’s front office has now taken a clear stance against moving him. For now, it seems like he will remain in Miami until at least next year.

Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler‘s agent, Bernie Lee, took to social media to emphatically deny a report by The Athletic‘s Shams Charania. The NBA’s go-to insider mentioned Lee by name in a report, claiming that the agent and Butler were open to trade talks with the Phoenix Suns.

“Alright, listen. I gave you a pass yesterday because I was busy, but if you don’t stop putting my name on your complete and utter made-up bulls— because you know you normally aren’t worth my time to acknowledge,” Lee wrote to Charania on X. “I don’t know what I’m going to do because I’m a middle-aged dad but just know it would indicate severe dislike. World… all this is fabricated. I have never, and honestly it wouldn’t help me or the position I represent, to do anything that’s been reported by said ‘journalist.'”

Lee went on to accuse Charania of using artificial intelligence to write his tweets for him in the tirade, refuting the report while also attacking Charania as a reporter. The Athletic reporter responded to Lee’s comments on ESPN Thursday.

“I 1000% stand by my reporting,” Charania said. “It’s fully vetted. And as a professional, that’s what I do, that’s what I get paid to do … report truthfully and accurately. That’s what this is. Period.”

Butler, who has been at the center of trade talks for some time, has been rumored to be departing Miami for a countless number of teams. Once expected to be targeted by the Rockets, the Warriors have emerged as the new rumored buyer. 

The Suns, who already lack depth with a top-heavy, do not figure as a likely landing spot, but Charania claims to have sources to confirm the rumor. By using Lee’s name directly, however, Charania does lose some credibility now that the agent has publicly and angrily spoken out against it. Charania’s original report on X is now accompanied by a community note, clarifying that Lee disputes the claims.

Heat star Jimmy Butler will reportedly not sign an extension with Miami or any other team this summer, which would make him a free agent next year. This practically ensures that Butler will play the 2024-25 season with the Heat, but his future beyond that is now unclear.

Because Butler has specified that he is not seeking any sort of extension, it is unlikely that the Heat will trade the forward with one year remaining on his contract. It’s possible that the 34-year-old will revive extension talks at a later date, but Butler has a player option next summer that gives him more flexibility, allowing for another season for the Heat or some other arrangement in free agency.

In the 2022-23 season, Butler proved extremely valuable to the Heat, delivering an awe-inspiring postseason performance and propelling the eight-seeded team to the NBA Finals. This season, the team’s playoff run was cut short when Butler suffered a season-ending injury. Miami made it past the Play-In Tournament but fell to the Boston Celtics in five games.

With Butler seemingly rejoining big man Bam Adebayo, who signed a team-friendly three-year deal earlier this off-season, the Heat should remain a consistent contender in the Eastern Conference. The clock is ticking for Butler, however, as the star will soon turn 35 and only has so many seasons remaining to win his first NBA Championship.

In June 2023, when the Heat were on the doorstep of an NBA Finals win before losing to the Denver Nuggets, Butler spelled out exactly what a ring would mean to him.

“Everything,” Butler said, according to ESPN. “What are you talking about? That’s why everybody plays this game — I lied, that’s why a lot of people play this game — is to win a championship. Everybody here — is to win a championship. That’s all we lock in on; that’s all we’re focused on. Like we put so much energy towards winning and playing for one another that if we do this together, we get to celebrate this together, we’re like, I don’t know the word, itched, niched, we made our mark in history together forever, so we’re in that.”

The Golden State Warriors find themselves at a crossroads. Having missed the playoffs despite having a healthy Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, the once-dominant dynasty now faces an uncertain future. With Curry at 36 and nearing the twilight of his illustrious career, Thompson heading into unrestricted free agency, and Green recently enduring his longest suspension, the franchise is contemplating its next big move.

Owner Joe Lacob wants to avoid the luxury tax next season, contrasting the hundreds of millions paid during their championship runs. However, the Warriors’ history in roster management suggests they might be considering another significant acquisition: Miami Heat’s Jimmy Butler.

Butler, a key figure in Miami’s success over the past five seasons and a two-time NBA Finals participant, is seeking a maximum contract extension—a commitment the Heat are hesitant to make. This opens the door for teams like the Philadelphia 76ers and possibly the Warriors to make a play for the star forward.

Landing Butler would be a challenge: Golden State’s most promising young players, Jonathan Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski, may not align with Miami’s needs, given their current roster.

Financially, matching Butler’s $48.8 million salary is another hurdle. While Andrew Wiggins’ $26.3 million salary provides a starting point, the gap would likely require including Chris Paul, whose $30 million salary is currently non-guaranteed. However, Miami’s luxury tax concerns might make them reluctant to take on such hefty contracts, potentially necessitating a third team to facilitate the trade.

The Warriors would face substantial luxury tax implications even if a deal for Butler materializes. With Curry, Green and potentially Thompson all drawing significant salaries, adding Butler to the mix would guarantee a continuation of hefty tax bills. This financial burden raises the question: Is pursuing another championship worth the fiscal strain and the potential sacrifice of future assets and flexibility?

The acquisition of Kevin Durant in 2016 led to two championships, a gamble that paid off handsomely. The current situation with Butler presents a similar high-risk, high-reward scenario. Adding Butler could rejuvenate the team’s championship aspirations in Curry’s final years, but it also risks long-term consequences.

The decision hinges on the Warriors’ commitment to maximizing Curry’s remaining prime years. Sacrificing future draft picks and enduring several more years of tax penalties might be a price worth paying for another title run. The potential addition of Butler could be the catalyst for repeating past glory, reinforcing Golden State’s legacy as a perennial contender.

The Warriors’ pursuit of Butler will be a narrative to watch as the offseason progresses. Balancing immediate success with future stability is a delicate act, but the lure of another championship could prove irresistible for a franchise accustomed to winning.

The Miami Heat shocked the Boston Celtics with a 111-101 victory in Game 2 of the first round Wednesday night, evening the series at one game apiece. The eighth-seeded Heat earned the upset without two top scorers, making 23 three-pointers in a stunningly efficient showing.

Celtics star Jayson Tatum, who scored 28 points in the contest, didn’t have much explanation for his team’s performance but vowed to make the necessary changes for Game 3 on Saturday.

“We gotta be more creative,” Tatum said after the game. The playoffs are about making adjustments game-to-game, and they did that. They’re not just going to let us catch the ball. Our job is to react in real-time as well as make our adjustments going game-to-game.”

While Tatum and fellow Celtics leader Jaylen Brown had solid individual performances, scoring 61 combined points, the two did not contribute to Boston’s strong overall performance. Star big man Kristaps Porzingis received limited looks down low and scored just six points.

Boston’s facilitating struggles were painfully apparent alongside the Heat, who played flawlessly despite taking the floor shorthanded. With Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier out with injuries, Miami shot 53.5% from beyond the arc and turned to center Bam Adebayo and guard Tyler Herro to lead the team instead.

Adebayo, a vital member of the team’s run to the Finals last season, limited Porzingis on defense and held his own at the rim, scoring 21 points with ten rebounds. Meanwhile, Herro stepped up to lead the team at guard, scoring 24 points with 14 assists.

As a result of these unlikely heroics in Game 2, the Heat are now better poised to spring a playoff upset on the first-seeded Celtics, one year after the team accomplished the same feat in the Eastern Conference Final. For all of the Celtics’ improvements in the 2023-24 season, the team proved Wednesday that it may still have some of the same postseason struggles.

In all likelihood, Boston will still defeat Miami in the first round, as Butler is unlikely to return, and the Heat had to play perfectly to get this far. Still, earning a predictable sweep and cruising to the next round would be far more encouraging for a team that dominated the Eastern Conference throughout the regular season. It is clear now that Miami does not intend to go so quietly.

On Thursday, Miami Heat star forward Jimmy Butler received an MRI that confirmed an MCL sprain he suffered in the team’s Play-In game against the 76ers. He has already been ruled out for the team’s game against the Bulls on Friday and is expected to miss several weeks, jeopardizing the team’s dwindling playoff hopes.

Butler sustained the injury and exited the game near the end of the first quarter Wednesday, and though Miami went on to extend its lead on Philadelphia at the half, the 76ers wore the team down and won 105-104. The Heat can still advance to the playoffs as the eighth seed with a win Friday over Chicago, but doing so will be easier with Butler.

As the eighth seed last season, Butler led the Heat to an appearance in the NBA Finals after the team defeated the Bucks, Knicks and Celtics in shocking Eastern Conference upsets. “Playoff Jimmy” was in rare form, carrying the team almost singlehandedly at points against the best teams in the NBA.

Butler’s injury timeline will be irrelevant if the Heat cannot get past Chicago and nab the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. However, if Miami wins, his absence will continue to be an issue if he misses multiple weeks, as The Athletic‘s Shams Charania reported. The Heat would only have a short rest before a matchup with the first-seeded Boston Celtics, a well-rested team with a 64-18 record this season in search of revenge for last year’s Eastern Conference Final.

Barring some improbable circumstances, Miami will not be able to defeat Boston without Butler. The team is hardly a playoff contender anyway and only advanced as far as it did last year because of his heroics. The Bulls may still be beatable with a mediocre 39-43 record. Still, the road from there goes from prohibitively tricky to practically impossible if Butler is on the sideline in street clothes.

After last season, many picked Miami as a sentimental underdog candidate again this season; fans outside Boston hoped that the team could make the first round somewhat interesting. The odds of another Cinderella run just dropped precipitously, however.

The Denver Nuggets’ 109-94 victory on the road Wednesday night against the Miami Heat may one day be remembered as the game that effectively ended the series. Though Miami still has a puncher’s chance, the team seems to have finally discovered a superior heavyweight.

Nuggets center Nikola Jokic is not the first star this Heat team has faced in its Cinderella run to the Finals, but he may be the first one to render them stymied. In three games, including a hard-fought Miami win in Game 2, Jokic is nearly averaging a triple-double with 33.3 points, 14 rebounds and 9.3 assists per night.

While Miami has struggled to contain Denver’s main threat, other Nuggets players have found opportunities as well. In addition to Jokic’s Game 3 triple-double, teammate Jamal Murray earned on of his own with a team-leading 34 points.

Heat star Jimmy Butler, who scored 28 points of his own to continue a stellar postseason, attributed his team’s loss to a lack of initiative.

“We feel great. We didn’t play our best. I feel like we just got to come out with more energy and effort, and that’s correctible,” Butler said.

But while Butler’s statement may be true, it does not address the issue that two Nuggets players combined forces to score 66 points on the road. Jokic, in particular, has been a headache for Miami all series, as head coach Erik Spoelstra inadvertently revealed when he lashed out at an ESPN reporter for asking a question about containing the Nuggets star.

In order for the Heat to win Game 2, the team required stellar performances from several role players, namely Gabe Vincent, Max Strus and Duncan Robinson. Beyond Butler and Bam Adebayo, however, there are no consistent performers on Miami’s roster to combat Denver’s defense. Even on a night when everyone stepped up, the Heat only won by three. The other two games have ended in decisive defeat.

Sometimes, the lack of a satisfactory explanation is simply the result of a harsher truth. In this case, it’s inescapable that the Nuggets are simply better than the Heat. Miami players will not, and probably should not, acknowledge this as they take the floor in future games, but it may only become more evident as the series carries on.

The Denver Nuggets’ commanding 104-93 victory in Game 1 of the NBA Finals puts the Miami Heat in an unfamiliar situation. For the first time all playoffs, the Eastern Conference underdogs will have to come from behind to win a playoffs series. Their final step to the championship must come in more deliberate, grinding fashion than any of their previous upsets.

Though the Nuggets played solidly to kick off the Finals, the Heat’s loss was also self-inflicted to an extent, as the team shot poorly throughout the contest. Star forward Jimmy Butler, who has carried the team throughout the postseason, was uncharacteristically quiet with 13 points Thursday night. Meanwhile, Caleb Martin, another hero for the team in the Eastern Conference Final, scored just three points while fellow guard Max Strus didn’t make a single basket.

“When you look at it during the game, they all look like the right shots,” Butler told reporters after the game. “And I’m not saying that we, as a team, can’t make those, but gotta get more layups, gotta get more free throws. And whenever you miss and don’t get back, the game gets out of hand kinda quickly.”

Before the Finals began, the Heat began three straight series with striking Game 1 victories, two against overwhelmingly favored opponents. The team made the most of its head start in the ECF series against the Celtics, when the team jumped out to a 3-0 lead and withstood a furious Boston comeback to win in seven games. Going into the series, ESPN analytics gave Miami a 3% chance to reach the Finals.

But as good as the overachieving Heat has played in the past month, the Denver Nuggets have somehow played even better. The first-seeded team in the Western Conference has not entertained any underdog bids. Led by MVP runner-up Nikola Jokic, the Nuggets put away the Timberwolves and Suns before sweeping the Lakers in the Western Conference Final. Jokic has scored 29.8 points per game with 13.1 rebounds and 10.5 assists in this span.

Though the Heat seem to have its work cut out for them in one final postseason test, the team also has obvious room for improvement after a night of exceptionally poor shooting. In the face of yet another juggernaut, coach Erik Spoelstra remains undeterred.

“They’re fine. They’re not going to get sick at sea,” Spoelstra said after the game. “If they’re shooters, you’re not always going to be able to make all the shots you want. You have to find different ways to impact the game. Our game is not built just on the three-point ball. We’ve proven that time and time again. We can win games, we can win series, regardless of how the three is going.”

Jimmy Butler is undeniably the protagonist of the 2023 NBA Playoffs and the Miami Heat continue to benefit from its star’s heroics. The forward’s 35-point night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals made the difference as Miami put away the heavily favored Boston Celtics 123-116 on the road to begin the series.

As the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference that had to earn its spot through the play-in tournament, the Heat was on very few people’s radars when the postseason began. The team has been seemingly unstoppable despite low expectations, however, defeating the first-seeded Milwaukee Bucks and fourth-seeded New York Knicks in six games each.

Though Butler didn’t play quite as well against New York as he did against Milwaukee, against which he scored a practically inhuman 37.6 points per game, he still led the charge on the floor through all four of Miami’s wins. Around him, his teammates have been shooting extremely well and continued to do so in Game 1 against Boston.

With Butler returning to his Milwaukee-series form with 35 points against the Celtics, five of his teammates also managed to score at least 15 points each. It’s not a one-man show, but it’s also very difficult to imagine Miami getting this far without Butler’s immaculate performances.

“Damn right, I did,” Butler said when asked if he thought his team was capable of a run before the playoffs. “Damn right, we did. And the best part about it is we still don’t care what none of y’all think … We don’t care if you pick us to win.”

With one victory over the Celtics, who were competing well before caving in the third quarter, the question again becomes whether Miami’s star can propel them past another favored opponent. Boston has struggled in two straight series, going to six and seven games against both the Atlanta Hawks and Philadelphia 76ers, respectively. That being said, the team entered the playoffs as a legitimate title contender led by Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Malcolm Brogdon.

In the face of another multifaceted Eastern Conference favorite, Butler and the Heat have once again gotten the jump in a series many believed they could not win. The road ahead is long but the team has not yet struggled to put teams away in crunch time.

The only reputable person on Earth who might have had both the New York Knicks and Miami Heat advancing to the second round of the NBA Playoffs is Pat Riley, the longtime Knicks coach and current Heat team president. And there’s no chance in hell he had both winning in five games.

Such is the world we live in, however, as the Heat pulled off a shocking upset Wednesday night to eliminate Giannis Antetokounmpo and the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in a 128-126 overtime victory. Earlier in the night, the fourth-seeded Knicks turned a seemingly even series matchup into a rout, taking their own Game 5 to eliminate the Cleveland Cavaliers. These two teams, who endured adversity all season, will now face off in an improbable series leading to the Eastern Conference Final.

The Heat will enter Game 1 at Madison Square Garden with more momentum coming off a series victory against Milwaukee. Star forward Jimmy Butler had one of the best postseason performances in the modern era with 188 points in five games, including multiple clutch shots in several hard-fought wins. The Bucks arguably played down to their opponents and a Game 1 injury to Antetokounmpo didn’t help matters, but Butler’s efforts were singularly responsible for Miami’s ability to capitalize.

The Knicks’ series win over Cleveland was not as flashy but instead featured a multi-pronged attack firing on all cylinders. Led by Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson on offense, the team effectively made the most of its scoring opportunities while smothering Cleveland on defense. This could pose a new challenge for Miami, who took advantage of a weaker Milwaukee defense throughout the first round.

In the regular season, neither of these teams was slated as deep postseason contenders, as the Knicks seemed to lack star power while the Heat had to qualify for a berth through the play-in tournament. One of these teams will soon be thrust into the spotlight, however. On the other side of the bracket, two super teams are likely to face off, as the Philadelphia 76ers have already advanced while the Boston Celtics seem likely to do so with a 3-2 lead over the Atlanta Hawks.

The Milwaukee Bucks’ shocking 128-126 overtime loss to the Miami Heat in Game 5 falls squarely on Giannis Antetokounmpo’s shoulders. In a series defined by the heroics of Miami star Jimmy Butler, the Greek Freak looked painfully human Wednesday night as the top-seeded Bucks exited the NBA Playoffs in painfully quiet fashion.

After the game, Antetokounmpo reacted strongly when a reporter asked him if he considered the season a failure. The Bucks star wisely answered from a long-term perspective, and nothing he said was incorrect. As a human being, he had a profoundly successful year providing for his family, playing basketball at its highest level and maintaining his image as an internationally successful athlete.

It’s important to remember that athletes on television are people. They have personal lives and passions outside their respective sports. The fact that their triumphs and shortcomings are so widely publicized indicates that they’re successful regardless of the in-game result. Antetokounmpo is a successful person. It is not unfair, however, to simultaneously criticize Antetokounmpo’s Game 5 performance from an athletic standpoint, which fell well short of what the team required of him in the must-win contest.

It is rare that playoff losses are solely the result of a superstar’s poor performance, as a lack of depth and contributions from role players are more common. But not only was Antetokounmpo ineffective in the closing stages of Game 5 — he was arguably a liability, particularly at the free throw line.

In a game that Milwaukee lost by two points in overtime, Antetokounmpo shot 10-for-23 on free throws alone. He appeared so intimidated by the end of the game that he nearly turned the ball away in the fourth quarter to avoid getting fouled after a jump ball.

Foul shots weren’t the only issue; Antetokounmpo’s 38-point stat line masks the fact that he shot 1-for-10 from the field in the fourth quarter, leading the way for a profound Milwaukee scoring drought. The team blew a 16-point lead and eventually allowed Butler to make a last-second layup to tie the game.

At several points, Khris Middleton appeared to be the only Bucks player truly engaged in crunch time, saving Antetokounmpo’s errant pass off the jump ball, making all his free throws in the fourth quarter and overtime, and hitting several shots along the way to keep Milwaukee’s stagnant offense in the game. Middleton was the team’s star, but he couldn’t hold the dam together on his own.

The Bucks’ Game 5 loss came on the heels of an eerily similar Game 4 defeat, in which the team allowed 41 fourth-quarter points to Butler and the eighth-seeded Heat. In Game 5, three of Miami’s starting players eventually fouled out of the game, indicating that the team beyond Butler didn’t exactly rise to the challenge. It didn’t matter, however, as the Bucks descended to catastrophically low levels while Antetokounmpo melted down in real time on live television.

Short-sighted fans are likely to blame Grayson Allen, the Bucks’ fifth starter who somehow got the ball in the final seconds of overtime and failed to get a shot off. More forgiving fans will point to Antetokounmpo’s injury in Game 1, which doubtlessly impacted the first few games of the series. But accepting similar excuses for his Game 5 performance is much harder, as his detrimental play in the fourth quarter seemed to be as mental as it was physical.

Many will tell the story of “Playoff Jimmy” and the Heat’s historic upset in weeks to come. It’s one of the best feel-good stories of the NBA Playoffs so far. By the off-season, however, the collapse of the Milwaukee Bucks will be the story on people’s minds. Questions are inevitably going to be asked of the 2021 NBA Champions, and answers will be hard to come by for some time.

Miami Heat center Dewayne Dedmon was suspended for one game without pay “for conduct detrimental to the team” after he displayed erratic behavior on the sidelines in a game Tuesday against the Thunder. Dedmon was ejected from the contest in the first quarter for sending a massage gun flying onto the court in what appeared to be frustration.

Though exact details remain unclear, the incident occurred shortly after Dedmon was subbed out of the game after five minutes on the floor. While speaking to teammates and coaches on the sidelines, Dedmon reportedly overreacted to something and struck a table, which propelled a massage gun onto the court while the game was in action. He was ejected immediately.

In a brief statement, the Heat said that the suspension was given with consultation from the NBA. Teams may hand suspensions to their own players as they deem necessary in cases that require disciplinary action. This season, Dedmon has primarily come off the bench for Miami and has scored 5.9 points per game while earning 3.7 rebounds.

Without Dedmon, the Heat had to complete the game with just seven players, but in a gritty back-and-forth contest, the team managed to defeat Oklahoma City 112-111. Jimmy Butler scored 35 points and Max Strus played a staggering 42 minutes to earn 22 points as the team’s second-highest scorer.

Despite entering the season with mild promise, the Heat have struggled with multiple injuries which have stymied the team’s progress. Before Dedmon was ejected Tuesday, Miami was already without Tyler Herro, Udonis Haslam, Kyle Lowry, Bam Adebayo, Nikola Jovic and others.

The Heat are currently eighth in the Eastern Conference standings with a 22-20 record and will be without Dedmon for a game against the Milwaukee Bucks Thursday. He will return for another game against the Bucks on Saturday, Jan. 14, though his impact on the game will do little to change Milwaukee’s status as a heavy favorite.

The Heat lost 118-104 to the Warriors Wednesday night, but that wasn’t the team’s low point of the evening: Miami teammates Jimmy Butler and Udonis Haslem got into a shouting match and had to be separated in the third quarter.

Fingers were pointed, players tried to diffuse, and a clipboard was thrown to the ground in frustration by coach Erik Spoelstra.

It was the team’s second straight loss and fourth in seven tries. Things spilled over as Golden State opened the second half on a 19-0 run. During a timeout in that stretch, words were exchanged and eventually Butler and Haslam had to be separated.

The setback cut Miami’s lead in the Eastern Conference race to 1.5 games over the Bucks and Celtics.

“Listen, our guys really want to win basketball games and we have guys that work extremely hard,” Heat guard Kyle Lowry said. “The passion comes out. The fire and the emotions come out sometimes. But like I said, to us it’s nothing. We conversated and had a conversation and we continue to build.”

“We have bigger things to accomplish,” Spoelstra said. “But we do want to play better. Everything else across the board. It starts with our leadership, our veteran players have to lead and then we just have to play better. We got to play more consistently, and that’s really all the discussions were. I know how it could look on the outside, but as I mentioned before, that is more our language than playing without passion or without toughness or without multiple efforts.

“You can use moments during the season to catapult you. You can galvanize together over frustration and disappointment. Teams can also go the other way. I don’t see that with our group. I don’t see that with our locker room. But we have needed a kick in the butt.”

The Heat next host the Knicks on Friday.

This year’s NBA MVP, Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets, along with the Golden State Warriors‘ Steph Curry, the league’s scoring leader, headlined the All-NBA First Team announced on Tuesday.

The Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Doncic, Milawuakee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo and Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard rounded out the All-NBA First Team.

The All-NBA Second Team consisted of the Trailblazers’ Damian Lillard, the Suns’ Chris Paul, Knicks forward Julius Randle, the Lakers’ LeBron James and the 76ers big man Joel Embiid.

The All-NBA Third Team was made up of the Brooklyn Nets’ Kyrie Irving, the Wizards’ Bradley Beal, Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler, the Clippers’ Paul George and Jazz center Rudy Gobert.

Tuesday’s announcement marked Jokic’s third-straight All-NBA selection and second-straight First Team distinction. After missing almost the entirety of the 2019 season, Curry earned his seventh overall All-NBA selection and fourth First-Team selection. Antetokounmpo and Leonard both earned their third First-Team selection and fifth overall selection. Doncic’s accolade marked his second consecutive First-Team selection.

James earned his 17th overall All-NBA selection and third Second-Team selection. Randle earned his first All-NBA selection. Paul earned his 10th All-NBA honor, making him one of the 26 players who have made the team at least 10 times. Embiid earned his third All-NBA selection. Butler earned his fourth All-NBA selection, yet this is the first time he was voted higher than the Third Team.

Beal made his first All-NBA Team, while Irving earned his third selection. Gobert earned his fourth All-NBA selection, to add to his already impressive accolade of Defensive Player of the Year. George earned his sixth All-NBA selection.

This massive achievement also has financial ramifications for multiple players. For both Embiid and Doncic, their recognition to the All-NBA Teams will qualify them to sign supermax contract extensions with their current teams. Jokic became eligible to sign a supermax contract for next season after he earned the NBA MVP award.

Meanwhile, Celtics forward Jayson Tatum and Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell suffer a decrease in contract value due to not earning the All-NBA accolade. Kings guard De’Aaron Fox and Heat center Bam Adebayo also missed out on contractual bonuses. Bulls guard Zach LaVine would have been eligible for a supermax deal as well if he had been voted onto an All-NBA Team, which was not the case.

The NBA All-Defensive Team was announced Monday and includes Utah Jazz center, Rudy Gobert, who is also the reigning Defensive Player of the Year. Two Milwaukee Bucks were selected in guard Jrue Holiday and forward Giannis Antetokounmpo. The final two players included on the team were Philadelphia 76ers guard Ben Simmons, and Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green.

Miami Heat stars Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo were voted to the Second All-Defensive Team, joined by 76er teammates Joel Embiid and Matisse Thybulle. Former Finals MVP and star Clippers forward, Kawhi Leonard, also earned a spot in the Second All-Defensive Team.

Many of these honorees have earned this accolade in the past. Monday’s announcement marked Gobert’s fifth All-Defensive Team selection, Green’s sixth All-Defensive Team selection, with four first-team selections and two second-team selections. Leonard has appeared on the All-Defensive Team seven times.

Green is the only player earning this honor who did not appear in the 2021 postseason. Four of the final eight teams remaining in the playoffs are represented within these honors: the 76ers, Clippers, Jazz and Bucks.