The final 15 seconds of Game 2 of the Bucks-Heat series was as wild as you’ll ever see in an NBA game, as Milwaukee erased a six-point deficit to tie it with 4.3 seconds left, only for Jimmy Butler to win the game at the free throw line with no time left after a foul call at the buzzer.
How we got there was a wild ride, in which the Bucks successfully trapped Butler into a turnover that led to a Bucks layup, Khris Middleton was fouled on a three on a very questionable call, and then Butler was fouled on a fadeaway at the buzzer that was, likewise, questionable at best.
Butler shooting free throws with no time left on the clock was a rarity in the NBA, as it’s only happened twice before in NBA Playoff history, and players at home were just as stunned as fans watching how it went down, starting with the foul on Middleton.
That’s not a foul
— Joel “Troel” Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) September 3, 2020
Need that challenge back!!
— Kevin Love (@kevinlove) September 3, 2020
Lol
— Ekpe Udoh (@EkpeUdoh) September 3, 2020
Horrible call smdh
— Shelvin Mack (@ShelvinMack) September 3, 2020
That is a awful awful call!!!!
— Channing Frye (@channingfrye) September 3, 2020
It wasn’t more than two minutes later in real time that the foul on Butler happened, and just about the same reactions came from NBA stars who couldn’t help but laugh at how things ended.
Hahahahahahahaha #Lmao
— Joel “Troel” Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) September 3, 2020
Penalty shootout just like in football
— Joel “Troel” Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) September 3, 2020
A FOUL…wow!!!!
— Kevin Love (@kevinlove) September 3, 2020
Need that challenge back too
— Kevin Love (@kevinlove) September 3, 2020
— CJ McCollum (@CJMcCollum) September 3, 2020
— Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell) September 3, 2020
No they didn’t!
— Bradley Beal (@RealDealBeal23) September 3, 2020
Aye
— Bradley Beal (@RealDealBeal23) September 3, 2020
Aye
— Bradley Beal (@RealDealBeal23) September 3, 2020
— Jusuf Nurkić (@bosnianbeast27) September 3, 2020
Touuuugh way for a great game to end.
— Jamal Crawford (@JCrossover) September 3, 2020
Man, I lost like that in a hood tournament before and was sick !
— Jamal Crawford (@JCrossover) September 3, 2020
— Tim Hardaway Jr (@T_HardJR) September 3, 2020
That was a first
— Baron Davis (@BaronDavis) September 3, 2020
Basketball gods boy
— Marreese Speights (@Mospeights16) September 3, 2020
Nobody wants to see a game end like this. I’m sorry
— Channing Frye (@channingfrye) September 3, 2020
What a finish to this game.. unreal #playoffs
— Patrick Patterson (@pdpatt) September 3, 2020
Of all people, it was Draymond Green who felt Marc Davis made the right calls on the two controversial plays.
Wow that’s two tough calls right there… probably right on both though
— Draymond Green (@Money23Green) September 3, 2020
We’ll see if the league concurs when they release the Last Two Minute report on Thursday, but it was an ugly end to a competitive game, with Miami emerging with a stranglehold on the series at 2-0.