The Milwaukee Bucks had more highs than lows in 2023. From Giannis Antetokounmpo’s consistently high level of play to the franchise-altering acquisition of superstar guard Damian Lillard, the Bucks had plenty to celebrate. However, every team has their fair share of regrets. Milwaukee’s biggest regret in 2023 was getting ousted from the first round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs.
Meltdown of massive proportions
Already down 3-1 in the series, no thanks to the white-hot performances of Miami Heat superstar Jimmy Butler, the Bucks were looking to extend their season in Game Five. It appeared they would pull off the win for a while as they headed to the fourth quarter up by 16.But Miami, who also came from behind to take Game Four, had other ideas. They rallied behind Butler’s incredible play to send the game to overtime, with the latter hitting an improbable alley-oop layup to knot the score at 118-all. The Heat eventually won in the extra session 128-126, becoming the sixth eighth seed to oust the number-one seed in the history of the NBA.
Bleacher Report’s Grant Hughes wrote that everything that could have gone wrong did for the Bucks in Game Five.
“Basically, everything went wrong as the Bucks failed to generate good looks on offense, didn’t change up their approach on a scorching Jimmy Butler, inexplicably left Brook Lopez off the floor to defend Butler’s game-tying lob at the end of regulation, mismanaged their timeouts and gagged the game away in overtime,” Hughes wrote.
