The No. 1-seeded Milwaukee Bucks had their season end way earlier than anyone expected on Wednesday night, losing Game 5 to the Miami Heat to lose the series, 4-1 – becoming just the fifth one-seed in NBA history to drop the opening playoff series.
Milwaukee had a chance to win Game 5 in overtime – but Grayson Allen’s blunder with time expiring was a fittingly sad ending to their season.
Down two points with seconds left on the clock, Giannis Antetokounmpo dribbled the ball down the court before stumbling and throwing a pass to Khris Middleton.
Middleton held the ball but was double-teamed – and passed the ball to Allen on the perimeter.
With the seconds ticking away, Allen faked a shot but then decided to drive to the basket – as time was expiring.
He was unable to get a game-tying shot off before the clock expired.
Game over, series over.
Allen, who has become a major villain in the NBA for dirty antics that stretched back to his college career at Duke, naturally caught the brunt of the jokes on social media.
“Grayson Allen with the worst shot hesitation since Alexander Hamilton,” Barstool Sports’ Frank Fleming wrote on Twitter.
Twitter user Dylan Goforth posted a GIF of Michael Scott dribbling in circles on one knee from “The Office,” with the caption: “Grayson Allen staring down a 2-point deficit with 0.9 seconds left.”
With the loss, the Bucks became the first one-seed in the NBA playoffs to drop the opening series since the Spurs did so in 2011, losing to the No. 8 Grizzlies in the first round.
The Heat, led by another brilliant Jimmy Butler performance (42 points, eight rebounds and four assists), will now face the Knicks in the second round after New York defeated Cleveland in five games in their opening-round series.
Butler hit a circus layup in the final second of regulation to force overtime.
After the game, Antetokounmpo was asked if he thought Milwaukee’s season was a failure.
“It’s not a failure; it’s steps to success,” Antetokounmpo said. “There’s always steps to it. Michael Jordan played 15 years, won six championships. The other nine years was a failure? That’s what you’re telling me?
“It’s a wrong question; there’s no failure in sports. There’s good days, bad days. Some days you’re able to be successful, some days you’re not. Some days it’s your turn, some days it’s not your turn. And that’s what sports is about. You don’t always win. Sometimes other people win. And this year somebody else is going to win, simple as that.”
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