Butler dazzles as Miami send Milwaukee crashing out of NBA playoffs with overtime vitory

LOS ANGELES: Jimmy Butler conjured another magical performance as the Miami Heat sent the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks sensationally crashing out of the NBA playoffs on Wednesday with a nerve-jangling overtime victory.

Butler, who scored 56 points in a dazzling Game 4 win on Monday, once again led Miami’s offense with 42 points as the eighth-seeded Heat won 128-126 to seal a 4-1 series triumph.

It is only the sixth time in NBA history that an eighth-seeded team has eliminated a No. 1 seed from the playoffs.

The Bucks — who finished the regular season on top of the Eastern Conference with the best record in the NBA — were left ruing another fourth-quarter collapse as Miami celebrated before a shocked Milwaukee home crowd at the Fiserv Forum.

Milwaukee, who had blown a double-digit lead in Monday’s game four loss in Miami, were ahead by 16 points early in the fourth quarter on Wednesday.

But with a victory beckoning that would have kept the series alive, the Bucks’ fragility was exposed once more as Miami chipped away at the lead.

The Heat outscored Milwaukee 32-16 in the fourth quarter, with Butler grabbing a jaw-dropping alley-oop to tie the game at 118-118 with just 0.5 seconds left that forced overtime.

“We were resilient, we were down late — it’s seemed to be that way a lot during this series — but we stayed with it, got some stops, made some huge buckets,” said Butler.

The Miami star said his remarkable streak of form had been inspired by his teammates.

“Whatever it takes to win — it could be 40 (points), it could be 50, I gotta be able to do it all,” Butler said.

Miami teammate Gabe Vincent, whose sublime pass set up Butler’s game-tying shot at the end of regulation, said the Miami plan had been simple: