First time in 6 yrs. The Miami Heat are headed back to the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Heat closed out their semifinals series against top-seeded Milwaukee on Tuesday night, beating the Bucks 103-94, cliniching the series to take the series 4-1. They'll move on to the conference championship series for the first time since 2014.
Filipino-American Head Coach Erik Spoelstra, who holds the distinction of being the first Asian American head coach not only in the NBA but in the history of all the four major American sports leagues . Spoelstra last guided the Heat to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2014 behind the star trio of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.The Miami Heat bounced back from LeBron James’ poor Game 5 performance, lighting up the Indiana Pacers in Game 6, 117-92, to clinch their fourth consecutive NBA Finals appearance. Miami defeated top seed Indiana 4-2 but lost to San Antonio for the title in five games.
The Heat, who improved to 8-1 in the postseason, will play either the Toronto Raptors or Boston Celtics in the conference finals. The Celtics lead that series 3-2. This is the Heat's first appearance in the third round since 2014, the last year of the LeBron James era.
The Heat once again did it with balance. Forward Jimmy Butler and guard Goran Dragic led six players in double-figures with 17 points. Jae Crowder had 16 points while rookie Tyler Herro added 14.
Miami Heat will get some rest waiting for the winner of the Toronto Raptors-Boston Celtics series ahead of the Eastern Conference Final.
Meanwhile , Giannis Antetokounmpo is obviously a huge part of Milwaukee’s plans going forward. It was almost exactly a year ago — Sept. 12, 2019 — when the Bucks held a preseason Town Hall meeting for fans, and one of them asked the panel that included Milwaukee general manager Jon Horst what the situation was with Antetokounmpo’s long-term contract.
“Of course, he’ll be offered a supermax extension,” Horst said.
The Bucks can make that move when free agency begins, possibly as early as mid-October.
Such a deal would kick in for the 2021-22 season, and the mathematics before the pandemic hit said it would have been worth around $247 million. If the salary cap going forward takes a hit because of the amount of revenue the league and its teams lost this season, so would the total value of Antetokounmpo’s next deal — though, by any measure, he’ll be set for life.
He’s under contract for $27.5 million next season.