Bucks Zone

"Nobody outside of this organization believed in us!" - Jimmy Butler speaks up after epic 56-point performance to push the Milwaukee Bucks to the brink of elimination

Giannis returned to the Bucks, but it wasn't enough to hurdle Jimmy Buckets' big night.
Jonas Panerio|
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Milwaukee BucksMiami Heat

The Milwaukee Bucks welcomed back superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, but there was very little to celebrate as the best team in the NBA in the regular season finds itself in a perilous 3-1 hole after dropping Game 4, 119-114. While Giannis’ return was the storyline early on, Butler ended up grabbing the headlines as he poured in a franchise-record 56 points to will the Heat to the improbable win after trailing by as much as 14 in the fourth quarter.

Jimmy took over

The Bucks seemingly had complete control of the ballgame as they led 92-78. But that was before Butler took over, willing the Heat to an incredible 30-13 run in the game’s final stretch to nab the awe-inspiring victory that had the partisan crowd rocking. Butler shot 19-of-28 from the field, 15 of 18 from the line, and added nine rebounds to a stat line that will be remembered for a very long time.

“We knew what we were capable of, even if nobody outside of this building, outside of this roster, and outside of this organization believed in us,” Butler said. “That’s fine. We just want to continue to do what we know is possible.”

Can the Bucks rally?

Only 13 teams have rallied to come back from a 3-1 deficit, and the most recent team to do it was the Denver Nuggets in 2020, doing it twice in that year’s Playoffs. They’ll get their first chance at staying alive in Game 5 on Wednesday, and for Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer, the task is very simple.

“We just gotta go home and win a game,” Budenholzer said. “We talked about it in the locker room. We gotta go to Milwaukee and win a game. Life is not complicated. That’s what we gotta go do.”

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Jonas Panerio
JONAS PANERIO