Jimmy Butler waved good-bye to Milwaukee. New York finally got back to the second round. Desmond Bane and Ja Morant kept Memphis’ season alive. And the champion Golden State Warriors looked like the champion Golden State Warriors again.
Butler and the Miami Heat pulled off a stunner — to everyone but themselves, that is — by becoming the sixth No. 8 seed in NBA history to eliminate a No. 1 seed, ousting Milwauke in five games. None of the other five upset wins were as one-sided; all the others ended up as 3-2 or 4-2.
Waiting for the Heat: The fifth-seeded Knicks, in what will rekindle a rivalry that started a generation ago. They ousted Cleveland in five games.
So, get ready for May Madness — a No. 5 seed vs. a No. 8 seed. It’s only happened once before, that coming in 1994 when fifth-seeded Utah faced eighth-seeded Denver in Round 2.
Memphis beat the Los Angeles Lakers to get within 3-2 in that series, and the Warriors stole home-court from Sacramento by winning their third straight against the Kings to take the lead in that matchup.
WHAT’S NEXT?
There is one game Thursday, with Boston taking a 3-2 lead into Atlanta. Golden State (against Sacramento) and the Los Angeles Lakers (against Memphis) have home games on Friday with 3-2 series leads.
HOW TO WATCH
— Thursday’s Boston-Atlanta game is on TNT.
— The two Game 6’s on Friday will both be on ESPN. Sacramento is at Golden State, a 5 p.m. local start in San Francisco and 8 p.m. Eastern. That’ll be followed by Memphis at the Lakers at 10:30 p.m. Eastern.
— If there is a Game 7 of Atlanta-Boston on Saturday night, it’ll be on TNT.
— All those games will be available through local broadcasters. Once the second round starts, games will be on national networks only.
— The NBA Finals on ABC begin June 1.
WELCOME TO ROUND 2
The Knicks are in the second round for the first time since 2013.
They’ve had seven coaches and 111 players since that last trip to Round 2 — and were one of only six franchises to not make the conference semifinals during that span.
The others: Sacramento, Orlando, Detroit, Charlotte and Minnesota.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Miami ranked last in scoring during the regular season. The Heat rank first in scoring so far during the postseason, and in their five-game win over Milwaukee became only the sixth team in the last 30 years to average at least 124 points in a playoff series.
ROAD WARRIORS
The Warriors struggled on the road all season — but always seem to find a way in the playoffs. Wednesday’s win in Sacramento made this matchup the 28th consecutive series in which Golden State won a road game.
That’s the longest streak in NBA history. Golden State has won at least one road game in every series starting with a first-round matchup against Denver in 2013.
