Heat escape Game 2 with victory, 116-114

With 54.5 seconds left in Game 2 of the Miami Heat’s second-round series against the Milwaukee Bucks, Bam Adebayo made a Chris Bosh-esque jumper to put the Heat up 113-107.

But Adebayo committed his sixth personal foul on the very next possession, fouling out.

Fortunately for the Heat, Giannis Antetokounmpo missed both free throws. The score remained unchanged with just 19.8 seconds to go, but Antetokounmpo drove to the basket for a dunk. It was a four-point game. And Jimmy Butler committed a costly turnover after Goran Dragic in-bounded the ball, giving Brook Lopez an easy layup attempt over Dragic.

Miami called a timeout, and then Butler split a pair at the free throw line. The Heat held a 114-111 lead with 7.7 seconds left. And after a timeout, referee Marc Davis called Dragic for a foul on a Khris Middleton 3-pointer despite Dragic being in good defensive position. Erik Spoelstra had already used his coach’s challenge in the first quarter, so he couldn’t use it then.

Middleton made all three free throws, and the Heat had only 4.3 seconds to try to win it and avoid playing overtime without Adebayo.

Butler attempted a fade-away jumper as time expired, but the referees called Antetokounmpo for a foul just before the final buzzer. Butler would have to hit at least one free throw with 0.0 seconds left on the clock and no one else within the 3-point line — similar to a technical foul shot.

You didn’t think he’d miss, did you?

The Heat’s five-time All Star rattled in both free throws, and the Heat escaped with a 2-0 lead against the top-seeded Bucks. It was an impressive display from Miami, which led during all but two minutes and change of the game, despite numerous questionable foul calls on the Heat.

Instead of Butler dropping 40 points, Miami won this game with a balanced attack. Dragic led the Heat with 23 points on 8-of-18 shooting from the field and 4-of-8 from downtown. Similar to Game 1, Dragic did most of his damage in the first half. He also made this great hustle play to give Adebayo two free throws.

Jae Crowder again got the defensive assignment on Antetokounmpo and he held his own. The Heat’s defense helped force the reigning MVP into a couple turnovers. Crowder added 16 points on four made 3-pointers, though he attempted 12 shots from deep.

When Andre Iguodala sprained his ankle after a Kyle Korver flagrant foul — Korver stuck his feet on Iguodala’s landing spot — Erik Spoelstra turned to Derrick Jones Jr. for a few minutes in the fourth quarter. And Jones, who didn’t play in Game 1, had some nice defensive sequences guarding both Antetokounmpo and Middleton.

Tyler Herro added 17 points off the bench, including three triples. The last one he made came with 8:28 left in the fourth quarter to put the Heat up 100-93, a big bucket. Kelly Olynyk exploited Lopez’s reluctance to defend out to the 3-point line, knocking down three 3s. And Duncan Robinson also made three 3s after only making one in Game 1.

The Heat will play Game 3 on Friday at 6:30 p.m.