After the Miami Heat used a massive comeback effort - led by a team playoff record 56 points from superstar forward Jimmy Butler - to defeat the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday, history is just one win away.
Miami, which entered this year’s NBA playoffs as the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference, could advance to the semifinal round of the postseason with its next win in the first round series against the No. 1 seed Bucks.
In the history of the NBA postseason, a No. 8 seed has only knocked off a top seed just five previous times.
In the 1993-94 season, the Denver Nuggets made history by defeating the No. 1 seed Seattle SuperSonics three games to two. Denver would take their next series to seven games before being eliminated in the Western Conference semifinals by the Utah Jazz.
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In the 1998-99 season, the No. 8 seed New York Knicks didn’t just win its first round series after upsetting the Atlanta Hawks - it became the first and only No. 8 seed ever to make the NBA Finals, losing to the San Antonio Spurs.
In the 2006-07 season, the No. 8 seed Golden State Warriors knocked off the No. 1 seed Dallas Mavericks before being eliminated in five games by Utah in the following series. In the 2010-11 season, the No. 8 seed Memphis Grizzlies took out the No. 1 seed Spurs before losing in the following series to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The following season, the No. 8 Philadelphia 76ers defeated the No. 1 seed Chicago Bulls before losing to the Boston Celtics in the following round.
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The winner of the Heat-Bucks series will take on the winner of the series between the New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Game Five of the Heat’s series will take place Wednesday in Milwaukee.
