On April 27, Beijing time, in the NBA playoffs, the Heat defeated the Bucks 128-126 in overtime with Butler's reversal in regular time, and eliminated the opponent 4-1 in the series to advance, overturning the regular season champion Bucks as the eighth in the East, achieving the sixth "Black Eight Miracle" in history. Here is an inventory of the six "Black Eight Miracles" in history.
1.93-94 season, Nuggets 3-2 supersonics
SuperSonics 63-19 (first in the West)
Nuggets 42-40 (eighth in the West)
At the time, the SuperSonics were sitting on the supersonics of Payton and Kemp, who had the best regular season record and all playoff home court advantages. In the first two games of the playoffs, the Supersonics showed their prowess, taking match points 2-0 under the best-of-five first-round rule at the time.
But the Nuggets, after returning home, took advantage of the team's home court to successfully equalize the series on aggregate. In the crucial final game, the Nuggets united to play against the sky, and with the help of Mutombo's 8 blocks, finally won the game, and staged the "Black Eight Miracle" for the first time in history.
2. Knicks 3-2 Heat (98-99 season)
Heat 33-17 (first in the East)
Knicks 27-23 (8th in the East)
Jordan's retirement in the summer of '98 caused a huge sensation, and a labor dispute between the league and the players' union led to the delayed season, culminating in a shrunken season of only 50 regular season games. Although the Knicks caught the last train of the playoffs, they actually won 54%, only 6 wins behind the Heat, and the gap in strength was not as big as expected. And the Knicks and Heat have a deep grudge in the previous two years, and there is also the famous "Van Gundy holding his thigh" incident, the confrontation between the two sides is simply a meeting of enemies, and it is very red-eyed.
The first playoff match between the two sides. The Knicks won the victory first, and then the Heat pulled back a city, the Knicks returned home to get the game point, and the Heat tenaciously equalized the score. In the crucial fifth game, the two sides continued to tremble, but Alan Houston completed the final shot from mid-range with 4.5 seconds left to help the Knicks defeat the Heat and achieve the Black Eight. The Knicks then gave the green light to defeat the Hawks and Pacers to advance to the Finals, losing 4-1 to the Spurs and missing out on the championship, but they have already set a divisional best result.
3. Warriors 4-2 Mavericks (06-07 season)
Mavericks 67-15 (first in the West)
Warriors 42-40 (8th in the West)
After the '06 Finals break, the Mavericks played their best regular season performance in '06-07, and Nowitzki was named regular season MVP. At the same time, in order to repay the team's meritorious coach Don Nelson, the Mavericks released water in the regular season finale, rotated most of the main players, and owner Cuban even threatened to "don't let me see the main players at work" so that the Warriors could catch the final train of the playoffs, but unexpectedly this cost them dearly.
Don Nelson, who is very familiar with the Mavericks' tactical system, helped the Warriors win the game in the first game and gave the Mavericks a headshot. Although the Mavericks pulled back a city in G2, in the face of the Warriors' wild small-ball play, as well as their golden wave at home, the Mavericks' weakness and Nowitzki's weakness were completely exposed, the Warriors seized the opportunity to win the match point 3-1, and finally eliminated their opponent 4-2 in G6, Nowitzki became the first regular-season MVP to exit the first round, and the Warriors were also the first black eight team since adopting the best-of-seven rule in the first round. Their golden frenzy is also a memorable scene for fans in history, and it also lays the foundation for the Warriors to open the offensive era in the future.
4. Grizzlies 4-2 Spurs (10-11 season)
Spurs 61-21 (first in the West)
Grizzlies 46-36 (8th in the West)
Although the Spurs achieved a good record in the regular season at that time, second only to the 62-20 Bulls in the league, they had exposed many problems such as their overall age and the decline in the state of Duncan, the main core, in the regular season. The Grizzlies knew they couldn't beat the second-place Lakers and third-place Mavericks in the West, so they chose to lose consecutive games in the regular season and chose to challenge the Spurs in the first round.
The grizzly bear's choice turned out to be the right one. The Spurs faced the Grizzlies with "black and white" and played the entire series weakly, Randolph asked for everything on the inside, Conley and Gasol Jr. resolutely completed positional battles with the Spurs, exhausting the opponent's physical strength. In the end, the Grizzlies eliminated the Spurs 4-2, which also made the Spurs realize their problems, while preserving GDP, making the roster as young as possible, and then introducing young people such as Danny Green and Leonard, laying the groundwork for the team to win the championship three years later.
5.76ers 4-2 Bulls (11-12 season)
Bulls 50-16 (1st in the East)
76ers 35-31 (8th in the East)
This is another season of contraction due to labor disputes. The Bulls were once again the best record in the Eastern Conference under the leadership of the youngest regular-season MVP Rose, and the team was unstoppable. On the other hand, the 76ers, who only got their playoff tickets in the final moments of the regular season, the main players of the team are Holloday and Thaddeus Young, the overall roster is bleak, and the outside world believes that this is a set of suspenseless matchups.
However, the turning point came in the final moments of G1, when the Bulls had a 20-point lead, but they did not take advantage and still kept Rose on the court, which eventually led to Ross suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, which was reimbursed for the season. The lack of Ross's bull is equivalent to cutting off an arm, losing four games in the next five games, and being eliminated by the 76ers 4-2, it has to be said that the 76ers this time the black eight is the most lucky, Ross has since started his bumpy career.
6. Heat 4-1 Bucks (22-23 season)
Bucks 58-24 (first in the East)
Heat 44-38 (eighth in the East)
Before the series showdown, everyone thought the Bucks would be the favorite to win this year's championship, but the Heat first lost to the Hawks in the playoffs and finally caught the final train of the playoffs in a life-and-death battle with the Bulls, and the two sides clearly had a gap in roster strength. However, unexpectedly, shortly after the start of G1, the Bucks' star Alphabet Brother suffered a back injury and left the game, and the Heat took advantage of the situation to win the game and regain home-court advantage.
Alphabet missed the next two games as the Heat took a 2-1 lead. Alphabet chose to make a comeback in G4, creating a lot of trouble for the Heat, and at one point took a 12-point lead in the final quarter. But Butler used his brilliant performance to lead the team to a 13-0 climax to overcome, killing the game with a three-pointer and a mid-range shot at the crucial moment, giving the Heat an aggregate score of 3-1. Butler scored 56 points in the game, the fourth-highest in playoff history, behind Mitchell's 57.
In the crucial G5 battle, Butler once again contributed to the performance of the gods and scored 42 points. With a 16-point lead in the third quarter, the Bucks were hit by an offensive climax in the final quarter, and Butler delivered an anti-heavenly performance at the crucial moment, dragging the game into overtime with an unsolvable tie throw. In overtime, the Heat suppressed the Bucks at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends with a better look, and with the Bucks' final layup not scored, the Heat achieved the sixth "black eight miracle" in history.