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Sept. 4 (UPI) -- The Miami Heat used a big fourth quarter to beat the Milwaukee Bucks 115-100 on Friday night, putting the Eastern Conference's No. 1 seed on the brink of elimination. Jimmy Butler scored 30 points -- including 17 in the final frame -- to lead the Heat to their largest fourth-quarter playoff comeback in team history. Miami outscored the Bucks 40-13 in the last quarter to take a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal series.
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The Heat trailed the Bucks by 12 points entering the last quarter. The comeback win topped their 10-point rally in the fourth quarter of Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs -- when Ray Allen sent the contest into overtime with a 3-pointer on the way to the Heat's most recent championship.
"No, I'm not surprised," Butler said. "I think everybody else in the world might be, but not us here. Not if you wear a Heat jersey, if you're one of these coaches, if you're part of this organization, if you've been seeing what we've been doing all year long, that doesn't surprise us."
No team in NBA history has successfully rallied from a 3-0 deficit.
"It can be us," Bucks superstar and reigning NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo said. "It can definitely be us."
Heat big man Bam Adebayo recorded 20 points and 16 rebounds, and Jae Crowder had 17 points, five assists and four rebounds. Goran Dragic scored 15 points and Tyler Herro added 13 off the bench.
Brook Lopez led the Bucks with 22 points on 8-of-17 shooting. Antetokounmpo notched 21 points, 16 rebounds, nine assists and two blocks.
Bucks forward Khris Middleton had 18 points, seven assists and two steals. George Hill chipped in 13 points and Donte DiVincenzo added 10.
Game 4 of the best-of-seven series is set for Sunday.
