Milwaukee, Wisconsin - The Milwaukee Bucks take the advantage in their NBA first-round series with the Miami Heat, fighting through a tough ending to win game one.

Giannis Antetokounmpo (26) and the Bucks almost dropped the ball against Heat again, but ultimately prevailed in the end to win game one 109-107, going up 1-0 in the Eastern Conference first-round playoffs.

Saturday's game proved to be the close-knit matchup that many were expecting as the Bucks and Heat kept the entire game close.

The general sense going into game one was that this was already a must-win situation for the Bucks, since they couldn't handle the Heat in last year's match-up. "The pressure was all on them," Heat guard Goran Dragic said in an ESPN interview.

NBA New York Liberty receives hero's welcome with ticker-tape parade for WNBA title!

The Heat jumped out in front first, gaining the lead and holding on to it by the end of the first quarter, despite numerous pushes by the Bucks. Miami was only up by two to start the second quarter and tried to keep the momentum going, but Milwaukee was able to finally jump ahead with just a few minutes to go until the half.

The Bucks went into the intermission with a three-point lead at 53-50.

It seemed that it was then Milwaukee holding down the fort against the Heat, in the second half. The Bucks fared only a little better when they had the lead, jumping out to as much as a seven-point advantage, their biggest lead of the game.

In the final minutes of regulation, the Heat nearly stole the show, as the Bucks just couldn't seem to close things out. Giannis had the game on his shoulders in the final minute, but couldn't sink the free throws needed to wrap up the win. Jimmy Butler took advantage of the moment and dropped a lay-up at the last second, to tie things up for Miami and send things into overtime.

Both teams continued going back and forth for the lead until Giannis' teammate Khris Middleton sank a jump shot with only half a second remaining for the win. Middleton finished the game leading all scorers with 27 points. Giannis had a big game with 26 points and 18 rebounds, while Jrue Holiday had 20 points with 11 boards.

The Heat were led by Dragic's 25 points off the bench, followed up by Duncan Robinson's 24 points. Jimmy Butler had the most complete game for Miami with 17 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists.

Game two is on Monday night, again from Milwaukee.