Butler, Heat pull away from Bucks for 3-0 lead

Jimmy Butler scored a game-high

30 points as the fifth-seeded Miami

Heat took a 3-0 Eastern Conference semifinals series lead over the topseeded Milwaukee Bucks with a

115-100 win on Friday night in the

NBA bubble near Orlando.

Giannis Antetokounmpo, the

NBA’s reigning MVP, had 21 points, 16 rebounds, nine assists and two blocks for Milwaukee.

However, he shot just 7-for-21 from the floor, including 0-for-7 from 3point range.

Game 4 in the series is set for

Sunday afternoon. No NBA team has come back from a 3-0 series deficit.

Miami, which is 7-0 in the playoffs this year, also got 20 points and a team-high 16 rebounds from Bam Adebayo. Jae Crowder made a big contribution with 17 points, sinking 5 of 11 3-point attempts.

Milwaukee got a team-high 22 points from Brook Lopez plus 18 points from Khris Middleton.

Miami played without reserve center Kelly Olynyk, who has a knee injury. But the Heat, who used 10 players, still had enough depth to win, with rookie Tyler Herro providing 13 points and eight rebounds off the bench.

Milwaukee led 30-29 after the first quarter. The Bucks shot 54.5 percent from the floor in the period, including 4-for-6 on 3-point tries. Miami shot 47.6 percent, including 7-for-15 from long distance. There were five lead changes and four tie scores in the period.

The Bucks used a 12-3 second-quarter run to lead by as many as 10 points, settling for a 57-50 advantage at halftime. Antetokounmpo was held to seven points in the half, missing all four of his 3-point attempts. But Middleton (14 points) and Lopez (13 points) led Milwaukee’s firsthalf charge. Meanwhile, no Heat player scored in double figures in the opening half.

Miami went on a 10-0 run to take a 67-66 lead with 5:53 left in the third, but Milwaukee responded with a 21-8 surge and took a 87-75 advantage into the fourth.

The Heat trailed by 11 early in the fourth quarter before a 14-2 run gave them a 94-93 lead after two Butler free throws with 6:16 left in the fourth.

The Bucks last led at 99-98 after an Antetokounmpo dunk with 4:41 to go, but they managed just one point over the remainder of the game with the Heat outscoring them 17-1 down the stretch.

—Field Level Media