Heat vanquishes top-seeded Bucks
James, Rondo spur Lakers past Rockets
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat are headed to the Eastern Conference finals.
Giannis Antetokounmpo could only watch.
The fifth-seeded Heat finished off an upset of the NBA’s best regularseason team Tuesday, topping the Milwaukee Bucks 103-94 in Game 5 of their East semifinal series — while Antetokounmpo, the league’s reigning MVP, couldn’t play because of a sprained right ankle.
Butler and Goran Dragic each scored 17 points for the Heat, which won the series 4-1 and will face Boston or Toronto when the NBA’s final four gets underway next week. It’s Miami’s first time in the East finals since 2014, and the first time Butler has gotten to the NBA’s final four.
Jae Crowder scored 16, Tyler Herro scored 14, Bam Adebayo had 13 and Kelly Olynyk had 12 apiece for the Heat.
Khris Middleton had 23 points for Milwaukee, which got 15 points and 14 rebounds from Brook Lopez.
Milwaukee opened the game on a 28-15 run, putting Miami on its heels from the opening minutes.
But Miami answered that start with a 30-9 run of its own, capped by three free throws from Olynyk with 4:36 left in the half for a 45-37 Heat lead. LAKERS 112, ROCKETS 102:
LeBron James scored 36 points and Rajon Rondo sparked a fourthquarter rally as Los Angeles beat Houston to take a 2-1 lead in their Western Conference playoff series.
James earned his NBA-record 162nd playoff victory, surpassing former Lakers guard Derek Fisher’s 161.
Rondo had 21 points and nine assists as the Lakers broke open a close game in the final period. He scored eight straight points during a 10-0 run early in the fourth quarter that put the Lakers ahead for good. Rondo assisted on the other basket during that stretch.
Anthony Davis had 26 points and Kyle Kuzma added 14. James Harden scored 33 points and Russell Westbrook had 30 points for the Rockets.
Rondo assisted on a layup by James that put the Lakers ahead with about 10 minutes remaining. Rondo then hit a 3-pointer to give the Lakers an 89-85 advantage, their largest lead to that point.
After a Houston timeout, Westbrook missed a shot and Rondo sank another 3. Rondo then stole the ball from Harden and made a layup to cap the 10-0 run.
Wednesday’s games
TORONTO-BOSTON (Celtics lead
3-2): The season is on the line for the reigning NBA champion Raptors, who trail the Celtics 3-2 in their Eastern Conference semifinal series and face a win-or-gohome Game 6 matchup.
The Celtics controlled start to finish on the way to a 111-89 win in Game 5, putting the Raptors on the brink.
Toronto guard Kyle Lowry said the Raptors can’t be thinking about winning two games. Game 6, he said, is all that matters.
“We’ve just got to work on one,” Lowry said. “I’m very confident in our group. Our group is very toughminded, tough-spirited and we’re a good team.
“We know what we’ve got to do. We’ve got to take one game at a time, one possession, one minute, one second at a time and just go out there and play.” LOS ANGELES-DENVER (Clippers
leads 2-1): This is the 19th time that Kawhi Leonard has played for a team leading after three games of a playoff series; those clubs have gone on to prevail 14 times in the previous 18 instances. He’s got the Clippers two wins away from what would be the first trip to the conference finals in franchise history — but his sixth trip there in the last nine seasons.
Paul George was awful in Game 4 of the first round, shooting 3 for 14. In five games since, he’s shooting 49% and averaging 24.6 points for the Clippers. When he plays like this, the Clippers are so much tougher to beat.