Rockets take 2-0 over Oklahoma City
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — James Harden had 21 points and nine assists and the Houston Rockets made 19 of an NBA-record 56 3-point attempts to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 111-98 on Thursday for a 2-0 lead in the first-round Western Conference series.
For all the long-range shots, Harden said the Rockets actually won with defense. Houston held the Thunder to 39 points after the break.
“We played well,” he said. “We didn’t shoot the ball particularly well tonight. But I think defensively, especially in that second half, we did an unbelievable job just gearing in what they like to do and correcting our mishaps in that first half.”
Former Thunder star Russell Westbrook was out for the Rockets again with a right quad strain, but plenty of other Houston players picked up the slack. Danuel House Jr. scored 19 points.
“It’s not pride, it’s just team energy,” House said. “We want to make sure that guys are not caring about themselves so guys are showing great energy on the court and off the court.”
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points for the Thunder, and Danilo Gallinari added 17.
Oklahoma City dominated the second quarter and led 5953 at halftime. The Thunder shot 50% in the half. Houston missed its last 15 3-pointers in the second quarter, and Harden scored just eight points on 2-for10 shooting in the half.
The Rockets went on a 13-0 run early in the second half to regain the lead. Gilgeous-Alexander, who had been cold in the bubble, made three straight 3-pointers to highlight an 11-0 run that put the Thunder ahead again. The Thunder held on and led 78-77 at the end of the third quarter.
Oklahoma City led 80-77 before the Rockets broke away with a 17-0 run, mostly with Harden on the bench.
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Goran Dragic had a little simple advice for Duncan Robinson before Game 2: Just shoot.
Robinson listened, hitting his first six shots — all from 3-point range. He finished with 24 points and the Miami Heat beat the Indiana Pacers 109-100 on Thursday for a 2-0 lead in their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series.
“I don’t care if he miss 18 shots, 18 3s,” Dragic said. “`I want you to shoot every time. Don’t pump fake. We need you, and you can see it.’ He didn’t hesitate today, and that’s how we want him.”
Robinson opened the game by making the Heat’s first three buckets, all 3s. He didn’t miss until midway through the third quarter, and Robinson tied the
Heat record for 3s in a playoff game with seven. He finished 7-of-8 shooting, all beyond the arc, in a big improvement from Tuesday when he was 2 of 8.
“Just felt a better rhythm in this one for whatever reason,” Robinson said. “But that can’t be the case for me. I got to kind of assert myself and not just have the game necessarily come to me, but be more aggressive. So I thought that was big and then obviously you see some go early, the hoop starts to look a little bigger.”
Dragic scored 20 points, Jimmy Butler had 18 points and six assists, rookie Tyler Herro added 15 points off the bench, and Jae Crowder scored 10.
Victor Oladipo, who had been questionable with an injured left eye, led Indiana with 22 points. Myles Turner and Malcolm Brogdon each had 17 points. T.J. Warren had 14 and Aaron Holiday had 12.
Pacers coach Nate McMillan said they know Robinson is an elite shooter and expected the Heat would try to get him involved. Robinson made a team-record 270 3s during the regular season.
“We really set and talked about the first play of the game,” McMillan said. “We knew it was going to him, and sure enough, it went to him to try to get him going. He’s a big part of what they do, and he was able to knock down the first 3 and just stayed hot from behind the 3-point line all night.”
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo had 28 points and 20 rebounds and the Milwaukee Bucks rode a fast start to beat the Orlando Magic 111-96 on Thursday and tie the Eastern Conference first-round series at a game apiece.
The Bucks boasted the NBA’s best regular-season record at 56-17, but went 3-5 in the eight seeding games at Disney’s Wide World of Sports and opened the playoffs by losing 122-110 to Orlando.
Milwaukee bounced back Thursday, building a 23-point lead in the first half, though Orlando got the margin down to nine in the fourth quarter.
Brook Lopez scored 20 points and Pat Connaughton had 15 on 5-of-8 3-point shooting for Milwaukee. Eric Bledsoe had 13 points and Donte DiVincenzo added 11.
Orlando’s Nikola Vucevic followed up his 35-point effort in the opener by scoring 32 points. Evan Fournier and Terrence Ross each had 12, Markelle Fultz had 11 and D.J. Augustin added 10.
The Bucks’ defensive intensity was the difference between the two games.
Orlando had no points in the paint for the entire first quarter and went nearly eight minutes without a basket during a firsthalf stretch.