Butler scores 40 as Heat beat Bucks

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Jimmy Butler scored a playoff career-high 40 points, Goran Dragic added 27 and the Miami Heat clamped down defensively in the final three quarters to beat the Milwaukee Bucks 115-104 in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series on Monday night.

Bam Adebayo had 12 points, 17 rebounds and six assists for the fifth-seeded Heat, who are 3-1 overall against the top-seeded Bucks this season. Tyler Herro added 11 points for Miami, which improved to 5-0 in the postseason.

Khris Middleton scored 28 points for Milwaukee, which also dropped Game 1 of its first-round series against Orlando. Brook Lopez had 24 points on 8 for 10 shooting, and Giannis Antetokounmpo had 18 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists for the Bucks.

Kyle Korver added 11 for the Bucks, who scored 40 points in the first quarter and managed 64 the rest of the way.

Marvin Williams’ threepoint play with 7:40 left got Milwaukee within 95-93, and it stayed a onepossession game for nearly five minutes. Antetokounmpo scored for a 96-95 lead midway through the fourth, before Butler drove and got a baseline floater to fall on the next Miami possession to put Miami back on top.

Ingram named most improved

Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram has been named the NBA’s most improved player in a season that saw him bounce back from a life-altering blood clot and a trade from the team that drafted him second overall in 2016.

Ingram, who came to New Orleans as part of a blockbuster trade that sent Anthony Davis to the Los Angeles Lakers, averaged a team-leading and careerbest 23.8 points per game while hitting 46.3 percent of his shots.

Ingram received 42 first-place votes from a global panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters and earned 326 total points. He edged Miami Heat center/forward Bam Adebayo, who finished in second place with 295 points (38 first-place votes). Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic finished third with 101 points (12 first-place votes).

Ingram shot a careerbest 39.1 percent from 3-point range, up from 33 percent from deep during his final season with the Lakers.

Ingram’s free-throw percentage rose from 67.5 percent last season to 85.1 percent this season.