Magic open by upsetting Bucks
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — The Milwaukee Bucks’ hopes of winning their first NBA title since 1971 got off to a rocky start.
Nikola Vucevic scored a playoff career-high 35 points and had 14 rebounds as the Orlando Magic stunned the top-seeded Bucks 122-110 on Tuesday in the league’s fan-free Disney World bubble.
Terrence Ross scored 18 points, Gary Clark added 15 and D.J. Augustin had 11 points and 11 assists in the series opener for the eighth-seeded Magic, who were 14-point underdogs.
Orlando winning the opener of the best-of-seven series was an intriguing result given that the Bucks can’t rely on home-court advantage in these pandemic-altered playoffs.
“We don’t care what other people have to say,” Vucevic said. “We focus on ourselves, and we came out and played a great game on both ends of the floor.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with 31 points, 17 rebounds and seven assists for Milwaukee. Last season’s MVP was held without a basket over the final 11 minutes and seemed to get more frustrated as the fourth quarter went on.
The Bucks came into the postseason as the favorites to win the title. But they went 3-5 in seeding games in the bubble, and that sluggish play carried over into the postseason.
Milwaukee made 43 percent of its shots, including 14-for-42 from 3-point land.
Orlando used an early 15-2 run to build a 51-33 lead midway through the second quarter behind 16 points from Vucevic.
Trail Blazers 100, Lakers 93: Damian Lillard had 34 points and spoiled Lebron James’ first playoff appearance for Los Angeles in the opener of their playoff series. James had 23 points, 17 rebounds and 15 assists for his 24th postseason triple-double. His assists were a career playoff high. Jusuf Nurkic had 16 points and 15 rebounds for Portland, which led by as many as 16 points in the first half. The Blazers were without Bishop Gorman product Zach Collins because of inflammation in his left ankle.
■ Heat 113, Pacers 101: Jimmy Butler scored 28 points and Goran Dragic had 24 for Miami, which pulled away in the closing minutes, long after Indiana lost All-star guard Victor Oladipo to an eye injury. T.J. Warren and Malcolm Brogdon scored 22 points apiece.
■ Rockets 123, Thunder 108: James Harden had 37 points and 11 rebounds, and Houston rolled past Oklahoma City in their playoff series opener. Rockets All-star Russell Westbrook was out with a quad injury. Jeff Green scored 22 points and Eric Gordon added 21. Danilo Gallinari matched a playoff career high with 29 points for the fifth-seeded Thunder.