Butler, Dragic lift Heat over Bucks
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Jimmy Butler scored a playoff career-high 40 points and Goran Dragic added 27 as the Miami Heat clamped down defensively in the final three quarters to beat the Milwaukee Bucks 115104 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 the Bucks, which also dropped Game 1 of its firstround-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.
But Antetokounmpo’s night likely will be best remembered
by what he did at the freethrowl line: The reigning MVP went 4-for-12 from the stripe, the worst performance by anyone with at least 12 free-throw attempts in a playoff game since Andre Roberson went 2-for-12 for Oklahoma City on April 23, 2017, against Houston.
Kyle Korver added 11 for the Bucks.
The Heat led 92-86 after three quarters, after trailing for most of the game.
Butler’s 3-pointer with 3:03 left pushed the lead to 102-96, and Herro — after Adebayo extended a possession with an offensive rebound — connected on a 3-pointer with 1:34 left to make it 109-101.
■ Thunder 104, Rockets 100: Chris Paul gave Oklahoma City at least one more game in the bubble, scoring 15 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter for Houston in Game 6 of a Western Conference first-round series.
Paul made two free throws with 13.1 seconds left and the game tied at 100, and Danilo Gallinari added two more after a turnover by Russell Westbrook to finish it off.
Gallinari added 25 points. James Harden had 32 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Rockets, while Westbrook had 17 in his second game back from a right quadriceps strain.
Game 7 is Wednesday, with the winner advancing to face the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers.