Bucks win, seal top seed in East

Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton scored 33 points each, and the Milwaukee Bucks overcame a huge early deficit to get a 130-116 win over the Miami Heat on Thursday to clinch the top seed in the Eastern Conference.

The Heat led by 23 points in a first half where the team piled up 73 points despite playing without Jimmy Butler and Goran Dragic. Miami cooled off after the break and the Bucks took the lead in the third quarter but were down by six to start the fourth.

Antetokounmpo sat out about five minutes of the fourth quarter after collecting his fifth foul with 11 minutes to go. Milwaukee trailed by one with about five minutes remaining before using a 20-0 run, with three dunks from Antetokounmpo, to make it 130-111 with less than a minute to go and cruise to the victory.

“They were just getting everything they wanted in the first half,” Milwaukee coach Mike Budenholzer said. “We just felt like we made it more difficult on them in the second half. We wore them down.”

Duncan Robinson had 21 points for the Heat.

Suns 114, Pacers 99: Deandre Ayton had 23 points and 10 rebounds, and Phoenix continued its improbable run in the NBA bubble with a fourth straight win.

Devin Booker added 20 points and 10 assists, and Cameron Johnson had 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Kings 140, Pelicans 125: Bogdan Bogdanovic scored a career-high 35 points to help Sacramento beat New Orleans. De’Aaron Fox had 30 points and 10 assists, and Harrison Barnes added 22 points for the Kings, who got their first win in four tries since the restart.

Trail Blazers 125, Nuggets 115:

Damian Lillard tied his franchise record with 11 three-pointers and scored 45 points, and Portland moved closer to the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference.

Lillard was 11 for 18 from threepoint range, plus had 12 assists for Portland.