Butler, Heat beat Bucks in Game 1

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Jimmy Butler scored a playoff career-high 40 points, Goran Dragic added 27 and the Heat clamped down defensively in the final three quarters to beat the Bucks 115-104 in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series 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 the Heat, who improved to 5-0 in the postseason.

Khris Middleton scored 28 points for the Bucks, who also dropped Game 1 of its first-round series against the Magic. 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 will likely be best remembered by what he did at the foul 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 the Thunder on April 23, 2017 against Houston.

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

The Heat led 92-86 after three quarters, after trailing for most of the game to that point — then managed only three points in the first 6:30 of the fourth quarter.

The Bucks didn’t exactly exploit that slump.

Marvin Williams’ three-point play with 7:40 left got the Bucks within 95-93, and it stayed a one-possession 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 Heat possession to put his team back on top.

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 with 1:34 left to make it 109-101.

Middleton had 21 at halftime, while Lopez added 19 by then for the Bucks and Dragic had 19 at the break for the Heat. The Bucks led 40-29 after the opening quarter and 63-60 at the break.

Duncan Robinson, a big part of the Heat’s success this season, had only one shot in the first half — a banked-in 3-pointer.

Butler’s previous high in a Heat uniform was 38 points. His previous playoff career-best was 36, for the 76ers last season.

The Bucks are now 20-32 in

Game 1s.

Heat President Pat Riley was at the game, though he’s not allowed to be near the team or their hotel because of the health and safety rules of the restart.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said he was glad Riley and GM Andy Elisburg — who was at some first-round games as well — could see the “historic” bubble.

“It’s still enough to be able to feel the emotions of the playoffs and where we are,” Spoelstra said.