Dragic scores 23, 5thseeded Heat sweep Pacers
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Bam Adebayo got his first playoff series win, but the big man wasn’t planning on celebrating for too long.
He planned to give himself about 2 1/2 hours to enjoy the Miami Heat’s victory over the Indiana Pacers before turning his attention to the Eastern Conference semifinals and a possible date with the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks.
“One hundred percent I think we can get to another gear,” Adebayo said. “And that’s everybody here. This next series might be different. We might need to have different schemes.”
Goran Dragic scored 23 points, Adebayo had 14 points and 19 rebounds and the fifth-seeded Heat completed a first-round sweep, beating the Pacers 99-87 on Monday night. Tyler Herro had 16 points for the Heat, who made it out of the first round for the first time since 2016.
Victor Oladipo had 25 points and Myles Turner added 22 points and 14 rebounds for the Pacers, who have been bounced in the first round of the playoffs in five straight seasons.
“The playoffs are unpredictable and you never know how they can go,” Adebayo said. “The thing I took from this is you have to leave it all on the floor.”
Miami’s bench outscored Indiana’s depleted reserves 38-3.
Dragic’s layup at the end of the third quarter gave the Heat an eightpoint lead and the Pacers never mounted a serious comeback in the fourth.
Indiana cut the lead to 91-85 with 3 minutes left, but the Heat got three offensive rebounds on one possession before Herro scored on a driving layup.
The Heat set a franchise playoff record with 124 points in Game 3, but this time they won with defense.
“They played four great games and won in four different ways,” Oladipo said.
Heat guard Jimmy Butler left the game in the first quarter with a left shoulder strain. He returned after halftime and finished with six points in 23 minutes, although he made a handful of big plays on defense.
Butler said the shoulder was bothering him before the game.
“I was hoping it would cool down but it didn’t,” Butler said. “I’ll be OK.”
Coach Erik Spoelstra called it a soft tissue injury.
“He has built up a resume of being able to play through various injuries and his toughness will never be questioned,” Spoelstra said. “In the second half he gave us some really competitive minutes just gutting through it.”
Miami moves on to face the winner of the Magic-Bucks series. Top-seeded Milwaukee dropped the opener to Orlando but has won three straight and would close out the series with a win Wednesday.
“The rest is going to be great for myself and my teammates,” Butler said.
The Pacers played the series without Domantas Sabonis.
“He was our best player this year,” said Nate McMillan, who is 3-16 in the playoffs in his four seasons as Pacers coach, with his team being swept three times. “Once you get in the playoffs, you need everybody . ... It was just a tough adjustment for us.”
NUNN’S TIME Kendrick Nunn saw his first playoff action for Miami, scoring seven points in 14 minutes.
“I’m so proud of Kendrick,” Adebayo said. “He has been through some tough times the last couple of weeks . ... I told him to stay locked in. He got his number called and he produced. He stayed locked in and didn’t get discouraged with the situation.”
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Giannis Antetokounmpo offered some advice to teammate Khris Middleton before the fourth quarter of Monday’s playoff game against the Orlando Magic: “Shoot until your arms fall off.”
Middleton took the advice to heart.
Antetokounmpo had 31 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists and Middleton finally came alive with a huge fourth quarter as the Bucks beat the Magic 121-106 to take a 3-1 lead in the first-round series.
Middleton scored 18 of his 21 points in the final quarter and finished with 10 rebounds after being held to one field goal in the first three quarters on 1-of9 shooting.
“At times I am too unselfish, so I have to force the issue,” Middleton said.
Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said it was “just a matter of time” before Middleton had a breakout game.
If the Bucks hope to win their first NBA title since 1971 they’re going to need Middleton to be a consistent scorer and take some of the pressure off Antetokounmpo.
The top-seeded Bucks led by three entering the fourth quarter before Middleton scored 11 points during an 18-2 run on three 3-pointers and a mid-range jumper off an inbouds play to help the Bucks build a 102-83 lead.
“Giannis told me just to be aggressive and that is what I tried to do,” Middleton said.
Middleton averaged just 11 points per game in the first three playoff games on 12-of-37 shooting.
Antetokounmpo finished the game 14 of 21 from the field, but did most of his damage inside the paint where he was 12 of 14.
Nikola Vucevic continued his strong play for the Magic, finishing with 31 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. Terrence Ross had 19 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
“To start the fourth we went through a dry spell offensively and we didn’t execute well,” Vucevic said. “It’s tough when you play well for three quarters. You have to be able to execute and make shots and we didn’t.”
Milwaukee has now won three straight after losing the series opener to the eighth-seeded Magic.
Middleton said the Bucks have improved since the first game.
“Sometimes things aren’t going to go our way and you won’t make shots or whatever, but as long as you keep grinding good things are going to happen,” Middleton said.
Wesley Matthews added 12 points for the Bucks, who can close out the Magic on Wednesday.
Bucks: Made 17 3-pointers on 41 attempts . ... Antetokounmpo has at least 25 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in all four games to start the playoffs.
Magic: Aaron Gordon (hamstring) and Michael Carter-Williams (foot) have not played yet in the series. Their status for Game 5 is unclear.
VUCEVIC’S SERIES Vucevic has been huge for the Magic, averaging 29.5 points per game. Clifford said that speaks to Vucevic’s commitment to getting better when teams returned for the NBA restart.
“He’s dominating the floor,” Magic guard Markelle Fultz said.
Added Clifford: “He has been hungry to prove he is better than he was in last year’s playoffs.”
Budenholzer said he isn’t too concerned about stopping Vucevic, but his focus is more on slowing down Orlando’s team as a whole.
“The key for us is we are taking away the paint,” Budenholzer said. “He’s going to make some shots .... Ultimately it’s not about Vucevic. As long as our team defense is in a good place, I’m OK with that.”