Rockets down Thunder to claim series
ORLANDO: James Harden capped a miserable shooting performance with a timely defensive play, and the Houston Rockets held on for a 104102 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in game 7 of the Western Conference firstround playoff series near Orlando yesterday.
Harden closed out on Thunder guard Luguentz Dort and recorded a blocked shot with 4.8 seconds left and Houston clinging to a onepoint lead.
Following a Robert Covington free throw, the Rockets blew up an inbounds play from the Thunder with 1.1 seconds left to clinch the series and set a date against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Harden shot just 4 of 15 and had a serieslow 17 points. But he added nine assists and received help from his teammates, Covington posting 21 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and three blocks.
Jimmy Butler made two free throws with no time remaining on the clock yesterday, capping a wild finish that featured two controversial calls by the referees to give the fifthseeded Miami Heat a second straight win over the topseeded Milwaukee Bucks, 116114 in game 2 of the Eastern Conference semi final.
On a night when Butler followed up a 40point explosion with just 13, the Heat used a 5121 scoring advantage on 3pointers to put the Bucks in a big hole.
After trailing by as many as 13 in the first half and 10 in the final period, the Bucks got within 105102 on a short shot by Antetokounmpo with five minutes 30 seconds to play.
But Kelly Olynyk countered immediately with his third threepointer of the game to double the margin, and then the Heat defence took over. — Field Level Media