Heat top Bucks
Jimmy Butler scored a playoff career-high 40 points, Goran Dragic added 27 and the Miami Heat clamped down defensively in the final three quarters to beat the Milwaukee Bucks 115-104 in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series on Monday night.
HEAT 115, BUCKS 104
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Jimmy Butler kept hearing the same message from teammates in every conversation Monday night.
“Win the game.” He listened to them and delivered.
Butler scored 14 of his playoff career-high 40 points in the fourth quarter, Goran Dragic added 27 and the Heat clamped down defensively in the final three quarters to beat the Milwaukee Bucks 115-104 in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.
“I felt like I took it up a level in the fourth quarter,” Butler said. “If that needs to happen every game, I’ve got to be able to do it. But we’ve got so many guys capable of doing it for us.”
Bam Adebayo had 12 points, 17 rebounds and 6 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.
Butler joined only LeBron James and Dwyane Wade — the first person who texted Butler postgame Monday night — as players with a 40-point playoff effort for Miami. He was 13 of 20 from the field, 12 for 13 from the line, and 2 for 2 from three-point land.
“He wants these kind of moments,” Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra said.
Khris Middleton scored 28 points for Milwaukee, which also dropped Game 1 of its first-round series against Orlando. Brook Lopez had 24 points on 8-of-10 shooting, and Giannis Antetokounmpo had 18 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists.
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 Oklahoma City on April 23, 2017, against Houston.
“He just has to stick with his routine, stick with what he’s been doing, continue to have a lot of confidence, continue to attack, continue to get to the free-throw line,” Bucks Coach Mike Budenholzer said. “He’s going to make them. We have total faith in him.”
Kyle Korver added 11 for the Bucks, who scored 40 points on the way to an 11-point lead after the first quarter — then managed 64 the rest of the way. The Bucks played without point guard Eric Bledsoe, out with a strained right hamstring.
“We’ve been here before,” Antetokounmpo said. “Going down 0-1 against Orlando, we did the same thing last year against Boston. We’ve got to come out and play Game 2, man. It’s a big game. Our season is on the line. We’ve got to come out, play hard, watch the tape, make the adjustment, be aggressive, make the right play and hopefully we can win the game.”
Miami led 92-86 after three quarters, after trailing for most of the game to that point — then managed only three points in the first 6:09 of the fourth quarter.
The Bucks didn’t exactly exploit that slump.
Marvin Williams’ threepoint play with 7:40 left got Milwaukee 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 Miami possession to put Miami back on top for good.
Butler’s three-pointer with 3:03 left pushed the lead to 10296, and Herro — after Adebayo extended a possession with an offensive rebound — connected on a three-pointer with 1:34 left to make it 109-101.
MIAMI (115)
Butler 13-20 12-13 40, Crowder 3-8 0-0 9, Adebayo 5-12 2-2 12, Dragic 9-15 7-7 27, Robinson 1-4 1-1 4, Olynyk 1-1 1-2 4, Iguodala 1-4 0-0 2, Herro 3-11 2-2 11, Nunn 3-9 0-0 6. Totals 39-84 25-27 115. MILWAUKEE (104)
G.Antetokounmpo 6-12 4-12 18, Middleton 12-24 0-0 28, B.Lopez 8-10 4-4 24, G.Hill 2-5 3-5 8, Matthews 2-4 1-2 7, Korver 4-9 0-0 11, Williams 2-5 1-1 5, Connaughton 1-5 0-0 2, DiVincenzo 0-1 1-2 1, Mason 0-0 0-0 0. 37-75 14-26 104.
Totals
Miami ............... 29 31 32 23 — 115 Milwaukee .......... 40 23 23 18 — 104 3-Point Goals—Miami 12-31 (Herro 3-6, Crowder 3-7, Butler 2-2, Dragic 2-5, Robinson 1-4, Iguodala 0-3, Nunn 0-3), Milwaukee 16-35 (B.Lopez 4-6, Middleton 4-8, Korver 3-7, Matthews 2-3, G.Antetokounmpo 2-5, G.Hill 1-3, Connaughton 0-3). Fouled Out—Miami None, Milwaukee 1 (Middleton). Rebounds—Miami 46 (Adebayo 17), Milwaukee 34 (G.Antetokounmpo 10). Assists—Miami 21 (Adebayo 6), Milwaukee 22 (G.Antetokounmpo 9). Total Fouls— Miami 23, Milwaukee 24.
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 to get by 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 100100, and Danilo Gallinari added two more after a turnover by Russell Westbrook to finish it off.
Game 7 will be Wednesday night, with the winner advancing to face the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers. Gallinari added 25 points. James Harden had 32 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists for the Rockets, while Robert Covington had 18 and Westbrook 17 in his second game back from a right quadriceps strain. HOUSTON (100)
Gordon 3-12 2-2 9, Tucker 3-8 0-0 9, Covington 7-11 0-0 18, Harden 11-22 7-8 32, Westbrook 8-15 0-2 17, Green 1-5 0-0 3, House Jr. 5-9 0-0 12, McLemore 0-0 0-0 0, Rivers 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 38-84 9-12 100. OKLAHOMA CITY (104)
Gallinari 9-17 3-3 25, Gilgeous-Alexander 4-11 0-0 10, Adams 3-9 0-0 6, Dort 5-9 1-2 13, Paul 10-20 5-5 28, Ferguson 0-3 0-0 0, Noel 1-2 0-0 2, Bazley 1-2 5-6 8, Schroder 5-16 2-2 12. Totals 38-89 16-18 104. Houston ............. 25 26 24 25 — 100 Oklahoma City ..... 24 24 29 27 — 104 3-Point Goals—Houston 15-44 (Covington 4-6, Tucker 3-7, Harden 3-11, House Jr. 2-6, Westbrook 1-2, Green 1-5, Gordon 1-6), Oklahoma City 12-36 (Gallinari 4-9, Paul 3-6, Gilgeous-Alexander 2-5, Dort 2-6, Bazley 1-2, Ferguson 0-3, Schroder 0-5). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Houston 41 (Tucker 11), Oklahoma City 51 (Adams 14). Assists—Houston 19 (Harden 7), Oklahoma City 17 (Gilgeous-Alexander 6). Total Fouls—Houston 19, Oklahoma City 16.