Middleton ices the Heat
Khris Middleton broke a tie with a jumper with 0.5 seconds left in overtime and had 27 points to help the Bucks beat the Heat 109-107 Saturday in Game 1 of the first-round playoff series.
Middleton was closely guarded by Duncan Robinson on the 19-footer.
The Heat’s Goran Dragic had tied it with a corner 3-pointer with 20.6 seconds left in OT. After Middleton’s shot, Jrue Holiday blocked a 3-point attempt from Jimmy Butler as the buzzer sounded. Game 2 is Monday night in Milwaukee. The Heat beat the Bucks 4-1 in the second round last year and went on to reach the NBA Finals.
Butler forced overtime by making a buzzer-beating driving layup past Giannis Antetokounmpo, whose free-throw woes prevented the Bucks from putting the game away earlier.
Antetokounmpo had 26 points, 18 rebounds and five assists, but was just 6 of 13 on free-throw attempts. Over the last 1:06 of regulation, Antetokounmpo was 2 of 5 from the line and had a 10-second violation that prevented him from getting another free-throw attempt.
Holiday had 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Bucks, who won despite shooting 5 of 31 from 3-point range. They’d never made below seven 3-pointers in a game during the regular season.
Dragic scored 25 points, Robinson had 24 and Butler added 17 for the Heat. Butler also had 10 rebounds and eight assists.
The Bucks took a 98-97 with 34.3 seconds left in regulation when Antetokounmpo made the second of two free throws after getting fouled on a shot attempt. Antetokounmpo knocked the ball loose from Butler to force a jump ball, got the ball when Brook Lopez won the tip and got fouled again with nine seconds left.
This time, Antetokounmpo made the first but missed the second. Trevor Ariza got the rebound and the Heat called a timeout with eight seconds remaining. Dragic inbounded the ball to Butler, who took his time before driving to the basket and making a layup that rolled in as the buzzer sounded.
Donic leads Mavs: Luka Doncic scored 31 points and the Mavericks outshot the NBA’s leading team from 3-point range, beating the Clippers 113-102 on Saturday in Game 1 of the first-round playoff series.
Tim Hardaway Jr. added 21 points and Dorian Finney-Smith had 18 for the Mavs, who led most of the game.
Kawhi Leonard had 26 points and 10 rebounds for the Clippers, and Paul George added 23 points. But they were a combined 3 of 14 on 3-pointers.
Nets’ stars recover from slow start: Kevin Durant had 32 points and 12 rebounds, Kyrie Irving scored 29 points and the Nets recovered from their superstars’ frigid start to beat the Celtics 104-93 on Saturday night in Game 1 of the first-round series.
James Harden finished with 21 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in just the ninth appearance of the season for the trio. The three combined to go 0 for 11 from 3-point range in the first half, then stormed out of the locker room with an 18-4 run to open the third and swing the lead the Nets’ way for good.