Back injury sidelines Giannis as Bucks fall
Jimmy Butler scored 35 points and the Heat capitalized on Giannis Antetokounmpo’s early exit to beat the top-seeded Bucks, 130-117, in Milwaukee on Sunday in an Eastern Conference playoff opener featuring two notable injuries.
The top-seeded Bucks lost Antetokounmpo to a lower back bruise early in the second quarter. Miami’s Tyler Herro broke his right hand later in the period, and the guard’s status for the rest of the postseason is unclear.
“There was an X-ray that was clear here,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said of Antetokounmpo. “We’ll monitor him and see how he does, see how he wakes up, how he feels the rest of tonight and tomorrow.”
Game 2 of the series is Wednesday in Milwaukee, and the Bucks will hope the two-time MVP is feeling better by then.
Antetokounmpo got fouled by Kevin Love and landed hard on his backside in the first quarter. He went to the locker room, returned briefly and left the court again, this time for good. He had six points and three rebounds in 11 minutes.
Bam Adebayo had 22 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the Heat. Butler had 11 assists. Love had 18 points and eight rebounds off the bench.
Khris Middleton led the Bucks with 33 points and nine rebounds.
Lakers 128, Grizzlies 112
In Memphis, Tenn., Rui Hachimura had a careerbest playoff scoring performance with 29 points, including 21 in the second half, and LeBron James added 21 points and 11 rebounds as Los Angeles beat Memphis in the opening game of their Western Conference series.
Austin Reaves added 23 points, including nine straight in the closing minutes as the Lakers pulled away. Anthony Davis had 22 points and 12 rebounds, and D’Angelo Russell, who scored only two points in the Lakers’ play-in win over the Timberwolves, finished with 19 points.
Jaren Jackson Jr. led Memphis with 31 points, while Desmond Bane scored 22. Ja Morant had 18 points before leaving in the fourth quarter with an injured right hand.
Clippers 115, Suns 110
In Phoenix, Kawhi Leonard scored 38 points, including a pair of late 3-pointers, and the Clippers beat the Suns in the opener of their Western Conference playoff series.
Russell Westbrook made a pair of free throws with 17.7 seconds left for a threepoint lead, then blocked Devin Booker’s layup attempt at the other end and swatted the ball off Booker to give the Clippers the ball with 10.1 seconds remaining.
Kevin Durant scored 27 points for the Suns, who lost for the first time with him on the floor.
Nuggets 109, T’Wolves 80
In Denver, Jamal Murray scored 24 points and dished out eight assists in his first playoff game since the 2020 NBA bubble and the topseeded Nuggets routed the Timberwolves.
Nikola Jokic added 13 points, 14 rebounds and six assists in 28 minutes and Michael Porter Jr. scored 18 points as Denver snapped a five-game skid in playoff openers.
Anthony Edwards led Minnesota with 18 points.
The Timberwolves hadn’t been held to so few points since Nov. 19, 2016.
Sacramento looking into rapper’s bias claim
The Kings are investigating allegations from a Bay Area hip-hop star that “racial bias” led to him being kicked out of his seat during a playoff game against the Warriors.
The rapper E-40 said in a statement that he was heckled throughout the game Saturday night and addressed one heckler “in an assertive but polite manner” before security guards came and ordered him to leave the arena.