MIAMI Heat took advantage of the early exit of Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo to score a 130-117 victory in Game 1 of NBA Eastern Conference first round playoffs on Sunday night (Monday in the Philippines) at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The Bucks star forward exited early in the first quarter after hurting his back. Antetokounmpo tried to return in the second quarter but quickly exited the game anew before being ruled out for the rest of the game.
The Heat took advantage of this as they surged to a 68-55 halftime lead before erecting their biggest lead at 78-64 on a basket by Bam Adebayo but the Bucks responded with a huge run to cut the deficit to 75-78.
But that was the closest Milwaukee as reached as Miami pulled away anew behind conversions from Jimmy Butler, Gabe Vincent and Adebayo as the lead reached 125-114 on back-to-back treys by Caleb Martin and Vincent.
Butler finished with double-double 35 points and 11 assists to lead the No. 8 seed Heat, Adebayo and Kevin Love had 22 and 18, respectively, Martin and Vincent had 15 points each while Tyler Herro had 12 before exiting in the second quarter with broken right hand.
Khris Middleton led the No. 1 ranked Bucks with 33 points, Bobby Portis Jr. chipped in 21 markers, Jrue Holiday had double-double 16 points and 16 assists while Antetokounmpo managed just six points and three rebounds in 11 minutes of action.
No. 7 Los Angeles Lakers leaned on the exploits of Austin Reaves in the fourth quarter as they scored a 128-112 victory over No. 2 Memphis Grizzlies in Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round series at the FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee.
Holding to a slim 108-106 lead with over four minutes in the contest, the Lakers got a triple from Rui Hachimura and a layup from Reaves to make it a 113-109 game but the Grizzlies cut it to 112-113 on a Jaren Jackson Jr. triple.
Reaves then scores on a layup, a three-pointer and another inside basket to push Lakers’ lead to 120-112 with two minutes left before Anthony Davis and Hachimura sealed the stunning win with inside hits.
Reaves finished the game with 23 points, with 14 coming in the fourth quarter, while Hachimura top-scored for the Lakers with 29 points, as Davis, LeBron James and D’Angelo Russell contributed 22, 21 and 19, respectively.
In other Western Conference first round playoffs series opener, No. 5 Los Angeles Clippers prevailed over no. 4 Phoenix Suns, 115-110, while No. 1 Denver Nuggets pulled away with a lopsided win over no. 8 Minnesota Timberwolves.
BOX SCORE:
MIAMI 130 — Butler 35, Adebayo 22, Love 18, Martin 15, Vincent 15, Herro 12, Strus 8, Robinson 3, Lowry 2.
MILWAUKEE 117 — Middleton 33, Portis 21, Holiday 16, Allen 12, Lopez 10, Ingles 9, G. Antetokounmpo 6, Matthews 6, Crowder 2, Carter 2.
Quarterscores: 33-24, 68-55, 102-88, 130-117./PN
