NBA playoffs: Magic upset top-seeded Bucks in Game 1
ORLANDO, Fla. — Nikola Vucevic scored a playoff career-high 35 points and had 14 rebounds, and the Orlando Magic stunned the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks 122-110 on Tuesday in a playoff opener during the NBA’s pandemic-altered season.
Terrence Ross scored 18 points, Gary Clark added 15 and D.J. Augustin contributed 11 points and 11 assists for the eighth-seeded Magic in the best-of-seven series.
Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with 31 points, 17 rebounds and seven assists for Milwaukee, but was held without a field goal over the final 11 minutes.
The Bucks came into the postseason as the favorites to win their first NBA title since 1971 despite finishing 3-5 in seeding games. But their sluggish play in the bubble at Disney World carried over into the postseason.
Milwaukee swept the season series against Orlando, winning four games by an average of 17 points, but struggled with the Magic’s stingy defense, which repeatedly clogged the lane and forced Antetokounmpo to settle for jump shots.
Dallas center Kristaps Porzingis was ejected Monday after two technicals. He said he was provoked, something the Clippers have been accused of doing before.
Rockets 123, Thunder 108: James Harden had 37 points and 11 rebounds, and Houston rolled past the Oklahoma City in Game 1 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series.
Houston All-Star Russell Westbrook, who played his previous 11 years with the Thunder, was out with a quad injury. The fourth-seeded Rockets still made 20 3-pointers and shot 48% from the field.
“Our ball movement tonight was excellent,†Harden said. “We were just playing off the catch, guys were very confident in their shots when they’re open. When they’re not open, they’re getting off the ball and making a quick decision.â€
Jeff Green scored 22 points and Eric Gordon added 21 for Houston, which isn’t sure how long it will be without Westbrook. The Rockets got 42 points from their bench.
Danilo Gallinari matched a playoff career high with 29 points for the fifth-seeded Thunder. Chris Paul, who joined the Oklahoma City in the trade that sent Westbrook to Houston, finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. Steven Adams added 17 points and 12 rebounds.
Heat 113, Pacers 101: Jimmy Butler scored 28 points, Goran Dragic had 24 and the Miami beat Indiana in the opener of their Eastern Conference first-round series.
The Heat pulled away in the closing minutes, long after the Pacers had lost star guard Victor Oladipo to an eye injury.
Bam Adebayo had 17 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for the Heat, who were just a little bit better in a mostly even matchup between the Nos. 4 and 5 seeds, who were separated by a game in the standings in this pandemic-shortened season.
Indiana went 6-2 in the seeding games and Miami was 3-5, with the teams splitting a pair of meetings. The Pacers’ victory on Friday in the finale allowed them to take the No. 4 seed, which in other years would have been a bigger deal because it meant Indiana would have had home-court advantage.
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