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LeBron James, all-time leader in postseason wins
JIMMY Butler had 17 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, and the fifth-seeded Miami Heat used stingy defense to knock the Milwaukee Bucks out of the playoffs with a 103-94 Game 5 win Tuesday night for win their Eastern Conference semifinal. Series 4-1 at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando.
Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, the 2019-20 NBA Defensive Player of the Year and a repeat favorite for the league’s MVP, did not play Tuesday after aggravating his right ankle sprain in the first half of Game 4. Sunday.
Miami awaits the winner of the other Eastern Conference semifinal series between Toronto, the second-seeded, and Boston, third. The Celtics lead 3-2 before Game 6 on Wednesday.
For the Bucks, it’s a surprisingly premature playoff exit after posting the best record of the NBA regular season. The Heat, meanwhile, became the 140th team in 140 attempts to win an NBA playoff series after building a 3-0 lead.
Miami kept the Bucks at 36.3% shooting, including a third-quarter drought that lasted more than six minutes. That’s the stretch when the Heat created distance forever, with a triple by Jae Crowder that gave Miami a 12-point lead (68-56) at the 3:07 mark for the period.
In the fourth quarter, the Bucks cut the Heat’s lead to 91-87 when Brook Lopez threw an alley-oop dunk with 2:05 to play. But Butler responded with two free throws and Goran Dragic hit a high shot on subsequent possession to keep Miami’s lead.
Two more Butler free throws with 46.7 seconds to play extended the Heat’s lead to 97-88 and nearly sealed the victory.
Rookie Tyler Herro finished with 14 points, eight rebounds and six assists off the bench for the Heat. Dragic added 17 points and four rebounds, while Crowder scored 16 points, grabbed six rebounds and made four triples.
Khris Middleton finished with 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists, but was only 8-of-25 correct and ultimately fouled out. Donte DiVincenzo scored 17 points and hit three triples. Lopez had 15 points and 14 rebounds.
Miami got over a sloppy start. The Heat committed six turnovers in the first quarter and shot 7-of-18 on the period, helping the Bucks build a 13-point lead en route to a nine-point lead late in the period.
But the game changed in the second quarter. The Heat outscored the Bucks 33-18 in the period and buried six 3s.
Miami used a 13-2 streak to tie the score at 32 on a transition layup by Kelly Olynyk at the 8:36 mark. Herro’s triple then snapped a 37-37 tie and sparked an 8-0 Heat streak to stretch the lead to 45-37 with less than five minutes left at the half.
LEBRON ESTABLISHES PLAYOFF WINS BRAND
LeBron James scored a total of 36 points and became the all-time leader in NBA postseason victories when the Los Angeles Lakers posted a 112-102 victory over the Houston Rockets in Game 3 of the conference semifinals. West Tuesday near Orlando.
The Lakers will take a 2-1 lead in Game 4 of the best-of-seven series on Thursday.
Los Angeles’ Anthony Davis added a game-high 26 points and 15 rebounds, and Rajon Rondo scored a run in the fourth quarter after the teams were tied in the final period.
James earned his 162 career playoff victory, surpassing the mark set by Derek Fisher.
“He says I’ve played with a lot of great teams,” James said after the game on TNT. “He says I’ve played with a lot of great teammates and some great coaches, in Cleveland, in Miami and now here in Los Angeles.”
“It doesn’t happen without the supporting cast. That’s why I can sit here with this accomplishment, but it’s about the three organizations that I’ve been with; the Cavs, the Heat and now the Lakers, because without them I wouldn’t be in this position. “
Rondo finished with 21 points and nine assists in 30 minutes from the bench. The Lakers survived 15 draws and 16 lead changes in controlling the final period for the second game in a row, with a 30-20 lead in the final 12 minutes.
The Lakers ultimately finished with a 56-46 lead in paint points and rebounded the Rockets 43-30 while shooting a robust 55.1% from the floor. Houston sank 46.9% of its field goal attempts. – Reuters
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