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ANKARA – Miami Heat beat the Bucks 115-100 Friday night and took a dominant 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals of the NBA playoffs.
The fifth-seeded Heat used a 40-13 increase in scoring in the fourth quarter, led by star player Jimmy Butler, who finished with 30 points.
All-Star center Bam Adebayo scored 20 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, with Jae Crowder, Goran Dragic and Tyler Herro scoring in the double digits.
The Bucks led the game 91-81 with 9:40 remaining before the big wave began. In the fourth quarter, Butler outscored the entire Bucks team singlehandedly (17-13).
For the Bucks, Giannis Antetokounmpo had 21 points, 16 rebounds and 9 assists. Brook Lopez scored 22 points.
The Bucks, with the best record in the league before entering the playoffs, now face an early exit. No team in NBA history has come back from a 0-3 deficit in a playoff series.
Rockets beat Lakers in Western semifinals to take 1-0 lead
In the Western Conference, the 4th-seeded Houston Rockets defeated the 1st-seeded LA Lakers 112-97 to lead the semifinal series 1-0.
James Harden scored 36 points, Eric Gordon scored 23 points and Russell Westbrook added 24 points, nine rebounds and six assists in the victory.
The Lakers, who struggled with simple defensive errors throughout the game, are now 0-1 in the series, despite 20 points, eight rebounds and seven assists from LeBron James.
Anthony Davis scored 25 points and grabbed 14 rebounds on the losing effort.
Montrezl Harrell wins Sixth Man of the Year award
The NBA announced Friday night that Los Angeles Clippers player Montrezl Harrell was awarded Sixth Man of the Year for the 2019-2020 regular season.
Harrell scored 18.6 points and 7.1 rebounds for the Clippers, his career-high, coming off the bench. His teammate Lou Williams scored 18.2 points per game this season. They are the first teammates off the bench to average more than 18 points in a season. (Anatolia)
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