MILWAUKEE (AP) — Jimmy Butler scored 35 points and the Miami Heat capitalized on Giannis Antetokounmpo’s early exit to beat the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks 130-117 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.
No. 8 seed Miami had built a 68-55 halftime advantage before Herro’s departure and stayed ahead by shooting 59.5% (50 of 84) from the floor. The Heat were 15 of 25 and the Bucks 11 of 45 from 3-point range.
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.
Herro appeared to hurt his hand while diving for a loose ball late in the first half.
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. Bobby Portis had 21 points. Jrue Holiday added 16 points and 16 assists for Milwaukee, which appeared disjointed after a long layoff.
NUGGETS 109, TIMBERWOLVES 80
DENVER (AP) — Jamal Murray had 24 points and eight assists in his first playoff game since the 2020 NBA bubble and top-seeded Denver routed Minnesota.
Nikola Jokic added 13 points, 14 rebounds and a half dozen assists in 28 minutes and Michael Porter Jr. scored 18 points as the Nuggets snapped a five-game skid in playoff openers.
Anthony Edwards led Minnesota with 18 points. Karl-Anthony Towns, who was rounding into form this month after missing 52 games with a bad calf, missed 10 of his first 12 shots and finished with 11 points. The Timberwolves hadn’t been held to so few points since Nov. 19, 2016.
LAKERS 128, GRIZZLIES 112
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Rui Hachimura had a career-best 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 Minnesota 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.
Seventh-seeded Los Angeles wrested home-court advantage from the No. 2 seed Grizzlies, who had the NBA’s best home record at 35-6.
CLIPPERS 115, SUNS 110
PHOENIX (AP) — Kawhi Leonard scored 38 points, including a pair of late 3-pointers, and Los Angeles beat Phoenix in their West series opener.
Eric Gordon added 19 points and hit a late 3 that kept the Clippers ahead. Russell Westbrook shot just 3 of 19 from the floor for Los Angeles but made a pair of free throws with 17.7 seconds left for a three-point 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. Phoenix acquired the two-time NBA Finals MVP from Brooklyn in February and injuries limited him to eight games — all Suns wins.
Devin Booker added 26 points for Phoenix, which will try to avoid falling into a 2-0 hole at home on Tuesday.
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