The Miami Heat put the Milwaukee Bucks on the brink of elimination and the Houston Rockets drew first blood against the Los Angeles Lakers in NBA second round playoff games Friday in Orlando.
Heat put Bucks in danger
Miami put together a dominant fourth quarter rally to beat the Bucks and put the regular season’s best team on the edge of elimination and sweep with a 115-100 victory in Game 3 of their second round Eastern Conference playoff series.
Jimmy Butler scored 30 points to make Miami a win away from the Eastern Conference Finals where it will face either the Toronto Raptors or the Boston Celtics. The Celtics are up 2-1 against Toronto.
Milwaukee was up by 12 87-75 going into the third quarter but Miami regrouped to take a 100-99 lead en route the victory.
The Heat outscored the Bucks 40-13 in the fourth quarter, the biggest final-quarter margin in NBA playoff history.
Bam Adebayo chipped in 20 points and 16 rebounds while Jae Crowder added 17 for the Heat.
Brook Lopez paced Milwaukee with 22 points. Giannis Antetokounmpo added 21 points, 16 rebounds, and nine assists.
Milwaukee is in tight spot as no team in NBA history has ever successfully rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win a best-of-seven playoff series.
Antetokounmpo said the Bucks could be the first if they take it not game-by-game but ''play-by-play, possession, by possession."
''We've got to believe in ourselves,'' he said. ''We can do it," he added.
Rockets rout Lakers
The Houston Rockets used their size to their advantage as they walloped the Los Angeles Lakers 112-97 in Game 1 of their second round Western Conference playoff series.
James Harden scored 36 points for the Rockets who used their small ball playing style, which focuses on speed and shooting to offset their height disadvantage with other teams.
The Rockets ran rings around the taller Lakers, forcing 17 turnovers that led to 27 points.
Russell Westbrook added 24 points, nine rebounds, and six assists, and Eric Gordon had 23 points for the fourth seed Rockets.
Anthony Davis had 25 points and 14 rebounds while LeBron James had 20 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists for Los Angeles.
Houston held a one-point lead at the end of the first quarter 29-28 but ramped up the pace thereafter, and led halftime 63-55.
It was all Houston from then on, frustrating the Lakers with hustle – constantly moving on defense, deflecting passes, and corralling loose balls.
The Lakers hope to even the series on Sunday.
Clippers' Harrell named Sixth Man of the Year
Los Angeles Clippers forward-center Montrezl Harrell is the NBA Sixth Man of the Year awardee this season.
Harrell received 58 first-place votes from a global panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcaster, earning a total of 397 points.
Second in voting was Oklahoma City Thunder guard Dennis Schroder with 328 points and 35 first-place votes.
Third was Harrell teammate Lou Williams – a three-time winner of the award who received seven first-place votes.
From the start of the season through March 11, Harrell averaged 18.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 1.14 blocked shots in 27.8 minutes in 63 games, with just two starts.
Nuggets coach Malone slams bubble ban
Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone criticized the NBA for banning coaches' family from the bubble in Orlando.
''I say shame on you NBA,'' said Malone, who is married with two daughters.
''This is crazy. I miss my family. I think I speak for me. I speak for my coaches and probably all the coaches down here. Sixty days and not having access and not being granted the privilege to have my family come here to me is criminal in nature.''
Malone and the Nuggets have spent 60 days so far at the bubble.
No guests were allowed through seeding games and the first round of the playoffs.
However, players whose teams advanced to the second round were able to bring in a limited number of family members or close friends.
Game officials were allowed to invite one guest but coaches remain on their own.
Mike Woodson back in NY as assistant coach
Former New York Knicks coach Mike Woodson is back with the team as an assistant to new head coach Tom Thibodeau.
Woodson is the only Knicks coach to win a playoff series in the last two decades and the last one to even reach the postseason.
Already on board with the team are longtime Kentucky assistant Kenny Payne; Johnnie Bryant, associate head coach; and Andy Greer, assistant coach.
Woodson led New York to a 54-28 record in 2012-13 and won the franchise's first Atlantic Division title since 1994.
He also led Atlanta to three postseason appearances before going to New York and worked for the Los Angeles Clippers from 2014-18.
Thibodeau said in a statement that the Knicks are assembling a staff that will "embody everything we want to be about: Accountability, development, teaching, and a winning culture." (Compiled by Tristan Lozano)