NBA·ROUNDUP

Butler-led Heat dispatch Bucks in overtime, setting up 2nd-round matchup with Knicks

Jimmy Butler scored 42 points and the Miami Heat staged a second straight stunning fourth-quarter rally before winning 128-126 in overtime on Wednesday night in Game 5 to complete an upset of the top-seeded Bucks in their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.

Warriors tops Kings for 3-2 series lead, Grizzlies defeat Lakers to stay alive in series

A basketball player is seen in the air as he performs a shoot while an opposition player stands in front of him and members of the audience watch on from the back.
Jimmy Butler came up clutch and scored 42 points to lead the visiting Heat past the Bucks 128-126 in overtime and help Miami take a 4-1 victory in its first-round NBA playoffs series. (Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

Jimmy Butler scored 42 points and the Miami Heat staged a second straight stunning fourth-quarter rally before winning 128-126 in overtime on Wednesday night in Game 5 to complete an upset of the top-seeded Bucks in their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.

Two nights after outscoring the Bucks 30-13 in the final six minutes of a 119-115 victory in Miami, the Heat produced another huge comeback and tied the game on Butler's layup with half a second left in regulation.

Miami went on to become the sixth No. 8 seed to beat a No. 1 seed. The last time it happened was in 2012, when a Philadelphia 76ers team featuring current Bucks guard Jrue Holiday capitalized on Derrick Rose's knee injury to beat the top-seeded Chicago Bulls.

The Heat advanced to a second-round series with the fifth-seeded New York Knicks, who completed their 4-1 series win over the Cleveland Cavaliers earlier Wednesday. Game 1 is Sunday in New York.

Bam Adebayo put the Heat ahead for good by dunking in a putback of Butler's missed driving layup attempt with 4:44 left in overtime. The Bucks trailed 128-126 and had the ball in the closing seconds, but the clock ran out before Grayson Allen could take a shot as he drove to the basket.

Adebayo had 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Gabe Vincent added 22 points.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 38 points and 20 rebounds for the Bucks, though he shot just 10 of 23 on free-throw attempts. Khris Middleton added 33 points.

Milwaukee led 102-86 after three quarters but shot just 5 of 25 from the floor in the fourth quarter and overtime.

The Heat tied the game on two occasions late in the fourth quarter before Middleton made two free throws to put Milwaukee back ahead with 27.8 seconds left.

After calling a timeout, the Heat got the ball to Butler, whose 3-point attempt missed with 18 seconds left. Holiday made two free throws with 14 seconds remaining to make it a four-point game, but Vincent's 3-pointer cut the lead to one with 8.4 seconds left.

The Bucks had the ball in the backcourt when Holiday threw an errant pass that eluded Middleton. Miami's Kyle Lowry initially was called for a foul as he chased the loose ball, but the Heat successfully challenged the call and it was ruled a jump ball.

Brook Lopez tipped the ball to Antetokounmpo, whose pass nearly went out of bounds before Middleton saved it to Holiday. After getting fouled with 2.1 seconds left, Holiday missed his first free throw before sinking the second to make it 118-116.

After the Heat called timeout, Vincent stood in front of the Bucks bench and threw an inbounds pass to Butler, who was waiting under the basket to make the tying score.

Curry powers Warriors past Kings

Stephen Curry scored 31 points, Draymond Green had his highest-scoring game in more than five years and the Golden State Warriors won the first road game of their series against Sacramento, beating the Kings 123-116 Wednesday night to take a 3-2 lead.

Green had 21 points and seven assists in his first game back in Sacramento since getting ejected and later suspended for stepping on Domantas Sabonis' chest in a Game 2 loss.

Golden State now can try to wrap up the series with a fourth straight win at home on Friday night.

The defending champion Warriors withstood another raucous crowd in Sacramento and showed off their road mettle that had been missing so often this season.

Golden State won only 11 games away from home in the regular season and lost the first two games in Sacramento before making the key plays in the second half to beat the Kings and extend their record to 28 straight playoff series with at least one road win.

The Kings trailed by 12 early in the fourth quarter after a layup by Curry but wouldn't go away. They chipped away at the deficit behind 11 points in the next five minutes from Monk — who went down briefly with what looked like a left knee injury — to make it a one-point game with just over four minutes left.

But the Warriors pulled away late after Monk missed a potential game-tying 3 with 1:04 to play.

Andrew Wiggins made a turnaround jumper to make it a five-point game and Curry put it away with a three-point play with 22.1 seconds left that made it 122-114.

Klay Thompson added 25 points, Wiggins had 20 and Kevon Looney matched his career-high with 22 rebounds.

De'Aaron Fox scored 24 despite a broken index finger on his shooting hand, and Monk and Sabonis added 21 points apiece for Sacramento.

The Warriors got going in the second quarter with Thompson making three 3-pointers during a 12-0 run that helped Golden State take a 60-56 lead at the half.

Grizzlies defeat Lakers to stay alive in series

Desmond Bane had 33 points and 10 rebounds, Ja Morant added 31 points and 10 boards, and the Memphis Grizzlies staved off elimination Wednesday night, beating the Lakers 116-99 to force their first-round Western Conference series back to Los Angeles.

Jaren Jackson Jr., the NBA Defensive Player of the Year, had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Grizzlies, who improved to 5-0 in Game 5s played in Memphis and cut the seventh-seeded Lakers' series lead to 3-2. Memphis earned a second straight No. 2 seed by posting the NBA's best home record at 35-6.

Game 6 is Friday night in Los Angeles.

LeBron James started 1 of 7 from the field but finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds, a modest follow-up after the 38-year-old played 45 minutes in Monday night's overtime win in Los Angeles and became the oldest player in NBA history to post at least 20 points and 20 rebounds in his 270th playoff game.

Anthony Davis led the Lakers with 31 points and 19 rebounds. Austin Reaves had 17 points and D'Angelo Russell scored 11. Davis stayed on the court for a few seconds after a layup with 6:01 left that pulled the Lakers within 106-91. When he got up, Davis grabbed at his back as he walked down the court.

The Lakers tried to rally, going on a 20-7 run in the fourth. They couldn't get closer than 12, the last on a putback by Davis with 2:52 left. Memphis answered with eight straight to get fans chanting "Whoop That Trick" with about 90 seconds left.

Memphis led only 23-20 when coach Taylor Jenkins took out Dillon Brooks, known more for calling James old and missing shots than his defence in this series. The Grizzlies seized control, finishing on a 15-4 run capped by Bane's 3 just before the quarter expired for a 38-24 lead.

The Grizzlies led by as much as 17 in the second with Morant scoring 10, including drawing a foul on James for a three-point play. Memphis led 61-52 at halftime.

Knicks dispatch Cavaliers in Game 5

Jalen Brunson scored 23 points, RJ Barrett added 21 and the visiting New York Knicks downed the Cleveland Cavaliers 106-95 in Game 5 on Wednesday night to advance to the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs for the first time since 2013.

The Knicks easily controlled a series that was more one-sided than expected, even after Julius Randle aggravated his left ankle injury and missed the second half.

New York won the opener at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, overpowered the Cavs twice at noisy Madison Square Garden and then returned to Cleveland to finish the job.

Brunson was the consistent ingredient throughout the series for the Knicks, who signed the stocky guard as a free agent last summer before their attempt to acquire Donovan Mitchell in a trade from Utah fell apart and he landed in Cleveland.

Brunson averaged 24 points in the series and led New York in scoring all four wins while outplaying Mitchell for the second straight postseason. Last year, Brunson was with Dallas when he got the best of Mitchell.

Mitchell scored 28 and Darius Garland 21 for the Cavs, who won 51 games during the regular season but whose inexperience showed throughout their first playoff series in five years. The Cavs weren't ready.

A bigger issue, though, seemed to be Cleveland's toughness. The Cavs got pushed around and outrebounded in all four losses, including 48-30 in the clincher.

New York centre Mitchell Robinson finished with`18 rebounds — 11 offensive — in Game 5 and the 7-footer didn't shy away from calling out the Cavs for being soft after Game 3, saying they appeared to be shaken.

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