Milwaukee emphatically avenges its elimination from last year’s playoffs, taking the first-round series in four games.
MIAMI — Turns out, there was a reason the Milwaukee Bucks weren’t worried about a playoff rematch with the Miami Heat in Round 1 this year. The last four games proved why. Brook Lopez scored 25 points, Giannis Antetokounmpo had a triple-double – 20 points,12 rebounds and 15 assists – and the Bucks became the first team to advance in this year’s playoffs, beating the Heat 120-103 on Saturday and finishing off a four-game first-round sweep over last season’s Eastern Conference champions. Bryn Forbes scored 22 points, Khris Middleton had 20, Bobby Portis 13 and Jrue Holiday 11 for Milwaukee, which outscored Miami by 24 points in the second half. Bam Adebayo scored 20 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for Miami, which got 18 points from Kendrick Nunn,14 from Tyler Herro,13 from Goran Dragic and a triple-double – 12 points,10 rebounds,10 assists – from Jimmy Butler. The Heat became the second team in this playoff format to go from sweeping in the first round one year to being swept in the first round the next.
