New York (AFP)

It was slower for the Lakers than for the Bucks, but the top two in each conference took the lead (2-1) on Saturday in the playoffs between them respectively against the Portland Trail Blazers and the Orlando Magic, in the 1st round of the NBA play-offs.

. The Lakers toiled before punishing

The Trail Blazers could blame themselves for not having widened the gap further during the first two quarters (57-53), facing the Lakers not very inspired offensively, with only 3 shots on 12 at 3 points and 18 on 31 on free throws at half-time.

Damian Lillard's 34 points, CJ McCollum's 26 (9 3-point shots between them), as well as Carmelo Anthony's 20 points, were not enough against the more spirited Lakers in the second half, both defensively and offensively.

Defensively, as shown by a very applied Anthony Davis in this register (3 blocks and 2 interceptions). But also offensively, as illustrated by the double-doubles of LeBron James (38 points and 12 rebounds) and Anthony Davis (29 points and 11 rebounds), on which the Lakers largely relied to finally win 108-116.

. The Bucks in Confidence

Carried by the power of Giannis Antetoukounmpo (35 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists), but also the new found efficiency of Khris Middleton (17 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists), the Bucks easily won against Orlando 107-121.

"It was a lot easier because we played well in defense," commented the "Greek Freak", who also had two interceptions and a block. "When we defend well we can play in transition quickly and that makes the game easy."

The Bucks indeed controlled the meeting from start to finish, depriving Orlando of a point for almost five minutes before halftime.

Milwaukee even had 34 points ahead in the third quarter, during a meeting also marked by the exclusions of James Ennis (Orlando) and Marvin Williams (Milwaukee) for a physical altercation.

On the Orlando side, Nikola Vucevic, better controlled by the Bucks defense, still scored 20 points, while Evan Fournier scored 13 points and took 2 rebounds.

. Houston braked by CP3

At the end of a hung encounter, Oklahoma ended up winning 119-107 after extra time, falling to 2-1 in the series against Houston.

Chris Paul recalled the fond memories of his former Rockets team, scoring two decisive 3-point overtime, but also offering less than 15 seconds of regulation time an assist to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, author of a 3 points that allowed the Thunder to snatch overtime.

With 26 points, CP3 was well helped by Dennis Schroder (29 points), Gilgeous-Alexander (23) and Danilo Gallinari (20), while James Harden scored 38 points for the Rockets, not very skilled at 3 points (15 on 50) and still deprived of Russell Westbrook, injured in the quadriceps and whose return is still uncertain.

. Miami is almost there

And three for Miami, who won again against Indiana 124-115, thanks to Jimmy Butler (27 points), Goran Dragic (24 points) and Bam Adebayo (22 points).

In front of 18 points at half-time, Indiana managed to reduce the gap to four points in the third quarter, in particular thanks to Malcolm Brogdon and his 34 points and 14 assists. But Miami has held up well and is only one victory away from qualifying. Next game Monday.

© 2020 AFP