Cyclone Butler leaves Milwaukee staring into the abyss

The Bucks spot the abyss.

It is no longer just a possibility, the certainty of disaster is one defeat away.

Once again Jimmy Butler (30 points and 17 in the fourth quarter) was once again an ogre for Milwaukee and a leader for the Heat, who, after their 115-110 victory, with a tremendous final comeback, dominate 3-0 in the semifinals of the Eastern Conference.

And all, despite the fact that Miami reached the playoffs as the fifth classified and Milwaukee with the best record in the league.

Butler's 30 points and Miami's tremendous fourth quarter, where they beat Milwaukee 40-13, the highest record in playoff history.

No team has risen 3-0 to date.

"We have been proving that people were wrong all year," said Heat center Bam Adebayo, who finished the game with a double-double of 20 points and 16 rebounds.

Antetokounmpo's effort was exemplary, as in the first quarter he sprained his ankle and it seemed during the rest of the game that he had to work hard to overcome the discomfort.

But Antetokounmpo struggled again from the personnel line, scoring 3-of-8 in the first half, leaving him with 19 points on 42 free throws since the playoffs began.

The Greek reached 1,000 points in 42 playoff games:

has the best record with 1,495.

Milwaukee led 87-75 in the fourth quarter.

12 up with 12 minutes to go in a game the Bucks knew they almost certainly had to win to keep real hopes alive of fighting for the ring.

But rookie guard

opened the room with a triple and the Heat got on the move.

Butler signed the next nine points from Miami as the Heat again took the lead and prepared Adebayo for a short basket with 4:20 minutes remaining to regain it (100-99).

Then it would be Butler who gave a perfect pass to Crowder who made a decisive triple that put the partial of 107-100 and 2:15 minutes left, too much for the Bucks to react to the great defense of the Heat.

Thus was consummated a streak of 15-1 that sealed the match.

Harden's claw

James Harden once again found his best wrist touch and with 36 points led the Rockets' attack, which beat the Los Angeles Lakers 112-97 in the first game of the Western Conference semifinals.

Along with Harden, who had not been well in the decisive seventh game against the Thunder, Russell Westbrook also did a great job offensively, scoring 24 points and nine defensive rebounds.

But it would be guard Eric Gordon who became the winning factor of surprise with 23 points, including three triples in eight attempts, and was perfect 6-6 from the personnel line.

Although the Rockets had only one day of rest when having to play the seventh game of the first eliminator against the Thunder, their players were not noticed at all.

Rather, with their constant pressure style, not having a major tall man, the Rockets forced 15 turnovers that gave them a chance to score 27 points.

Center

achieved a double-double of 25 points and 14 rebounds as the leader of the Lakers, but in the end they did not prevent the defeat of his team, which reaches the tie with the best record in the Western Conference.

added 20 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, but he could not save the Los Angeles team, with which he played his first playoffs.

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