Milwaukee (seed N.3) and Dallas (N.5), abused and eliminated last season by Miami (N.6) and the Clippers (N.4), took revenge on Saturday by winning the first game of their reunion in the 1st round of the NBA play-offs.

The Bucks thank Middleton

As expected, the battle has been close and fierce between these two title contenders, and it would not be surprising if it goes after the seven games, as the gap is tiny between the seeded N.3 and the N .6.

The Bucks haven't yet qualified, but they got their first rematch on last season's semi-final. In the Orlando bubble, Jimmy Butler and his family had stepped on lessened Bucks (4-1), with Giannis Antetokounmpo on one leg, and the spirit elsewhere after their historic boycott of the match, for the fight against injustice racial.

If the Greek was productive (26 pts, 18 rebounds, 5 assists), he missed four of the six free throws obtained in the money-time of regulation time, which left the space for the Floridians to afford an extension on a basket in penetration of Butler (17 pts, 10 rebounds, 8 assists) to the buzzer.

During the "overtime", it was Middleton (27 pts, 10 assists) who delivered his own, after Duncan Robinson (24 pts) and Goran Dragic (25 pts) had re-glued the score twice with shots behind the 'bow.

Doncic as a boss

Author of a very solid match, punctuated by a triple-double (31 pts, 10 rebounds and 11 assists), Luka Doncic has largely contributed to the success of Mavericks at Staples Center, which allows them to immediately regain the advantage of parquet.

The Texans were driven by a spirit of revenge after the elimination against LA (4-2) at the same stage last year, after a series of high tension.

Led by three points six minutes from the end, they then placed a big boost, inflicting a fatal 18-5 to the Californians, thanks in particular to six points from Kristas Porzingis (14 in total).

Prior to that, Tim Hardaway Jr had planted 21 pawns, illustrating the team's good long-distance skill (17/36).

Opposite, Kawhi Leonard (26 pts, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 interceptions) and Paul George (23 pts, 6 rebounds, 5 assists) however struggled, just like Nicolas Batum out of the bench (11 pts, 7 rebounds) ), but they paid for the team's general lack of reaction in the money-time.

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