Friday's NBA playoffs: Heat use big 4th quarter to take 3-0 series lead over Bucks

Lake Buena Vista, Fla. — Jimmy Butler sent the ball out to Jae Crowder, then started celebrating before his teammate even took the shot.

He knew what was about to happen.

The Miami Heat did it again — and have the Milwaukee Bucks, the No. 1 overall seed in the NBA playoffs, on the brink of leaving the bubble weeks earlier than they anticipated.

Butler scored 17 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter, the Heat outscored the Bucks 40-13 in those final 12 minutes — the biggest fourth-quarter margin in NBA playoff history — and topped Milwaukee 115-100 to take a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal series.

“No, I’m not surprised,” Butler said. “I think everybody else in the world might be. But not us here. Not if you wear a Heat jersey, if you’re one of these coaches, if you’re part of this organization, if you’ve been seeing what we’ve been doing all year long, that doesn’t surprise us.”

No team in NBA history has ever won after trailing 3-0.

“It can be us,” reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo said. “It can definitely be us.”

Bam Adebayo had 20 points and 16 rebounds, and Crowder had 17 points to help the Heat improve to 7-0 in this postseason. Brook Lopez scored 22 points for Milwaukee, which got 21 points, 16 rebounds and nine assists from Antetokounmpo — who twisted an ankle in the first quarter and appeared to labor at times.

He said he was fine afterward.

The Bucks’ spirit, that has to be hurting. They led by 14 late in the third, and by 12 going into the fourth. Then, disaster: Milwaukee shot 6 for 23 from the field, 0 for 10 from 3-point range and got outscored 17-13 by Butler alone.

“They made every play,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “And we didn’t make enough, obviously.”

The Heat pulled off their biggest fourth-quarter playoff comeback ever. They were down 10 going into the fourth quarter of Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals against San Antonio, the game where Ray Allen sent it to overtime with a 3-pointer with 5.2 seconds left on the way to Miami’s most recent title.

Milwaukee led 87-75 going into the final quarter, up 12 with 12 minutes to go in a game that the Bucks knew they almost certainly had to win to keep any realistic hopes of winning a championship alive.

Miami had other ideas.

Tyler Herro opened the fourth with a 3-pointer, Goran Dragic made another 3 about three minutes later to cut the deficit to four, and the Heat were off and running. Butler had the next nine Miami points as the Heat went back on top, and he set Adebayo up for a short basket with 4:20 remaining to restore a 100-99 lead.

And Butler might have delivered the dagger with a pass; he found Jae Crowder for a left-wing 3-pointer with 2:15 left to put Miami up 107-100.

Butler knew it was good — he was running the other way, his arm in the air, before Crowder’s shot even found the inside of the net.

“It just shows how good of a basketball player Jimmy is,” “It’s not just about his scoring. … He does whatever’s necessary to help your team have a chance to win and that’s on both ends of the court.”

Crowder’s 3 was part of a 17-1 run to end the game.

Milwaukee needed less than five minutes to go on a 21-6 run that put the Bucks up 87-73 late in the third. Lopez and George Hill combined for the first 11 points of that run.

But the fourth, all Miami.

“We’re still here in the bubble,” Hill said. “It’s not the first one to win three games. It’s the first one to win four games. We still have basketball to play.”

More NBA playoffs

Houston 112, L.A. Lakers 97: The Los Angeles Lakers are playing from behind again in these NBA playoffs.

James Harden scored 36 points and Houston ran away from the Lakers, the second straight round the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference lost its opener.

Russell Westbrook added 24 points, nine rebounds and six assists, and Eric Gordon had 23 points for the Rockets, the No. 4 seed who had just one day of rest after needing seven games to win their first-round series.

They sure didn’t look tired, flying around the court all night to make up for the size disadvantage they face with their small-ball style. They forced 17 turnovers that led to 27 turnovers and played the much bigger Lakers even on the backboards.

The Lakers never led after the first quarter and the Rockets blew it open by starting the fourth with a 16-3 run, turning a six-point advantage into a 101-82 cushion on Harden’s basket with 7:15 to play.

Anthony Davis had 25 points and 14 rebounds for the Lakers. LeBron James had 20 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

Game 2 is Sunday.

First round

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Milwaukee 4, Orlando 1

Tuesday, Aug. 18: Orlando, 122, Milwaukee 110

Thursday, Aug. 20: Milwaukee 111, Orlando 96

Saturday, Aug. 22: Milwaukee 121, Orlando 107

Monday, Aug. 24: Milwaukee 121, Orlando 106

Wednesday, Aug. 26: Orlando vs. Milwaukee, ppd.

Saturday, Aug. 29: Milwaukee 118, Orlando 104

Toronto 4, Brooklyn 0

Monday, Aug. 17: Toronto 134, Brooklyn 110

Wednesday, Aug. 19: Toronto 104, Brooklyn 99

Friday, Aug. 21: Toronto 117, Brooklyn 92

Sunday, Aug. 23: Toronto 150, Brooklyn 122

Boston 4, Philadelphia 0

Monday, Aug. 17: Boston 109, Philadelphia 101

Wednesday, Aug. 19: Boston 128, Philadelphia 101

Friday, Aug. 21: Boston 102, Philadelphia 94

Sunday, Aug. 23: Boston 110, Philadelphia 106

Miami 4, Indiana 0

Tuesday, Aug. 18: Miami 113 Indiana 101

Thursday, Aug. 20: Miami 109, Indiana 100

Saturday, Aug. 22: Miami 124, Indiana 115

Monday, Aug. 24: Miami 99, Indiana 87

WESTERN CONFERENCE

L.A. Lakers 4, Portland 1

Tuesday, Aug. 18: Portland 100, L.A. Lakers 93

Thursday, Aug. 20: L.A. Laker 111, Portland 88

Saturday, Aug. 22: L.A. Lakers 116, Portland 108

Monday, Aug. 24: L.A. Lakers 135 Portland 115

Wednesday, Aug. 26: Portland vs. L.A. Lakers, ppd.

Saturday, Aug. 29: L.A. Lakers 131, Portland 122

L.A. Clippers 4, Dallas 2

Monday, Aug. 17: L.A. Clippers 118, Dallas 110

Wednesday, Aug. 19: Dallas 127, L.A. Clippers 114

Friday, Aug. 21: L.A. Clippers 130, Dallas 122

Sunday, Aug. 23: Dallas 135, L.A. Clippers 133, OT

Tuesday, Aug. 25: L.A. Clippers 154, Dallas 111

Sunday, Aug. 30: L.A. Clippers 111, Dallas 97

Denver 4, Utah 3

Monday, Aug. 17: Denver 135, Utah 125, OT

Wednesday, Aug. 19: Utah 124, Denver 105

Friday, Aug. 21: Utah 124, Denver 87

Sunday, Aug. 23: Utah 129, Denver 127

Tuesday, Aug. 25: Denver 117, Utah 107

Thursday, Aug. 27: Denver vs. Utah, ppd.

Sunday, Aug. 30: Denver 119, Utah 107

Tuesday, Sept. 1: Denver 80, Utah 78

Houston 4, Oklahoma City 3

Tuesday, Aug. 18: Houston 123, Oklahoma City 108

Thursday, Aug. 20: Houston 112, Oklahoma City 98

Saturday, Aug. 22: Oklahoma City 119, Houston 107, OT

Monday, Aug. 24: Oklahoma City 117, Houston 114

Wednesday, Aug. 26: Oklahoma City vs. Houston, ppd.

Saturday, Aug. 29: Houston 114, Oklahoma City 80

Monday, Aug. 31: Oklahoma City 104, Houston 100

Wednesday, Sept. 2: Houston 104, Oklahoma City 102

Conference semifinals

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Miami 3, Milwaukee 0

Monday, Aug. 31: Miami 115, Milwaukee 104

Wednesday, Sept. 2: Miami 116, Milwaukee 114

Friday, Sept. 4: Miami 115, Milwaukee 100

Sunday, Sept. 6: Milwaukee vs. Miami, 3:30 p.m.

x-Tuesday, Sept. 8: Miami vs. Milwaukee, TBD

x-Thursday, Sept. 10: Milwaukee vs. Miami, TBD

x-Saturday, Sept. 12: Miami vs. Milwaukee, TBD

Boston 2, Toronto 1

Sunday, Aug. 30: Boston 112, Toronto 94

Tuesday, Sept. 1: Boston 102, Toronto 99

Thursday, Sept. 3: Toronto 104, Boston 103

Saturday, Sept. 5: Toronto vs. Boston, 6:30 p.m.

Monday, Sept. 7: Boston vs. Toronto, TBD

x-Wednesday, Sept. 9: Toronto vs. Boston, TBD

x-Friday, Sept. 11: Boston vs. Toronto, TBD

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Houston 1, L.A. Lakers 0

Friday, Sept. 4: Houston 112, L.A. Lakers 97

Sunday, Sept. 6: Houston vs. L.A. Lakers, 8:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Sept. 8: L.A. Lakers, vs. Houston, 9 p.m.

Thursday, Sept. 10: L.A. Lakers vs. Houston, TBD

x-Saturday, Sept. 12: Houston vs. L.A. Lakers, TBD

x-Monday, Sept. 14: L.A. Lakers vs. Houston, TBD

x-Wednesday, Sept. 16: Houston vs. L.A. Lakers, TBD

L.A. Clippers 1, Denver 0

Thursday, Sept. 3: L.A. Clippers 120, Denver 97

Saturday, Sept. 5: Denver vs. L.A. Clippers, 9 p.m.

Monday, Sept. 7: L.A. Clippers vs. Denver, 9 p.m.

Wednesday, Sept. 9: L.A. Clippers vs. Denver, 9 p.m.

x-Friday, Sept. 11: Denver vs. L.A. Clippers, TBD

x-Sunday, Sept. 13: L.A. Clippers vs. Denver, TBD

x-Tuesday, Sept. 15: Denver vs. L.A. Clippers, TBD