Giannis Antetokounmpo, center, had 31 points, 17 rebounds and seven assists for Milwaukee, but the Bucks lost Game 1 of their series with No. 8 Orlando, 122-110. Kim Klement/Pool Photo via AP
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Nikola Vucevic scored a playoff career-high 35 points and had 14 rebounds, and the Orlando Magic stunned the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks 122-110 on Tuesday in the playoff opener of the NBA’s pandemic-altered season.
Terrence Ross scored 18 points, Gary Clark added 15 and D.J. Augustin had 11 points and 11 assists for the eighth-seeded Magic, who took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with 31 points, 17 rebounds and seven assists for Milwaukee, but was held without a field goal over the final 11 minutes.
The Bucks came into the postseason as the favorites to win their first NBA title since 1971 despite finishing 3-5 in seeding games. But their sluggish play in the bubble at Disney World carried over into the postseason.
Milwaukee swept the season series against Orlando, winning four games by an average of 17 points, but struggled with the Magic’s stingy defense, which repeatedly clogged the lane and forced Antetokounmpo to settle for jump shots.
The Bucks’ frustration was evident when center Brook Lopez stomped on a chair – and then kicked it – in the bench area during a timeout.
The Magic led most of the game.
Orlando used an early 15-2 run to build a 51-33 lead midway through the second quarter behind 16 points from Vucevic.
The Bucks bounced back to close the gap to 10 at halftime as Antetokounmpo began to assert himself offensively, finishing the first half 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Milwaukee made several runs in the second half, but the Magic had an answer every time.
Vucevic had 14 points in the third quarter, scoring down low against smaller defenders and stepping out to knock down 3s against bigger men as the Magic carried a 13-point lead into the fourth quarter.
The Bucks trimmed the lead to six in the fourth, but Ross had a dunk and a layup off hard cuts to the basket and Augustin and Vucevic added 3s to push the lead back to 14. Evan Fournier, who went scoreless for three quarters, then buried the Bucks with three 3-pointers in the final five minutes.
HEAT 113, PACERS 101: Jimmy Butler scored 28 points, Goran Dragic had 24 and Miami beat Indiana on Tuesday in the opener of their Eastern Conference first-round series.
The Heat pulled away in the closing minutes, long after the Pacers had lost star guard Victor Oladipo to an eye injury. Oladipo was limited to 8 minutes before he was scratched in the left eye with 3:26 remaining in the first quarter, appearing to be hit first by Miami’s Jae Crowder.
Bam Adebayo had 17 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for the Heat, who were just a little bit better in a mostly even matchup between the Nos. 4 and 5 seeds, who were separated by a game in the standings in this pandemic-shortened season.
ROCKETS 123, THUNDER 108: James Harden had 37 points and 11 rebounds, and Houston rolled past Oklahoma City on Tuesday in Game 1 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series.
Houston All-Star Russell Westbrook, who played his previous 11 years with the Thunder, was out with a quad injury. The fourth-seeded Rockets still made 20 3-pointers and shot 48% from the field.
Jeff Green scored 22 points and Eric Gordon added 21 for Houston, which isn’t sure how long it will be without Westbrook.
Danilo Gallinari matched a playoff career high with 29 points for the fifth-seeded Thunder. Chris Paul, who joined the Oklahoma City in the trade that sent Westbrook to Houston, finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. Steven Adams added 17 points and 12 rebounds.
NOTES
JAZZ: Utah guard Mike Conley has returned to Walt Disney World after the birth of his son and will go through a quarantine period before joining the Jazz for their playoff series against Denver.
The Jazz announced he was back at the NBA campus following the team’s practice Tuesday. ESPN reported he arrived in the bubble Monday night.
In accordance with the NBA’s COVID-19 policies, Conley is subject to a quarantine of at least four days. He is expected to miss Game 2 on Wednesday but possibly could be back for Game 3 on Friday.
The league is reviewing his situation.
Conley missed Monday’s first-round opener, which Utah lost 135-125 in overtime despite a Jazz playoff-record 57-point performance from Donovan Mitchell.
The 32-year-old Conley announced the birth of his son, Elijah Michael Conley, on social media late Sunday. Conley is averaging 14.4 points and 4.4 assists in his first season with Utah.
He was acquired as part of a deal with Memphis in July 2019.
The sixth-seeded Jazz already are missing Bojan Bogdanovic, who underwent right wrist surgery in May.
HORNETS: Charlotte suspended radio play-by-play broadcaster John Focke indefinitely after he used a racial slur on his Twitter account. Focke used the slur while Tweeting about the Jazz-Nuggets playoff game. He has since deleted the tweet and apologized, saying it was a typo.
Focke wrote on Twitter that “I made a horrific error while attempting to tweet about the Denver-Utah game. I don’t know how I mistyped. I had (and have) no intention of ever using that word. I take full responsibility for my actions. I have been sick to my stomach about it every since. I’m truly sorry that this happened an I apologize to those I offended.”
The Hornets said in a released statement on Twitter that they are investigating the matter.
“The Hornets are aware of the social media post by radio broadcaster John Focke,” the team statement read. “As an organization we do not condone this type of language.”
MONDAY’S LATE GAME
CLIPPERS 118, MAVERICKS 110: Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers had enough answers to withstand Luka Doncic’s dazzling debut – especially after his running mate was thrown out of the game. Leonard had 29 points and 12 rebounds, and the Clippers got a big boost from the ejection of Kristaps Porzingis to beat Dallas in Game 1 of their Western Conference playoff series.
Doncic finished with 42 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, and had the No. 7 seed hanging right with the Clippers for much of the night. But Los Angeles pulled into the lead when Porzingis was ejected for picking up his second technical foul in the third quarter to move ahead and Doncic couldn’t bring the Mavs all the way back.
Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is Wednesday.
Paul George added 27 points and Marcus Morris had 19 for the Clippers.
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